Maybe a silly question, but I have Atomic Red Nectarines that are hard as rock, but smell ripe. I took a few of them and I let them ripen on the counter for a couple days a few weeks ago, they were already sweet. I’ve been waiting for them to soften, then I just read online that non- melting nectarines stay firm even when ripe! So how can you tell when they are ready?
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For most varieties you can tell it’s ripe (or very very close) by the ground color. You can see the ground color if you carefully lift the stem from where it attaches. Where the stem shades, for most varieties it will be yellow (not green) when it’s ripe. Plus non-melting will get somewhat soft after enough time.
I once grew some trees of the stony hard variety - Gloria. They would eventually soften up some on the tree.
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Thank you!
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