Well it’s been about 5 years, and the newly grafted Satuma tangerine (sp?) trees I bought are finally ripening a crop. Which raises the question of how to tell when is best to pick them.
Last year they only had a few fruits, so I waited until they looked all orange and soft, like supermarket ones, but most were way over ripe at that point. This year there are enough to do some sampling. I picked a few yesterday, none were bright orange, more mostly orange with a bit of green still. They were OK but could stand to be a bit sweeter.
So I am looking for advise from folks that have experience with tangerines. When is the best time to pick them? Will leaving them on the tree longer make the fruit sweeter? Any pointers/advise welcome.
There is a learning curve with each cultivar in each growing condition. Color and firmness are only indicators of possible maturity. Pick one and taste it the same day. Then wait at least a day before trying one more. This process can go on for weeks and be repeated several seasons before you begin to understand the pattern for that tree.
@LarryGene
My experience with homegrown and commercial Citrus grown outdoors year-round is from Santa Rosa CA southward, including portions of southwestern states. [This does not apply to kumquats, which bloom in summer.]
In all cases there are mature trees which produce a modest amount of blossoms in the fall before the main bloom in ~January. Those fruits will ripen earlier than the others. At this stage, some can drop and be acceptable to eat. Others stay and eventually shrivel or rot on the tree.
Aside from those, there can be fruits in the “main” crop which get into trouble, either by splitting or infestation of some sort. These can drop as well.
Finally, not all fruit (on any species) will develop a stem that is firmly attached to the branch. These can drop from wind or weight alone.