When to pick peaches, plums and apricots
How to tell when peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and cherries are ready to pick, how to pick them gently, and how to ripen and store them.
Stone fruit picked at the right moment is one of the best things a home orchard gives you. Picked too early it stays hard and sour; too late and it is soft, split or claimed by birds and fruit fly. Here is how to judge each kind.
Look at the background colour
Red blush is a poor guide, because many varieties colour well before they are ripe. Look instead at the background colour, the base colour under the blush. As fruit ripens it changes from green to yellow, cream or orange, depending on the variety. Once no green remains, the fruit is close.
Peaches and nectarines
- Background colour has turned from green to yellow or cream.
- The shoulders near the stem give slightly under gentle pressure from your palm (not your fingertips, which bruise).
- The fruit comes away with a gentle lift and twist.
- Peaches and nectarines keep softening after picking, but don't get sweeter, so let them ripen well on the tree.
Apricots
- Fully orange with no green, and just starting to soften.
- Apricots ripen quickly and unevenly; pick over the tree every couple of days.
- Very ripe apricots split after rain, so pick ahead of a wet forecast.
Plums
- Japanese plums (most of the large, round plums) can be picked firm-ripe, when coloured and just giving, and finish ripening indoors.
- European plums (prune and dessert plums, often oval) are best left to ripen fully on the tree.
- A dusty white bloom on the skin is natural and keeps the fruit fresh.
Cherries
- Cherries don't ripen after picking, so taste a few. They should be fully coloured, firm and sweet.
- Pick with the stem attached, by lifting the stalk, so the fruit keeps longer.
- Rain at harvest causes splitting; netting or a cover over the tree helps.
Picking well
- Pick in the cool of the morning, when fruit is firm and cool.
- Cup the fruit in your palm and lift and twist; don't pull.
- Lay fruit in a single layer in a shallow tray, out of the sun.
- Check for fruit fly stings (small marks or soft spots) and set those aside.
Ripening and storing
Ripen firm fruit at room temperature, stem side down, out of the sun. A paper bag speeds it up. Once ripe, keep it in the fridge and eat within a few days. For gluts, see storing and preserving your summer fruit.
Weigh what you pick and record it in Trees n Bees. It compares harvests season on season by variety, block or tree, so you'll see which varieties are worth their space. If a tree was sprayed, its spray record shows when it can be picked again.