When can you harvest nectarines? Information about the best harvest time

A nectarine is not only a popular Mediterranean plant in the local latitudes on the balcony, terrace or in the garden because of its decorative flowers. It also offers delicious fruits that can be harvested. Due to the prevailing climate and weather conditions, the harvest time is different here than is known from the fruits available in the shops. The following article provides all the information about the best harvest time so that your own fruits taste twice as good.

Harvest nectarines

Heyday

In order to harvest nectarines, they have to develop their beautiful flowers in spring. The decorative and fragrant flowers usually delight the hobby gardener in spring in April. Depending on the climatic zone and the length of the winter in a year, the flowering time can definitely be postponed, which will then also result in a later harvest of the tasty nectarines. In general, it can be assumed that the fruits will be ready to harvest around three months after flowering.

care

Proper care is of course important so that the nectarine tree blooms at all so that it can later bear ripe fruit. Because it can also happen that a blossom results in fruits which, however, do not ripen due to poor care. Therefore, when caring for a bountiful harvest, the following should be paid attention to in particular:

• correct, sunny and bright location
• enough water and fertilizer
• the right pruning

A nectarine tree that is not properly cared for will usually not bear fruit for a successful harvest. If there is a lack of water, for example, the fruits hanging on the tree remain hard and are not edible. If there is a lack of light, on the other hand, the fruits ripen and become soft, but unfortunately often remain tasteless.

First harvest

Nectarines can be harvested relatively quickly after the tree is planted. Young trees already bear one or the other fruit. In addition, these fruit trees are very fast-growing specimens, so that a rich harvest can be expected after just a few years after cultivation:

• no fruit in the year of cultivation
• in the second year it depends on the variety
• every tree blooms from the third year onwards
• fruit may appear sporadically
• expect more fruit every year
• Proper care is especially important here

Best harvest time

When the nectarines are ripe can be done with a simple Pressure test to be found out. This is necessary because the fruits ripen differently in the local latitudes and a specific date for a harvest cannot be given here. Because the best time to harvest your own nectarines depends on the following factors:

• Duration of winter
• when did the first flowers appear?
• Fruits about three months after they have faded
• Set of sunny days in spring / summer
• Sun supports faster ripening
• later harvest in rainy summers
• from July in warm climates
• until September in colder zones

The prevailing climate is important for the ripening of the fruit. Therefore, the time for harvesting can vary from year to year for up to a month. Because in one year the winter is longer, in the other it is shorter. The flowering time also depends on this and the time in which the tasty fruits are formed.

Recognize maturity

In order to be able to harvest the fruits when they are ripe, a pressure test can be carried out with the hands. But the appearance of the fruits can often tell whether they are sufficiently ripe for harvest. The ripeness of the nectarines can be recognized as follows:

• Color of the fruit
• different depending on the variety
• inquire when purchasing the tree
• Fruit yields slightly when pressed

Not all fruits get the necessary ripeness for a harvest at the same time. There can be one to two or even more weeks between the first and last harvest. In addition, it depends on the variety, because not all nectarines ripen equally well in the local latitudes. It is therefore important to inquire carefully when making a purchase.

Harvest when necessary

If you don't want to cook jam or juice or otherwise process the fruit, you should always harvest when necessary. The ripe nectarines taste best when eaten straight from the tree. Of course, they can also be stored for a few days to a few weeks. However, if it is possible to take only a few fruits a day during harvest, this will be reflected in the taste. Most varieties usually ripen over several weeks, so that ripe fruit can be harvested from the tree straight into the mouth every day for up to three weeks.