Brook,

Because they are more difficult to grow, I've been reluctant to try them.

Redgold is supposed to the Midwest standby, but I've seen a block of them at one orchard and they were eaten up by bac. spot.

Another peach grower has told me it's very difficult to get a marketable nectarine here.

Nevertheless I ordered a Honey Blaze for next Spring. Among nectarines, it supposedly performs better in humid climates. Also have a small Hardired. Old variety. Don't know how it's supposed to perform, but the Harrow breeding station has a reputation for releasing stuff that tolerates humidity/rain.

In the past, Hman has raved about Summer Beaut. I would have tried it but didn't see it offered by any of the nurseries I ordered from.

I'd love to be able to grow some good nectarines.

I'm done growing them. I had brown rot like crazy. Mine would crack and ooze whenever it rained. Compared to the peaches I grow, they are far more work...PC loves to lay eggs in them too.

Yeah, they're a pain in the rear. IF you are really dedicated about spraying, you can get a good crop. If you slack off, it's more or less game over, or at least you'll end up with a partial crop of misshapen, diseased fruit.

I probably have slacked off more years than not, and often don't get too much. I have one nectarine tree right in line with 5 of my peach trees, and the 5-6 sprays that control things perfectly on the peaches really aren't enough for the nectarine, especially in terms of disease. The couple of times I have given it an additional 3-4 sprays, it really did make a difference. The flavor of a tree ripened nectarine is really fantastic, so it may be worth the effort.

If you are in the business I'm surprised that you have difficulty controlling PC unless you are trying to grow organically. Here PC doesn't favor peaches much but treat Nectarines almost like Euro plums although I think the Euros are harder. 2 sprays of Avaunt or Imidan takes care of them every year here for necs but not always for E. plums.

I have to admit, I would not want to grow Nectarines commercially but last year my Summer Beauts did better than peaches ripening at the same time even though we had relentless rain at time of ripening. Most of the fruit did not crack, but I was putting down fungicide up to 2 weeks before harvest. The problem with the peaches was flavor- too watery but nectarines always get the brix.

I think it's a good idea to span the season with them so you are bound to get some great fruit. Eastern Glo is nice and early and I tasted some of them last year and they are plenty good. My Red Golds also came through for me and ripen after Summer Beaut. If you have nectarines you may not eat that many peaches.

I have less experience with nectarines than other fruit and am only speaking from limited experience with them although I have a cracker who's name I've lost that I've been growing for 20 years. It's either Hardired or Mericrest, I think, and the fruit is totally delicious even when cracked. Half rots before it's ripe, however, with spray. Otherwise it all rots.

harvestman:

My only input on this subject is that nectarines don't always get high brix. Arctic Star for me has ranged from 12 to 35+ brix. The best ones are 24-30. But usually I'm very happy with 22-24 brix.

Above 32 indicates too much water stress and the flavor usually goes bad. The fruit is small and cracked.

Below about 16 brix is clearly too much water and, possibly, way over cropped. With too much water the fruit is big, beautiful, and bland but doesn't crack in my greenhouse with no rain.

If you haven't seen low brix nectarine then your soil must be pretty favorable, somewhat droughty?

Nectarine properly grown is the best fruit I grow. But it is harder to achieve top quality than pluot.

FN, I'm not studying them as scientifically as you are. My point was only that they consistently are more highly flavored than peaches- and not just at my site but everywhere I grow them. Last year the rain seemed never to stop from mid-Aug to mid-Sept here so I was glad to have fully flavored nectarines to eat.

Along with the cracking, scab, rotting, bugs, etc, I have problems getting nectarines to size up. This is not due to insufficient thinning. I think even a mild amount of peach scab on the fruits causes them to runt out for me. For my personal consumption I still like to grow them, but growing salable nectarines (especially organically) is a big challenge. The one positive is I can grow them pretty much bug-free using Surround for the curculio and mating disruption and spinosad for the moths.

Scott

They are grown commercially in the east, although I doubt they are very profitable. I don't see what would make them harder in the midwest, once you were past heavy frost.

Sizing them has always been an issue with nectarines in the east as far as selling them. The majority of fruit on my trees are small although maybe a third are of good size, but the quality of most of the small fruit is still very good.

The newer varieties recommended for the east have crack resistance.

Thanks! As I indicated, they were rather experimental--like sweet cherries--and I'm not too surprised nor disappointed that they failed. They only received the same attention as my peaches, so maybe it is more my failure than theirs. Still, I am unwilling to invest any more into them. My farm is only an avocation, but I hope to give it my full attention when I retire in a few years. I only have 45 assorted fruit trees and consider them an extra bonus. So far, vegetables have paid the bills, and berries have made the profit. Rather than dedicate more time, effort, and space to a questionable fruit, I think I'll replace them with something more reliable. Demand for peaches is always high. Redhaven and Elberta are my mainstays, but I also have Belle of GA, Blushing Star, Tru Gold, Reliance, Contender,and Indian Blood--pretty much the standards. I am open to suggestions for a couple different varieties. I recall H'man mentioning Encore.

I don't know if Encore is the best late at this point as new varieties arrive so quickly but it has been a NJ mainstay for commercial growers there for almost 20 years. When we have a warm dryish Sept it's amazingly good and is always at least good. It's one of my favorite peaches just because they taste so good for that late in the season.

Autumn Glow is bigger but not as sweet and much more prone to brown rot, I think.

Brook,

I'm a fruit peddler too.

One of my orchard practices is to continually sort through varieties, pulling stuff out stuff I'm not happy with, and replacing it with something better (at least something I hope is better). I'm shooting for the best tasting fruit with a decent appearance. Yield is not high on my list. I'd rather have fewer great tasting peaches than lots of mediocre ones.

Some of the peaches on your list I've pulled out for the following reasons:

Belle of Georgia - It fails on both taste and appearance. Last summer my one B of G tree produced probably 3-4 bushels. I could have sold them but the quality just wasn't there (it never is) so I let them rot on the ground. This winter, I'm finally cutting the tree down. The only real advantage of B of G is that it's very easy to grow, which is why it's popular for a backyard peach.

Reliance falls in the same category. Small, fair flavor, poor color, but perhaps slightly more reliable. Before I took it out, my Reliance bloomed about a week later than other peaches which might prevent frost damage every now and then.

Elberta (I'm not referring to the "June Elberta") - Although I've not tasted Elberta, most folks report it's an average tasting peach. Redskin, which I do grow, is an Elberta offspring, ripens the same time and tastes good, but has much better color. As Hman mentioned Encore, a newer peach, ripens in the same window, and is considered better than Elberta or Redskin. I have some Encore's ordered for next Spring.

I have a Contender but don't expect to keep it. It has a reputation for an average peach, and supposedly has a very upright growth habit. I know a commercial peach grower with about 30-40 varieties who indicated it's the only peach he won't reorder. Coralstar ripens about the same time and is one of my favorite peaches.

I see you don't have any early peaches on your list. Early ones generally aren't as good as later ones, but you may want to consider some early varieties.

In order of preference, so far, I like Risingstar, Earlystar, and PF1. PF1 is the earliest, and the quality can be variable (flavorwise) but generally it's pretty good for an early peach. Risingstar seems to be the most consistent flavorwise (very good) but is more prone to rot with heavy rains than other early peaches (even with sprays). Earlystar ripens between Risingstar and PF1 and is a vary good peach.

So IL isn't that far from KC. If you are ever in the KC area and want to stop by, let me know.

Mark

Mark, thanks for the invite and the suggestions. I think I learn more by visiting other operations than anything else. I've looked closely at PF1 for the last couple years but never committed to it.

One of the hardest lessons I'm still learning about market gardening is giving the customer what he wants in addition to getting him to try what I find outstanding. Many people here want a peach for processing, and they want Elberta and Belle. I think that also may be the appeal for a Kiefer pear, which I detest. I also think Red Delicious apples are an abomination to the fruit world, but they still remain popular. Personally, I don't like Indian Blood fresh or processed, but it is a novelty and has a loyal following. I do, however, find Redhaven to be a really fine peach. I'm also a fan of plain old Jonathon apples, but the rage today are the sweets--Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, which I just don't like. I keep a small patch of wild blackberries because people want them. Why anyone would choose those small, seedy, sour berries over a huge, sweet, juicy Triple Crown is beyond me, but they do.

It's the same in the vegetable world as well. People will marvel at my purple, green, gold, and spiral-pointed cauliflower but purchase the white. Plain old zucchini outsells my specialties ten to one. Last year, I planted 42 different varieties of winter squash but sold over a ton of butternuts. While I enjoy educating the public and will never end my quest for the perfect product, I also remember the attempts to make America metric!!!

Have a great 2012.

Encore ripens about a week after Elberta here. I think Elberta is a fine tasting peach and because it's not too wet it, stores and jars well. I can see how its color would make it less attractive commercially, however. Here people don't really follow the names of the varieties of peaches they buy and only judge them on taste and color.

Brook, do you grow Goldrush? It's a fine market apple that might fit the bill for your tastes. I love Jonathan also.

Brook,

Very interesting indeed! I see what you are saying. It sounds like certain varieties almost have a tradition there.

If I were there, I'd be doing the same as you. You have to give the customer what he/she wants.

Here it's not the same. People only know a fresh picked peach is a whole lot better than a store bought one.

At the farm market, almost all of my business has come from people tasting the peaches first. When someone walks by my table slowly and looks at the peaches, if I'm not busy I always ask if they'd like to try a free sample. They almost always do. I find a good soft peach, wash, skin, cut it in half, and give them a paper towel for a napkin. I enjoy seeing their facial expressions if it's the first time they've tasted a non-store bought peach.

I think it makes it fun for people to be able to sample foods at a farmer's market. It makes the farmer's market more homey. I get a tremendous amount of business this way (both new and repeat) and it doesn't cost me much since I use my 2nds for the free samples (just cut away the bad part).

At the farm market, I think I could sell anything by giving away free samples, as long as it tastes. At roadside it's different. People who stop expect to buy peaches (or they wouldn't stop). I still give them a free sample because I like doing it, but they would buy peaches without it.

Hman,

Didn't know Encore ripened a week after Elberta. Redskin ripens +30 for me here, which is about when Elberta's supposed to ripen. Encore is listed as +33 which I thought pretty close. Sometimes those lists aren't quite right and of course there is some variability from year to year.

Yes, I like Goldrush very much and had 2 until I lost one this summer. The survivor is only 3 years old and is far from producing much. I've become fond of Jonagold and will add that one in place of the erstwhile Goldrush.

It's true that most people don't know the names of the variety and don't care, but the ones who do are very loyal. They also the ones who buy by the bushel, not the pound. They will go from vendor to vendor until they get what they want. I had a gentleman who only wanted Jet Star tomatoes. If I had them, he'd buy 10 lbs--if not, just one. I can't begin to tell you the number of people who contact me just because I have a certain variety they want--and they want every one I can raise. Without a doubt, people develop a sentimental attachment to a product and will go to great lengths to get it. I had an elderly man from South Carolina contact me to buy dewberries. He was heartbroken when I informed him they were just too fragile to ship. I did, however, send him a free half pint of dewberry jam. By the way, this is the most enjoyable part of the job.