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Why do nearly all of our Harbelle peaches taste "off" and sometimes seem "grainy"? #840424

Asked July 13, 2023, 8:03 AM EDT

Tree planted spring 2016; this season's Fruits coming ripe now (7-13-23); taste is poor and not sweet, the texture is grainy and punky and there is less juice. Same problem last year, in other years it seems like these peaches tasted fine. We have had considerable brown rot problems especially with this tree, for which we spray fungicide the best we can, cull regularly when we see it developing, and keep the orchard ground clean. Red Haven and Loring are also in our orchard and have historically not had this taste problem, although they are not ripe yet this year. The spraying regime has included the following in various orders/seasons: Horticulture spray (early spring/pre-growth); Bonide Fruit Tree Sray; Bonide fruit and Nut Tree Orchard Spray; Sevin; Captan; Spectricide Immunox Multi-Purpose Fungicide. The Harbelle peaches look wonderful this year and are bountiful, but we find them inedible when we cut into them. Have others experienced such problems with this cultivar?

Montgomery County Maryland

Expert Response

Hi-
Sorry to hear about the issues with This Canadian peach is widely grown in the U.S. commercially and in home gardens. There are no widely reported issues with fruit quality. 

Mealiness and poor flavor can be caused by frequent storms that cause soils to become saturated. Also by refrigeration.

Factors affecting peach quality:
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/peach/commercial/fertilization/numerous-factors-affect-peach-quality.html
Jon

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