When Do Apricot Trees Ripen for Harvest? Pruning Time for China's Oldest Fruit Tree

The apricot is known as one of the oldest fruit trees. Apricot trees grow throughout the country, mostly cultivated, especially in North China, Northwest China and East China where they are planted more widely, and in a few areas they have escaped into the wild. So when do apricots ripen for harvest? When is the best time to prune apricot trees?

When to harvest apricots

Apricots ripen in late summer and early autumn.

Apricot trees sprout and bloom in spring. The flowering period is generally between March and April, lasting about half a month, and the timing is fairly concentrated. However, the ripening of the fruit is greatly affected by temperature. The apricot ripening period covers June to August, and most ripen in July when the wheat is harvested. There is a saying, “When the wheat turns yellow, the apricots ripen.”

How to harvest apricots

The harvest time of apricots should be determined according to their use, the direction of consumption and transportation conditions. Generally speaking, fruit intended for distant sales or for processing into canned apricots or dried apricots should be harvested when the fruit has reached the normal size and shape of the variety, has already developed its inherent color and flavor, and the flesh still retains a certain firmness, that is, at what is commonly called the eight-tenths ripe stage.

Apricots for fresh eating, when sold on the local market, should be harvested when fully ripe. At this time the fruit's appearance, size, quality, flavor and aroma all reach their best state, and the flesh changes from firm to soft, making it more welcome to consumers; if transportation conditions are somewhat poor, or the market is far away, the harvest time should be slightly earlier.

Apricots for processing should have their harvest time determined according to the processing use. For processing dried apricots, apricot jam, candied fruit and juice, it is best to harvest when fully ripe but not overripe and softened; for making “green plums” and apricot “preserved plums”, they should be harvested when the fruit has not yet lost its green color. Apricots grown for their kernels should be harvested when the flesh splits open naturally, so that the apricot kernels become plump and full.

When is the best time to prune apricot trees?

Summer pruning of apricot trees is an important part of the year-round pruning. Reasonable summer pruning plays an important role in the rapid shaping of young trees and in increasing the yield of young fruiting trees the following year.

1. Pruning young trees When summer pruning young trees, the water sprouts, competing shoots and upward-growing shoots among the new shoots should be heavily cut back or removed. The extension shoots of the main and lateral branches and the central leader should all be pinched in late June to stimulate the sprouting of secondary shoots to increase the order and number of branches and buds. This not only allows the apricot tree's canopy to form earlier and moderates the growth vigor of the branches, but also reduces the amount of ineffective branch growth. Removing excessive and overly dense branches can improve the ventilation and light conditions of young trees.

2. Pruning trees in the early fruiting stage In summer pruning of apricot trees in the early fruiting stage, the main approach is thinning branches or heavy cutting back. Remove or heavily cut back or shorten branches, including competing shoots, upward-growing shoots and water sprouts, and reasonably thin out overly dense branches to improve ventilation and light penetration and prevent the growth of ineffective branches.

3. Pruning old trees To renew and rejuvenate old apricot trees, summer pruning is very important. For example, large branches cut back in winter will produce many new shoots the following year with strong growth vigor; during summer pruning, their upward-growing shoots and water sprouts should be removed or cut back to reduce the growth of useless branches and increase the rapid growth of the retained branches. Thinning overly dense branches and cutting back the vigorously growing main growth points induces secondary shoots and increases the number of branches and buds. Summer pruning should be carried out several times from June to August.

4. Points to note In order to fully supply nutrients to the retained branches and remove useless branches, summer pruning should be carried out on the secondary shoots that grow in spring. In our province this is generally done from June to August.