A few recent posts stirred my brain from a quiet nights slumber. So will post this in case anyone cares.

I've had a very wide range of fruit quality in my current setup. Much wider than my previous 30+ years experience. The higher brix and better tasting fruit, for me, is brought on by months long growth at a moderate water deficit. I'm unsure what others are seeing because most reports are subjective.

When I see some actual brix numbers from others I'll have a better feel of what's going on elsewhere. All I've seen so far are those posted by Clemson. Their highest single brix reading from thousands of observations on hundreds of varieties of peach and nectarine over many years was 25. I surpassed that dozens of times just last year. Clemson's early stuff was mostly 10-14 brix. Later varieties mostly 14-18.

My impression is that irrigated peach and nectarine orchards are mostly in that same range. Now 18 can be a very good nectarine but it's not a 22-24 for taste. The higher brix can translate to more color and flavor as well. Some varieties there won't be a difference in color, mostly those with yellow flesh. It shows on those with some red in the flesh. At least that's my impression.

I grew irrigated plums, apricot, peaches, and nectarine 30 years in Amarillo, a pretty dry place. Most of that fruit wasn't very sweet and if it rained a lot it could be downright sorry. I suspect most of those were 12 to 18 brix fruits. When they hit 18 I was really happy. Mostly I was disappointed. Now I realize I was over watering, about 3-4 inches very two weeks. To much water was certainly the case for my 4 year adventure in California. To much irrigation and a water table permanently at 24-36 inches in sandy soil.

Large commercial growers will never shoot for high brix fruit. It's risky and they don't get paid on brix. They get paid for big pretty fruit and that means mostly fair to good quality at best. Since commercial growers don't care neither do universities. You won't find this stuff on their pages. Maybe that's why the average peach sold in the US is about 11.8 brix according to one source.

Not trying to make anyone feel bad about their fruit quality. We all have limitations of soil and climate. What I'm sure of is that my current fruit is much better than what I've grown outdoors in TX or CA and I think I know why.

Good day and Happy New Year to all!!