Citrus - Ripe or Not

 In tropical regions of the world, some gardeners patiently wait for their citrus fruit, such as tangerines, to turn orange before picking them.  When using color as an indicator for ripeness, the fruit can easily pass its prime, which is characterized by dry fruit segments. 

Coloration can be an indicator for ripeness in temperate and subtropical climates like California. But in the tropics, color is not a good guide for harvesting. Large temperature differences, such as 85 F. in the day and 45 F. at night, is the condition which produces the orange coloration.  This is also true in other fruit such as apples. 
In contract, temperatures in the tropics do not significantly vary; thus fruit tends to stay at least partially green.

 

If you know the variety of the fruit, you can find out the harvest period. If you don’t know the variety, then when the fruit first begins to show color, pick one and taste it. If it’s not ripe, or not sweet enough, wait a week or two and pick another. Fruit will sweeten when left on the tree. Eventually you’ll discover the right time and know the approximate picking schedule for next year. 

Once citrus fruit is picked, it will not continue to ripen and become sweeter unlike other fruit such as the banana.