Apricots are ready to harvest when the skin has turned from green to a deep golden yellow or orange (depending on variety) and the fruit yields slightly to gentle pressure but still feels firm. For most of the Northern Hemisphere, this window falls between late May and mid-August, with the exact timing depending on your climate and variety. Getting the pick right matters more with apricots than with many other fruits, because they soften remarkably fast once ripe.
Color Is Your Most Reliable Indicator
The single best sign that an apricot is ready is its ground color, the base color of the skin underneath any red blush. While the fruit is developing, this ground color is green. As it matures, it shifts to pale yellow, then golden yellow, then deep orange. You want to pick when the green is completely gone and the fruit has reached a uniform golden to orange tone across its entire surface. Any lingering green, especially near the stem end, means it needs more time.
Red blush can be misleading. Some varieties develop a rosy cheek well before they’re actually ripe. Ignore the blush and focus on the underlying yellow-orange color instead.
How a Ripe Apricot Should Feel
A harvest-ready apricot feels firm with just a slight give when you press gently with your thumb. UC Davis postharvest research classifies apricots as “ready to eat” at 2 to 3 pounds of flesh firmness, but on the tree you want to pick them firmer than that because they bruise easily once soft. A fruit that feels rock-hard is too early. One that dents under light pressure is overripe and will bruise during handling.
The speed of softening is what makes timing so critical. Apricots lose about 3 pounds of firmness per day at room temperature (68°F). That means a fruit that feels perfectly firm today can be mushy in 24 to 48 hours if left on the tree in warm weather. When in doubt, pick on the firmer side.
Apricots Ripen After Picking
Apricots are climacteric fruits, which means they continue to ripen after harvest. The fruit produces a natural ripening hormone (ethylene) that drives softening, color deepening, and aroma development even after it leaves the tree. This is good news for home growers: picking slightly early doesn’t sacrifice flavor the way it would with a non-climacteric fruit like a cherry.
That said, sugar content does not increase significantly after picking. The sweetness you taste comes from sugars that accumulated while the fruit was still on the branch. Mature apricots typically reach 20 to 24 °Brix (a measure of sugar concentration), and fruit picked well before that range will taste flat no matter how long it sits on your counter. Overripe fruit above 24 °Brix tastes extremely sweet but becomes sticky and difficult to handle, especially if you plan to dry it.
To ripen firm-picked apricots at home, leave them at room temperature for one to three days. Placing them in a paper bag speeds things up by trapping the ethylene they naturally produce.
The Twist Test
When an apricot is truly ready, it should separate from the branch with a gentle twist and slight upward lift. You shouldn’t need to tug or pull hard. If the fruit resists, it’s not mature enough. If it falls into your hand before you even twist, it may be past peak. Cup the fruit in your palm rather than gripping it with your fingertips to avoid leaving bruise marks on the soft flesh.
Pick into shallow containers, one or two layers deep at most. Stacking apricots in a deep bucket is a fast way to turn your bottom layer into jam.
Harvest Season by Region and Variety
Apricot season in the Northern Hemisphere generally runs from late May through August, with earlier harvests in warmer zones and later ones in cooler climates. The classic Blenheim (also called Royal) variety, popular in California, typically ripens from late June through mid-July. Early-season varieties like Tomcot can be ready in late May or early June, while later varieties push into August.
Your local harvest date depends heavily on accumulated heat. Apricots need a certain number of warm days between bloom and maturity, and a cool spring can push the entire season back by two weeks or more. Conversely, a stretch of hot weather in late spring accelerates ripening and compresses the harvest window. Research on heat accumulation in apricots shows that daily temperatures up to at least 86°F (30°C) don’t inhibit fruit development, so hot spells generally speed things up rather than stalling them.
Because of this sensitivity to temperature, the best approach is to start checking your tree daily once you notice the green fading from the skin. The window between “almost ready” and “overripe” can be as short as three to five days in hot weather.
Picking for Different Uses
Your intended use should influence exactly when you pick. For fresh eating, harvest when the fruit is fully colored and just starting to soften. For jams, preserves, or drying, pick at full color but still firm, ideally in the 20 to 24 °Brix sugar range, which gives you the best balance of sweetness and structure. Fruit above 24 °Brix releases too much juice during drying, creating a sticky surface that clumps during storage.
For canning or shipping, pick even firmer. You want fruit that can handle being moved around without bruising, knowing it will soften over the next day or two at room temperature.
Storing Fresh Apricots
Once picked, apricots at room temperature last only two to three days before they become overripe. Refrigeration slows the process significantly. Store firm, just-harvested apricots in the refrigerator at around 32 to 36°F (0 to 2°C) and they’ll hold for one to three weeks depending on how ripe they were at picking. Keep them in a single layer if possible, and avoid sealing them in plastic bags, which trap moisture and promote decay.
One thing to watch for in storage is a condition where the flesh becomes spongy or gel-like inside while the outside still looks fine. This breakdown happens more often in fruit that was stored after becoming too soft. Picking at the right firmness and cooling the fruit quickly after harvest are the best ways to prevent it.