jules wrote:
Hello all

It's still a small tree, and I've only let one fruit stay - it's
colouring up very nicely, but does anyone know how long I should leave
it or how I can tell it's actually ready? I'm thinking it might be
like my mandys - they stayed orange for ages before they were ready
(lots of fun getting my daughter to go out and test the fruit each
week. Her enthusiasm for mandys meant she never got the idea she
should be careful of the first bite!)

ta

Jules

The local tradition is that oranges are not properly ripe until the frost
has been on them. I doubt that the frost has any affect in itself but the
idea is leave them until well into winter. We leave citrus on the tree
until they are needed, in some cases this is many weeks after they seem to
be full coloured. If they start to fall or get fungus etc we pull them.

David