North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Eric Farnsworth <tropicofkansas@sbcglobal.net>]

I have noticed this very thing on a single tree that has enough fruits to 
compare. Even fruits in a single 'hand' - from one flower can vary in flavor 
and color. I believe it is as Lee says - a matter of ripeness. Lighter color 
and brighter flavor when just ripe going to more orange and stronger 'old 
banana' flavor as they get riper. With experience you can identify the time 
when they are ready to pick, but haven't fallen yet. Fruits will certainly 
drop at different stages of ripeness, just due to mechanical factors such as 
fruit size and how much the branch might get disturbed.
 
Eric Farnsworth - Eastern Kansas
All the paw paws in the yard in town just ripe yesterday.
 
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:11:38 -0400
From: Elizabeth Hilborn <ehilborn@mebtel.net>
Subject: Re: [nafex] Pawpaw report - differences among fruit on same
    tree
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Interesting Lee. Because this is my first crop, and I am learning when 
pawpaws are ripe, I did not pick any, I just gathered the drops.  So 
they were all ripe enough to drop!

Have you noticed variability in color from a single tree as well?

On 9/24/2013 8:55 PM, Lee Reich wrote:
> I have always been amazed at the differences in flavor and size of fruits 
> on a single tree. When you factor in degree of ripeness, the flavor 
> differences become even greater, although much of the flavor difference 
> might be due to differences in ripeness because all the fruits on a tree do 
> not ripen together. The spread is greater than for many fruit trees.
> .
> Lee Reich, PhD
> Come visit my farmden at http://leereich.blogspot.com/
> http://leereich.com/
>
> Books by Lee Reich:
> A Northeast Gardener's Year
> The Pruning Book
> Weedless Gardening
> Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden
> Landscaping with Fruit
> Grow Fruit Naturally
>
> On Sep 24, 2013, at 8:45 PM, Elizabeth Hilborn wrote:
>
>> My 6 year at site Shenandoah has finally produced a crop. My 2 year at
>> site Potomac produced a single flower which apparently was enough to
>> pollinate multiple Shenandoah flowers.
>>
>> The taste of the fuit was very good, but what really caught my attention
>> was the variability among the fruits; some of them had creamy white
>> flesh, some pale yellow and some a peach color. The flavors differed
>> among fruits too- from a vanilla-custard to a tutti fruity sweetness,
>> and the one I had today tasted just like a very ripe banana.
>>
>> I guess it is normal for fruit sizes to differ depending upon the fruit
>> growing alone or in a cluster- I did observe that as well. Has anyone
>> else noticed this kind of color and flavor variability from a single
>> selected variety?
>>
>> Betsy Hilborn
>> 7a NC
>> __________________
>>
>From jimfruth@charter.net  Wed Sep 25 21:16:40 2013
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From: "Jim Fruth" <jimfruth@charter.net>
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Subject: [nafex] "Fruth's pear question," Alan Haigh
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    Two of you asked me if I am 100% certain that there is no other pear
near me.  Yes, there is, but it didn't bloom at the same time.  Then there
is the matter of a friend of mine who lives miles from anyone else - he has
a pear tree that has produced copious amounts of fruit without a pollinator.
We didn't check it for viable seeds and now we can't check it because I have
since grafted other pears onto it.  As for my tree, some of the seeds are
obviously not viable while others appear(!) to be fully formed and fertile.
My tree doesn't produce fruit every year and my friend's tree has always
produced fruit.  One thing I have learned from my years of schooling
followed by personal experience is that there usually are exceptions to the
rule(?).

Jim Fruth
Pequot Lakes, MN