Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have an approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture of the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.
This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are wonderful. Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for more than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never tough, quite the contrary.
Any ideas??
TIA