Harvesting Times

• Oranges take a long time to come to maturity, with some species taking as long as 12 months after initial growth to come to full ripeness. When planting in spring, some oranges may be ripe as early as October or November, when harvesting can begin without serious threat of frost. However, you should never pick an orange before it is mature or ripe, regardless of the weather forecast. Oranges do not continue to ripen after you pick them, so what you harvest is what you get; if you harvest unripe fruit, it will be inedible.
  
  

Protection from Freeze

• If you know a freeze is coming and your oranges are not ready to be picked, you can protect the fruit from the cold weather. Line the area around the base of the tree with organic mulch or piles of leaves to insulate the soil, preventing the dirt itself from freezing or dropping too low in temperature. Place a bucket of water next to the tree, and then drape the entire tree, including the mulched area and the bucket, in a large piece of landscape fabric or a blanket. Weigh down the edges to prevent the material from blowing away. The bucket will maintain high humidity.
  
  

Judging Ripeness

• Even if you know your orange species, you will likely receive an estimate for maturity time; for example, navel oranges take between seven and 12 months to mature. To judge if your fruit is ripe, pay close attention to its characteristics. Ripe oranges take on the distinctive light yellow/orange color over at least 25 percent of the surface of the peel. You can also taste an orange every week or so to see if it has the correct taste and juiciness of a ripe orange. Professional gardeners conduct acidity tests as well to judge orange maturity, but if it tastes ripe to you, it is ripe.
  
  

How to Harvest

• When your oranges are ripe and ready to harvest, you simply need to use sharp shears or your hands to break the orange away from the stem of the tree. Do your best not to scrape, scratch or otherwise harm the peel, as this will allow air and bacteria inside and speed up the rate at which the oranges will go bad. If you do damage any of the fruit, make sure you use those first.