Ojai Pixie Season Update: The 2026 Crop is Coming Soon!

There’s nothing quite like an Ojai Pixie tangerine. This small, seedless citrus fruit hails from California’s Ojai Valley, where the hot days and cool nights make it intensely juicy and sweet. Ojai Pixie season typically doesn’t arrive until March, but it’s well worth the wait! Each year’s crop varies in size and quantity, so ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 season, The FruitGuys called up Pixie grower Emily Ayala of Friend’s Ranches to see how her fruit is coming along.

Smaller Crop, Bigger Pixies

Friend’s Ranches is famous for its Ojai Pixies. In 2025, Emily and her fellow citrus growers at the co-op Ojai Pixie Packers harvested a whopping 30 million of them. She dubbed it “The Epic Pixie Crop of 2025” and partnered with The FruitGuys to deliver Pixies to California schools and offices across the country.

That 2025 crop featured an abundance of tiny Pixies. This year’s Ojai Pixie season is shaping up to be the opposite—though just as delicious—with fewer and larger fruits.

“We saw 20–30 inches of rain, depending on where you are in the valley. That’s pretty staggering for early-season rain, and rain causes the fruit to grow, so our big fruit is turning even bigger!” Emily explained, adding that this year’s usually-tiny fruits are “more like a small orange, about 3–4 inches in diameter.”

Sensationally Sweet

As a rule of thumb, smaller fruits are sweeter. But even big Pixies are no slouch in the sweetness department. They have a higher Brix (sugar content) than pretty much any other citrus, and Emily said this year’s Ojai Pixie season is no exception.

“They’re super sweet. I’ve been tasting them already, and they’re good, but they still need another six weeks or so to get their flavor up,” she explained to The FruitGuys in January.

Crossing Our Fingers for Color

Along with the rain, the Ojai Valley had warmer-than-usual temperatures this winter. Because cold nights help tangerines develop their bright orange skins, this year’s Pixies are “a little paler in color” than average. Emily has her fingers crossed for a few more cold nights before harvest time to deepen the fruit’s color and intensify its flavor.

When Will Ojai Pixie Season Start?

The timing of the Ojai Pixie harvest—like all produce harvests—is dictated by weather. But Pixies usually appear in early spring, and Emily has her eye on an early March debut for her 2026 fruit.

“Come that first week of March, we’ll be getting them out and about. Hopefully, we can get enough for The FruitGuys to fill up all of the boxes across the country!” she said.

Where to Buy Sweet Ojai Pixies

The FruitGuys delivers Ojai Pixie tangerines to offices, homes, and schools throughout the fruit’s short season. You can order them in bulk or look for them in our mixed fruit boxes. When the crop is big enough, we slip them into lucky California mixes while supplies last.