HAve about 6 grape vines in the yard and 3 are producing grapes well... but two of those have recently lost a lot, and many of the remaining grapes have split open. It got over 110F a few weeks ago, and nearly every other day it has at least been over 100F here in southern California... are the grapes splitting from the heat, or this some unrelated malady?
those were Flame... here a Fantasy, also spit
Just a guess, but I know too much water can cause similar sized fruits to crack, such as gooseberries and tomatoes, but have no direct experience with grapes doing this. At first I thought it might be some kind of pest biting a swollen fruit but the pictures don't show that to me. The first pic might support a pest, but the second does not.
Please let us know if you figure it out, but I would try cutting back on water and see if the problem stops.
can assure it's not due to overwatering.. in fact, I was worried underwatering was the culprit...
I'm betting on the heat getting them. 100 F is high heat for grapes. I'm not famaliar with the type of grape you're growing but very few grapes do well in heat. I grow muscadines which can take heat and humidity. I have tried a few wine type grapes and they just die here. I might beable to grow some sort of Spanish variety but muscadines are really the only ones I can grow here. As far as watering, grapes usually do better with not much water. As they say a grape has to suffer. LOL.
This message was edited Jul 6, 2008 11:34 PM
I suspected as much .... bummer. split grapes still taste good?
It can also be due to the unevenness in watering. If you don't water for quite some time but then water thoroughly, the big change can push too much water to the fruit and you get splits. Here in the east big rains are a major problem for splitting of fruits.
Scott
