My father who had a very large grape vine never got a single grape from it. He died and his house has sold yet the vine still has the same problem. That is that when the fruit first appears it develops normally until it gets to the size of a BB shot. Then within two to three days they're all gone. Just the little stems remain. He had dusted and sprayed yet whatever is eating them still survives. He could not ever see any type bug or disease agent yet EVERY year the fruit disappeared. Recently I planted several grape vines myself and this year they were covered with fruit. To my dismay the same bug or disease has done the same thing to me. I live next door to his house. Because of the speed in which the fruit disappears I'd say it is some type of bug but what? I have looked close and have not seen anything. What can I spray or dust with to combat this problem? All help appreciated...........................Bruce
Ravenous birds...? Or maybe other wildlife, such as possums, etc.? These guys can be quite stealthy. How about video surveillance? Just thinking that bugs or diseases would take a while to do their work...the fact that ALL the fruit disappears in a flash makes me think that something must be eating it all---something big enough TO eat it all. An intriguing, though frustrating, mystery!
in a period of three to four days ALL fruit is gone. My vines are close to the house and I walk by them frequently going to and from my vehicle. If it were birds or other animals I would have seen them. It must be some time of bug even though I have looked closely and have not seen them either. Has happened EVERY year, something is definantly going on?
you wouldn't necessarily see a nocturnal animal. skunks, racoons, opposum, bats (some eat fruit), etc.
you might try a bag. put it around the fruit and see if it falls off or somthing tears into the bag. that is if you have any fruit left at all there are netting products out there too and no mater what it is. i agree whatever the critter bug bird bat possum etc. it must be feeding at night cause if it was a bug that was doing it you would see that many small critters doing it durring the day. it could also be slugs or snails they are usually gone durring the day they would leave a slime trail though that would be visible
What is very puzzling is that the small stems are all still in place. No animal would be able to do that. Bugs could. Therefore, I am confidant it is bugs. In addition, my dads grape vine has an arbor so large you can walk upright under the canopy of vines. Most aninals (not all)could not get up there. He has had millions of grapes that disappear over a three day period. Somehow I thought this might be a common problem and the answer would be obvious. I still have two to three grapes left on some clusters, I'll wrap them in the morning if they are still there...Thanks.....Bruce
I wonder if the very small grapes fall off naturally because they are not pollinated? There was a discussion some time ago about a similiar problem so a search in the grape forum might prove helpful. Good luck. Margaret
The racoons ate all of the fruit on our grape vine, leaving the stems behind. They don't even wait for the fruit to ripen. Apparently they had been doing this for years and the previous owners of our house never ate a single grape in the 18 years they lived here. They are stealthy little buggers and can strip a vine of fruit very quickly. (We actually took our vines out because the deck was turning into a racoon toilet. Lovely mess to step into in the morning. Looking for a replacement now.)
That's a big assumption. Bats here eat the banana and leave the peel hanging from the bunch, and the possum just leaves stems behind on my kiwis.
