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pittsfordnygardener

What is eating my grapes

I have found over the years something is eating my grapes before they reach a couple millimeters. See the attach photos. I always thought it was birds. And this year I have covered with netting. But it seems something is still getting to them. So I have started to spray with Ortho Bug-Be-Gone. Does anyone have other recommendations?

Comments (16)

  • jean001a
    10 years ago

    Most likely the lost/fallen grapes weren't pollinated. Happens w/ adverse weather at flowering.

  • tim45z10
    10 years ago

    I have to agree with the nonpollination. Look onthe ground for the missing grapes.

  • pittsfordnygardener
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Oh - that is interesting. Don't know much about growing grapes. Would have thought pollination occurs BEFORE the grapes appear; not after.

    So by putting up nets and spraying could I be making the matter worse by making it more difficult for bugs/bees to assist in the pollination effort?

  • pittsfordnygardener
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ahhh - Learn something new every day! I actually thought those were the grapes.

    Yeah - I have had pretty decent bunches in the past. And I have seen actual grapes. But also in the past I believe that birds have gotten to them. Hence it is why I have put the netting around them. Is it common that birds will get to your grapes?

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    10 years ago

    Down here birds eat 100% before they are really ripe. Keep the bird netting.

  • gabedef
    8 years ago

    I have had the same problem with my grapes I would say for about the last 3 to 4 growing seasons .. I am not satisfied with the explanation that this is part of the growing process .. I have clusters that don't have a lot of individual baby grapes on them to begin with, yet all of those grapes disappear as shown in the picture .. and .. it happens gradually from one end of the vine to the other until "ALL" the clusters look like spurs with no grapes on them at picking time .. Never had this problem before .. I live here in Concord, Ontario, Canada .. It seems like this phenomenon of grapes disappearing on the clusters .. and that spur-like appearance .. is something I don't recall having seen in the past.

    I'm thinking this is something that can be remedied by some kind of pesticide .. I used "WILSON SPIDER BAN" brand and it helped a little but not completely .. don't know which pesticide works best though for this problem .. DOES ANYONE HAVE AN IDEA HOW TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM? .. especially because it happens at such an early stage?


  • Carrie Hewitt
    8 years ago

    I came on here to find the answer to the exact phenomena. Have had a few great seasons, but the last two have done this same thing. In my good seasons, this stage never occurred,

  • virtualtwn
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I found your question yesterday and have the same thing with my newly budding grapes - I'm in NSW, Australia. I hope you don't mind but I copied your pic and asked my local nursery, this was their answer........

    Your grape look perfectly normal. Before grapes develop they need to be pollinated. The little fuzzy parts sticking out are just the stamens (male part) which hold the pollen out away from the stigma (female part). Each flower needs to be pollinated then you should have the grapes develop.

    So as others say they haven't seen it before can we blame climate change, lol? We here have had some extreme weather. I'm wondering though if there aren't enough bees around to do the job?

  • Rosefolly
    8 years ago

    Bees are not necessary for pollinating grapes. They take care of it themselves.

    Some grapes are self-fertile, others are not. Weather can have an impact.


    Spraying with an insecticide will not help with fertilization, and may be killing off beneficial insects that are actually killing harmful insects. You should not spray insecticides unless you actually identify a pest.

  • dandroid53@gmail.com
    5 years ago

    So... there seems to be a lot of uncertainty about how to solve this problem. For the past three years I’ve had the same problem. Can anyone recommen the solution? Thanks!

  • Mike
    5 years ago

    Rats

  • mrmcginnis99
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I have two grape vines that are about five years old. I have this same problem. In spring, I see tons of clusters of baby grapes all over the vines. Once it starts getting warmer, I notice all the grapes start to disappear. In a few weeks time, ALL baby grapes will be gone. Just the “spurs” left behind. Today I caught a strange looking little bug on one of the clusters. Wondering how to identify him?

  • HU-324349017
    3 years ago

    You probably have grape berry moth. Look it up. The tiny caterpillar stage eats the baby grapes. at this stage they are so tiny it’s hard to see. they grow bigger and move to leaves and you will see tiny holes and they turn brown which makes them easier to see. Once I figured out my problem I was able to solve by spraying with Sevin insecticide (for garden use). i only need to spray once - as soon as I see the grape stalks emerge but before the flowers open. Works for the last 6 years. I should add that I have 6 (20 yr old) Concord grape vines and live in Maryland, US.

  • Savannah Mankiller
    2 years ago

    I have been experiencing a similar problem with many of my young/unripe grapes disappearing of the growing bunches. I found a promising tip from Pinterest about a week ago which involves cutting old pantyhose into sections and covering as many bunches as you can and so far it seems to be working . It is definitely worth trying. Good luck !

  • Elizabeth Johnson
    2 years ago

    Something very strange happened for the first time. My grape vines (thompson) have always produced a lot, just pretty small. This time, though, they were getting bigger and then they looked like someone took a straw to each individual one and sucked it dry. I know what raisins look like on the vine. This looked different. There's no meat left, just sucked up skin.

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