Why Do Fruit Split Before Harvesting?

Q. What causes cantaloupe melons to split before they slip the vine?

Melons splitting as they are ripening

A. Like any fruit, when the melon nears maturity and the outside rind hardens and irrigation water is “pumped” into fruit, they split. This can happen with melons, cherries, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other botanical fruits. Fruit with a thin skin like cherries are more susceptible to splitting after a rain than thicker “skinned” melons. Fruit splitting can happen soon after an irrigation when the temperatures have created a lot of stress or right after a rain.

Peach splitting on the tree

Rainwater enters the fruit through the “skin” or rind and causes it to swell and burst. It is due to an “osmotic effect” and susceptible fruits will split when nearly ripe and their sugar content is peaking. Nearing maturity is the time these fruits are full of sugar and primed for rainfall and the “osmotic effect”. “Nearly ripe” is a dangerous time for a combination of fruit and rain.

Orange split

What to do? First of all, note the variety. Some varieties are more susceptible to splitting while others are not. Secondly, harvest climacteric fruit (those fruit that continue to ripen after they are picked) early. before a rain and let them ripen protected after harvest. Unfortunately, melons are non-climacteric and do not ripen further after picking. Protect the fruit from rainwater and apply a surface mulch during hot weather.