What causes fruit splitting?

/ Gerald Holmes

In early Spring, I often observe a problem on fruit that is very dramatic and consistent. It happens almost every year to some degree and is often more severe in certain cultivars/varieties. The incidence of the problem ranges from less than 1% to as high as 15-20%. Fruit will split down the middle along a suture or crease and have a seedy tip and hollow interior (Figs 1-4). I’ve heard it called “Pac Man” or “crab claw” which are apt descriptions. The flavor and quality of the fruit are normal, but the exposed dried tissue and overall appearance make the fruit unmarketable. The condition is generally short-lived and fruit shape relatively quickly returns to “normal” in subsequent harvests.

I went looking online for publications that might document the disorder and found it mentioned by W. Guan at Purdue University. I also found a paper by Carew et al. (2003) on “misshapen fruits in strawberry”, but it did not mention this particular and distinctive misshape. So, I asked several of our industry’s most experienced growers and PCAs about the condition and got good consensus around an explanation.

Characteristics of fruit splitting:

  • Occurs in Spring during rapid plant growth when there is a transition from cool to warm weather.
  • Occurs mostly in primary fruit when they are expanding rapidly due to excess nitrogen and soil moisture.
  • Subsides after a few harvests.
  • Occurs in many (if not all) cultivars but seems to be more common in large-fruited cultivars with a tendency to form flat vs. conical shapes and sutures/creases.
  • Could be associated with poor pollination at the tip (Fig. 4), making it more susceptible to splitting as the fruit expands.

I think these explanations make sense. What have been your observations on this condition? Would you agree with what I’ve outlined above? Any other relevant observations you care to share?

Figure 1. Fruit splitting in cultivar Portola in April 2015. This shows the variation in the symptom from mild to severe.
Figure 2. Fruit splitting in immature but fully formed fruit (April 2020).
Figure 3. Fruit splitting in ‘Fronteras’ (April 2022), Santa Maria.
Figure 4. Seedy tip, suturing and fruit spit in ‘Fronteras’ (April 2025).

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7 thoughts on “What causes fruit splitting?”

  1. I have a grower in South Carolina saying that this symptom is connected with too much nitrogen applied too early in the season. That is consistent with what you are saying. Tx for the great posts!!! Guido Schnabel, Clemson University.

  3. Effect of nitrogen on fruit shape….strawberry. DOI 10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1156.39

    • Dr. Lieten, thank you for your reference which provides experimental evidence that using short day ‘Opera’ grown in substrate “…following early high application of N primary flowers developed significantly more grooved (10.8 vs. 3%) and split fruits (2.4 vs 0%).” The photograph (Fig. 1) in the proceedings matches perfectly what we see in California open field production.

  4. This is great Gerald, thanks for putting this up. This used to be super common in the variety Camarosa which was widely grown in the nineties.
    The only thing I would add to your list is that excessive plant vigor from overchilling could be a culprit too, but again as you point out it picks out after a few weeks.

    Nice to read too that there is good consensus around this issue, as you know this is not a common event in California strawberry.

    • It is certainly hard to get consensus on issues like this. Also, check out the comment above by Lieten who showed experimentally that high N causes fruit splitting.

  5. We actually see that specific cultivars are prone to this irrespective of time of season and the issue is exacerbated after rains.

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