What is causing annona fruit to split?

[Samu]

I have a young African Pride atemoya tree, about 7-8 feet high, planted last
Spring.
It's got few fruitlets but I only let one fruit to remain hanging.To my surprise
I saw the fruit started to split last week, and yesterday, I saw the splitting
continued. First, it split vertically, then yesterday it went horizontally as well.

I wonder what's going on? There was only a light rain a couple of times in the
last 7 days or so-maybe .5 inch max total-I even stop watering during this time.

Please see the photo below, hope some members out there would contribute their
opinion of the cause of this. Thanks! Oh, Happy New Year everyone, may this year
bring a more bountiful fruits for you...!

edit: "inch" added

[dingaling]

I have 8 or 10 sugar apple trees that split a few fruit at this time of year (the start of our wet season). I have tried to give them more water through irrigation in the lead up to the wet but I still get split fruit.

[Samu]

So, I take it that this could be a pretty common occurrence for annona fruits to split?
I wonder if anyone else annona growers out there also have this splitting fruit issues
happened to them, and if there is an effective method to at least minimize it?
Thanks for your reply!

(Typo)

[gozp]

In my country in the Philippines, we have sugar apples & once they get exposed to rain they tend to split/ crack-open.

[bsbullie]

Cant tell from the picture but is it possi le it was ripe and just left on the tree too long?

I have only seen sugar apples split when left on the tree too long.  They should be picked when the sections separate and show a lighter color between the sections.  They will tben soften up when ready to eat.  Ilamas should be left on the tree until they split...sugar apples,  atemoya and custard apples (and 'Moyas from all I have seen) should be picked firm ripe and let them finish off the tree.

[DimplesLee]

Inconsistent watering - if your sugar apples start flowering near the onset of the wet season or thereabouts, try to step up the water it gets weekly so the fruits don't start to set during "dry" season and then all of a sudden take on too much water and split.

[Samu]

Ok guys, I will step up my watering schedule on my annonas during the Summer/Fall season when the fruits are developing.
Thanks for your advice guys!

Not sure if I left it on the tree too long, the fruit is still tightly attached to the tree, it won't detach even when I applied "good" pressure on it (the way I used to test it -on my old cherimoya tree- ) ; anyway, I'll go ahead and pull it tomorrow AM; maybe I can still got to taste my first ever atemoya after a few days...thanks Rob! 

[NewMoon]

My Afrcan Pride does the same thing as your this year (but not last year). I agree with the other person in the forum, not enough watering. Since we are in the middle of the winter, nothing is growing, if you start to give it a lot of water now, it is not a good thing to do. Would like to read more response to this.

[DimplesLee]

Darn sorry Samu! Forgot seasons are reversed down under and that no such thing as winter in the PH. We'll def need more advice from other better experienced members

[Mike T]

Increasing warmth and a sudden increase in water will make them split more often.Some atemoya and sugar apple varieties are however more prone to splitting. Some species like ilama nearly always split. There is less splitting here as most annona ripen in Autumn and winter as rain is reducing and it is cooler.
Trees in good soil in the ground that get plenty of water when fruit are young and are not fertlilized heavily while growing as well as having fruit picked sufficiently early should split less frequently.

[dingaling]

Have a squiz at the below link, there is some pretty good info in there.

http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/1653/6/5probcus.pdf

[JF]

Rain and cold night causes Anonas to crack. My crop has been devastated by birds and squirrels. The atemoyas have been splitting in the last two weeks

[michsu]

Hi Samu, you said you bought the African Pride in 15 gallons from Emily Nursery? How much was it? Can you tell me? Thanks.

[Samu]

"Dinga": lots of good info in that link, now is  bookmarked.
JF: Sorry about those birds/squirrels: I will have to deal with them soon...
Mike: Ok, I try not to step up the watering too drastically; and pick them earlier:
        by the way; this will also have the added benefit: less loss from the critters!
DLee: Yes, our seasons (Northern Hemisphere) are reversed to that of Down Under
       (where Mike T. and gozp are located). I see you are in Luzon island of Philippines?!
Newmoon: suggestion noted.
Michsu: Can't remember exactly, but close to +/- $200 or so for 15G. I think Mimosa
            LA is better choice -if they have it-, (but the best move is probably buying
            it from JF, he maybe able to reserve one for you, and...you'll get SAP instead!)
Thanks for your advice guys, highly appreciated!

[gozp]

Samu - yes I do live in Luzon & to be specific in Pampanga, Philippines ( our elevation is sea level)
 

[Samu]

Update:
This year 2017; my African pride tree produces about 25 fruits. But the splitting of fruits continue. This morning I was surprised to notice that 1 was badly cracked (the first one so far this year: bottom photo); so I picked that and 2 more that are already showing some splitting.



My watering: constant with auto timer, no rainfall all Summer, no additional hand watering given. So, sudden increase of watering may not be the culprit in my case.

Cold night: Well, I notice the lows were 42, 41 on Dec 21, 22 (the lowest this winter for my area) while the previous week's lows were in high 40s. (Wunderground.com).

So, those 2 nights' season lows may have been enough to cause the fruits to crack??
If so, then we better keep an eye on those night's low for your area annona growers; start picking them earlier might be a good advice...Thanks to Rob, Frank and Gozp for all the inputs!

Rain and cold night causes Anonas to crack. My crop has been devastated by birds and squirrels. The atemoyas have been splitting in the last two weeks

Cant tell from the picture but is it possi le it was ripe and just left on the tree too long?

I have only seen sugar apples split when left on the tree too long.  They should be picked when the sections separate and show a lighter color between the sections.  They will tben soften up when ready to eat.  Ilamas should be left on the tree until they split...sugar apples,  atemoya and custard apples (and 'Moyas from all I have seen) should be picked firm ripe and let them finish off the tree.

[Bhkkatemoya]

Samu,

When you start seeing the fruits developing yellow color like yours, you can start picking them.  It’ll ripe in a week. Pick the remaining on the tree before it cracks.  I also notice when black spots show up on the outside, that means the seeds within are sprouting which damage the flesh.

[simon_grow]

Is your tree getting enough Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc? What do you fertile with?

Simon

[simon_grow]

I meant Manganese and not Magnesium. Magnesium is a mobile nutrient so assuming your leaves look fine, it could be one of the immobile nutrients like Sulfur, Copper, Manganese, Calcium, Boron, Iron or Zinc. If your tree held 25 Fruit, it would be a good idea to give it supplemental feedings with a good fertilizer with a good minor and trace package.

Simon

[Samu]

Yes Bhk; I am planning on picking them earlier than I wanted to, thanks! My thinking is to wait as long as possible, cause they seem to be getting bigger, still...

Prior to posting this, I went out and found 1 more split fruit, with a low of about 45F!  Simon, I fertilize with  "Osmocote Plus" mixed with the regular 15/15/15 NPK at 4:1 ratio, so most of the minors you mentioned are in the package, except Calcium; for this I also added "Citrus Tone" fertilizer starting last Spring, which contains Calcium and some "Biotone microbes".
I didn't measure how much I give fertilizers on my trees (my bad?), I just approximate it and feed them 3 to 4 times /year. I skipped fertilizing the annonas for this Winter season.

I don't know if the important ingredients in those 2 fertilizers are sufficient or not, I hope so. The leaves and all else look normal/healthy to me. Thanks for your response, Simon!

Another split fruit:


Most remaining fruits:

[simon_grow]

Can you take a picture of some older and younger leaves?

Your Nitrogen is a bit high and I would give supplemental minor package at diluted rates but more frequently.

Simon

[Samu]

Well..., upon closer look and with a camera, the older leaves don't look like a normal healthy one, just like you may have suspected Simon! Here they are, the old and the young leaves:

An old leave (typical):


Younger leave:

[Kada]

Assuming your watering and fertilizers are all in check, maybe it's the dry air.  You guys are less humid than here but every single annona orchard here will either bag or discard the fruit.  For many reason such as pests, sun, humidity etc. 

[Samu]

Thanks Simon for identifying the nutritional problems of the tree. I will reduce the nitrogen a bit and increase the minors slowly.
 
By the way, starting 3 nights ago,  I strung about 10 old fashion "C9" type Christmas light bulbs inside the canopy, the night's low were about 45F, 46F. So far: no more cracked fruit!

Not sure what can I conclude from this simple experiment, but it looks encouraging to me, so I'll continue with it until all the fruits are harvested...

[gozp]

Best cracked atemoya i ever had or even the best atemoya... calostro