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Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Fruit > Grape > Brown or black, dried out

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Grape > Buds > Brown or black, dried out

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  • Image: Grape Flea Beetle 1
  • Image: Grape Flea Beetle 2
  • Image: Grape Flea Beetle 3

Grape Flea Beetle

  • Feeding by beetles results in a small (slightly larger than a pin head) hole on the sides and ends of the newly developing grape buds
  • Adult beetles are present in the early spring (April through May)
  • Small insects, approximately 1/10 inch long, shiny, with enlarged hind legs used for jumping
  • Range in color from blue-purple to blue-green
  • More information on Grape Flea Beetle
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  • Image: Botrytis 1
  • Image: Botrytis 2
  • Image: Botrytis 3

Botrytis
Botrytis cinerea

  • Berries become soft and watery, and may be covered in a fuzzy white-gray mold
  • White grapes will start to turn brown while purple grapes turn reddish in color
  • Berries that have been infected for several days will shrivel and drop to the ground as hard mummies
  • Multiple berries in a cluster can be infected
  • Leaves have large, red-brown patches; a gray mold may or may not be observed on the leaf
  • More information on Botrytis
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  • Image: Climbing Cutworms 1

Climbing Cutworms

  • Cutworm feeding on buds results in either half or the entire bud being severed, with the remainder of the bud becoming dried out
  • Cutworms are present in early spring (late April through May)
  • Dingy cutworm larvae are pale gray to brown, and tinged with red
  • Variegated cutworms are dark-colored with yellowish diamond-shaped spots on top of its body. Both cutworm grow up to 1½ to two inches long
  • More information on Climbing Cutworms

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