Every year we get a few that check out this way, maybe one or two, but this week I’ve pulled at least 10 oranges and tossed them — a bummer since this crop is in its home stretch, with all the fruit full grown and daily deepening in orange color for a December harvest.

I can’t blame this one on the squirrels and rabbits (though I so want to).  The disorder is abiotic, and the likely culprit was the dry, windy weather we had a week or so ago.  The weather dessicated the tree, making it drought stressed and causing it to take water from the fruit.  I then soaked the tree, and this heavy irrigation caused the shrunken fruit to rapidly expand and split.

What I should have done was irrigate the tree as soon as the weather turned.  This would have helped it to tolerate the change and avoid drying out.  Having missed this opportunity, the next best practice would have been to slowly rehydrate the tree with several light waterings throughout the following week.  Splitting can also occur if a tree is nutrient starved and then gets a big dose of fertilizer.

Split fruit attracts and harbors pests of all varieties and should be removed.

Our tree is primed for splitting, since it is a thin-skinned variety and a dwarf with shallow roots that dry out easily.  But it has also provided heaps of oranges for decades, having lived at our house longer than we have.  We lost about a third of this year’s crop to the splits, but now we know.

And, as aptly put in an adage that holds true for Saturday morning cartoon military strategy and gardening alike, knowing is half the battle.