Photo by VIVC - Vitis International Variety Catalogue
Description
Flame Seedless is one of the best-known early red seedless table grapes. It was bred by John Weinberger and Frank Harmon at the USDA station in Fresno, California, crossed in 1961 and released in 1973. Its ancestry is complex, combining Cardinal, Thompson Seedless, Red Malaga, Tifafihi Ahmer and Muscat of Alexandria. The loose, medium bunches carry small to medium, heavily bloomed red berries with thin skins and firm, crunchy flesh.
Characteristics
Red seedless table grape; small to medium berries; heavy bloom; thin skin; firm, crunchy flesh; medium, loose bunches; early ripening; high vigour; low sensitivity to rot
Growing Tips
Flame is vigorous with long, spreading shoots, so give it a sturdy trellis and cane-prune it long. Its fruit rarely rots. To enlarge the naturally modest berries, California growers spray gibberellin at fruit set and girdle the trunk at berry set, which adds roughly 10–15% to berry size. Gibberellin at bloom thins the set, and high or late doses can spoil the red colour, so treat any sizing as an experiment.