University of Vermont

By Terence Bradshaw

Sorry grape growers, you just received my comments on orchard activities for the immediate time being. The good thing, as my predecessor Dr. Lorraine Berkett used to say when discussion apples and grapes, is that it’s the same story with different characters. So, here we go with Act One:

Weather has been as dry in vineyards as it has in orchards, although some sites got a good soaker on Monday. We are expecting rain next week, and the fruit clusters are at ‘berry touch’ stage and we’ll soon see bunch closure when it will be more difficult to get protective materials into clusters. The main diseases of concern are spot outbreaks of powdery mildew, downy mildew, and possibly botrytis as we approach veraison/harvest. The good thing is that primary infection of all of these were low, so there’s little secondary inoculum out there to cause problems. However, good IPM suggests not only reducing pesticide applications unless the biology says they are absolutely necessary, but also targeting critical management points so that diseases may be managed “one and done” and not have to fight them longer through the season. I’ll summarize that point later.

Our main insect of concern is grape berry moth (GBM), which is also difficult to manage after bunch closure. The threshold for this pest is evidence of webbing between berries on 6% of inspected clusters, but I would be a little more conservative if that window is due to close. Bt is an effective and low-impact material for use against GBM, as are Delegate, Altacor, and other lepidopteran-oriented materials.

Japanese beetles are a concern for young vines, they can be managed with numerous materials including carbaryl, Assail, and Avaunt; or Surround and Pyganic for organic growers. Note that those are more broad-spectrum materials than the ones I suggested for GBM, and I generally steer clear of them unless necessary. Really, most vineyards can tolerate any Japanese beetles that they get.

Spraying summary- I’d lean toward applying something in the next 7-10 days against GBM if you’re seeing damage, and consider a downy mildew fungicide at the same time. That might be it for the season unless things get wet and we’re seeing the mildews (downy and powdery) showing up on foliage.

Canopy management: this should be priority #1 now, get those shoots combed first, but don’t really worry about leaf removal given the high amount of sunlight we’ve been getting. This is also a time to think about final crop load, I’ve received a question or two about estimating the crop to plan harvest or to help with dropping excess crop. The concept here is that you can fairly easily guesstimate the potential crop by knowing three variables: average number of clusters per vine, average cluster weight at harvest, and actual vines per acre. This is when past records are helpful for determining average cluster weight at your vineyard. If you don’t have them, I’ve used numbers from Cochran and Smiley’s Review of Cold Climate Grape Cultivars in the past, but I’ve also way overestimated doing that. Another estimate that is used is the lag phase method, which assumes that grape clusters are about half their final weight during the midsummer window when berry growth slows. Despite its use by Oregon Pinot Noir growers, the timing of the lag phase is difficult to determine on newer cold climate cultivars and so I don’t recommend using it for estimating crop yields unless you have good empirical data from your vineyard. Ohio state has a nice guide with appropriate formulas and worksheets for crop estimation.

This is a good time to apply potassium and/or magnesium fertilizers, based ideally on petiole and soil analyses from the last year or two.

Coming up: veraison and petiole analysis…

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification,

no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.

Always read the label before using any pesticide.

The label is the legal document for the product use.

Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the

label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the

University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

By Terence Bradshaw

I’ve received questions about a couple of questions about two different yet similar insect pests: grape tumid gallmaker (GTG) and phylloxera. Both of these insects cause galls that develop around larvae that feed on foliar (and fruit, in the case of GTG) tissue which can be quite concerning, but often are not an economic threat. That said, I’ve seen vines with over 50% cluster damage from GTG, and young vines with significant leaf distortions from phylloxera that overall vine growth is likely impacted. Treatment options should be the same for either pest. Although GTG may not technically be on the label for If you decide on treatment, there are a few materials of choice, which Tim Martinson outlined well in an older post that is still relevant today. Basically, Movento is the gold standard, and Dr. Ann Hazelrigg at the UVM Plant Diagnostic Clinic recently confirmed that it killed larvae inside GTG galls from one area vineyard. Admire Pro and Assail are labeled and effective against phylloxera, but have no label for GTG.

If galling is extensive, removal of damaged leaves may not reduce the damage to the plant. Galled leaves are still photosynthesizing, and, for phylloxera anyway, hatched nymphs (“crawlers”) have likely left the galls to infest younger leaves already. As those leaves expand, expect to see more galls, but not necessarily as bad as the ones on early-season leaves. I’ve seen some pretty scarred-up leaves, especially on ‘Frontenac’, that have ripened a crop just fine. If the damage is looking too severe (and I don’t have a specific threshold), then treatment with one of the systemic materials listed above is your best management option.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification,

no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.

Always read the label before using any pesticide.

The label is the legal document for the product use.

Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the

label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the

University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

By Terence Bradshaw

It’s cooling off for a bit, time to think about activities in the vineyard. Thankfully, extreme heat isn’t good for most grape diseases, and the dry weather hasn’t been good for them either. However, berries are sizing up and bunch closure will be here before we know it, so we should consider some upcoming potential issues that might affect fruit quality at harvest.

First is grape berry moth (GBM). This moth lays eggs in developing clusters which hatch and infest fruit, causing direct damage as well as allowing rots to develop. Now is the time to start scouting 50-100 randomly selected clusters from throughout the vineyard and inspect for the characteristic webbing of GBM larvae, six percent infested clusters indicates a need to treat. If sprays are necessary to manage them, they need to be applied before the clusters close up. Bt is effective against GBM, as is Intrepid, Delegate (also good against spotted wing drosophila, more on that next week), Entrust (SWD as well, and organic), Sevin (good against Japanese beetles), and Avaunt (also JB). Notice I’m not recommending pyrethroids like Danitol, as they tend to be harsh on predators and may increase mite populations as a result.

Next is Botrytis. This disease is increased by prolonged wet periods and moderate temperatures (60-75° F), not what we’ve had recently. Still, if you have tight clustered cultivars (anyone still growing Vignoles?) or a history of the disease, an appropriate material may be called for if a long rainy week ever appears in the forecast. Downy mildew can infest leaves and clusters, and, like with botrytis, an effective material may need to be applied ahead of any rainy period that may come up in the next few weeks. Finally, keep an eye out for powdery mildew on foliage. If you’re relatively clean, this disease may not pose a problem for the rest of the season, but if there is incidence of the disease, it may spread given appropriate weather.

All diseases will be much better-managed with an open canopy, and your fruit quality will increase as well. Soon, if not already, the bases of shoots will lignify (get ‘woody’) and will be tough enough to comb shoots downward and separate them in order to expose fruit to the sun. This is an absolutely critical practice to attain highest quality fruit, as well as to allow for sufficient hardening off of shoots and other tissues heading into next winter. If the heat continues too much, I would avoid pulling leaves around the clusters at this time, the combing should expose them enough to develop some thicker cuticles on berries that will resist sunburn. A final leaf pulling can be debone a few weeks before veraison.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification,

no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.

Always read the label before using any pesticide.

The label is the legal document for the product use.

Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the

label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the

University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

By Terence Bradshaw

Things haven’t changed all that much in Vermont vineyards since the last posting here. Despite the showers over this past weekend and a pretty good rain last Monday, the predominant weather feature has been dryness. That’s good for most diseases, and as we shift into the postbloom period, we need to also shift our thinking of the predominant fungal diseases that are likely to affect Vermont vineyards. Phomopsis (PH) is becoming less of an issue with each passing day, and leaves and fruit will increase their resistance to black rot (BR) in the next few weeks. Downy mildew (DM) is increasing in importance, and this past wetting event is likely to have triggered infection. Botrytis (Bot) will be an issue soon, and powdery mildew (PM), which needs only high humidity and not necessarily rain (unlike most fungal diseases) will continue to affect unprotected vineyards through the summer and into harvest.

This has been a good season to stretch fungicide coverage because of the lack of rain (or to get away with more lackadaisical management than a wetter year would allow), but it is important to keep vigilant as we enter the heat of summer. This is the time that I generally suggest growers shift over to fungicides targeting PM, DM, and (less importantly, unless it’s really wet or your vines are a tangled mess or in a foggy hollow) Bot. This may mean using multiple materials if necessary. Captan is a pretty solid material to use to cover the emerging DM and the waning but still important BR and PH. Addition of a strobilurin (e.g., Flint) or DMI (e.g., Rally) would give great protection against BR and PH as well as PM. For organic growers, copper is probably your best bet now, as it is fairly effective against DM and PM.

I’ve received a few questions about potassium fertilization, which is commonly needed in bearing Vermont vineyards and is appropriate to apply now. If vineyards show deficiencies in both potassium and magnesium, then sulfate of potash magnesia (Sul-Po-Mag) is a great material that is available in both organic and non-organic forms. If potassium is needed (based on petiole and soil tests) but not magnesium, potassium sulfate is also available in both organic and non-organic forms. There is a great section in Appendix A of the Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America (which every grower should have a copy of on the bookshelf, ready to grab with short reach) which helps to guide fertilizer application rates based on soil and petiole samples. If you have a copy of those to send to me, I’d be happy to help you with the numbers as well.

I think it’s still a bit too early to do much canopy management in the vineyards, as the bases of shoots are still too tender to hold up to much wrangling without breaking off. But plan on combing and shoot positioning soon, around the July 4 holiday.

Finally, for anyone looking for stimulating discussion this week, I’ll be part of a public panel with a number of my colleagues discussing Farming Practices and Ideologies this Tuesday at the UVM Davis Center. Information can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/187470125292645/. There is no fee for admission and we expect a lively discussion amongst the panel and the audience, so I encourage the Vermont orchard community to participate and weigh in. I’ve included specific information on the panel in another posting.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification,

no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.

Always read the label before using any pesticide.

The label is the legal document for the product use.

Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the

label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the

University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.