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UGA Extension Viticulture Blog

Phil Brannen

Phil Brannen

Phil Brannen is a Professor in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia for his undergraduate degree in Plant Protection and Pest Management, where he also received an M.S. in Plant Pathology, followed by a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Auburn University. He has extensive experience with disease management programs in numerous cropping systems. He serves as the extension fruit pathologist for Georgia – conducting research and technology transfer for multiple fruit commodities. His efforts are directed towards developing IPM practices to solve disease issues and technology transfer of disease-management methods to commercial fruit producers. He also teaches the graduate level Field Pathology Course, the History of Plant Diseases and their Impact on Human Societies Course, team-teaches the IPM Course, coordinates the Viticulture and Enology in the Mediterranean Region Course (Cortona, Italy), and guest lectures in numerous other courses throughout the year.

  • Results from 2020 Georgia Grape Pathology Research Trials

    Phil Brannen

    I am attaching reports from wine grape pathology field trials conducted in 2020. Shane Breeden and Brooke Warres, both graduate students in the UGA Plant Pathology Department, were responsible for generating this data. Three of the trials were conducted at the Blairsville research station, so we need to also thank Ray Covington and his staff…

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  • Georgia Commercial Grape IPM Meeting Reminder

    Phil Brannen

    Clark MacAllister and other county agents will be hosting a virtual Grape IPM Meeting on 25 February from 9:00 till 11:30. Specialists will update you on new information you will need for the control of diseases, insects and weeds in 2021. You will need to register for this event in order to participate, so pre-register…

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  • Grape Rootstock Survey (two questions)

    Phil Brannen

    Dr. Paul Severns and I have a graduate student, Katherine Martin, working on nematodes of wine grapes. We have a quick two-question survey relative rootstocks and scions in Georgia wine grape vineyards. Feel free to take the survey, even if you are not in Georgia, but please indicate your county and state also. All responses…

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  • Georgia Commercial Grape IPM Meeting

    Phil Brannen

    Clark MacAllister and other county agents will be hosting a virtual Grape IPM Meeting on 25 February from 9:00 till 11:30. Specialists will update you on new information you will need for the control of diseases, insects and weeds in 2021. You will need to register for this event in order to participate, so pre-register…

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  • Additional Dormant Pruning and Pruning Diseases Information

    Phil Brannen

    I assume many of you are still pruning or getting started with it by now for sure. Relative management of diseases associated with pruning cuts, there are a multitude of questions and much still to be learned. I contacted Dr. Kendra Baumgartner, a USDA expert on pruning wounds of grape, to ask a few pertinent…

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  • Virtual Wine Grape Grower Trainings from North Carolina State

    Phil Brannen

    There are two virtual training opportunities available soon from North Carolina State University. Please feel free to participate in both of these. I have confirmed with Dr. Mark Hoffman that out-of-state guest are welcome to attend. The links for both of these trainings can be found below. Feb 23: Virtual NC Winegrowers Conference: https://grapes.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/02/2021-nc-winegrowers-annual-conference-feb-23/ Mar…

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  • North Carolina Muscadine Grape Association Virtual Conference

    Phil Brannen

    If you are growing muscadine grapes for fresh market or wine, there is a great educational opportunity coming to you from the North Carolina Muscadine Grape Association. There is a $50 fee for non-members. See below for information from Debbie Wechsler concerning this event. A Muscadine Learning and Networking Opportunity! The North Carolina Muscadine Grape…

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  • Early-season Powdery Mildew Identification Article

    Phil Brannen

    It is a little early to be concerned about powdery mildew, but this article just came out on early-season powdery mildew identification. Brooke Warres, a graduate student in the University of Georgia Plant Pathology Department, is a co-author on this article. You might tag it for later.

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  • Vine Trunk Diseases

    Phil Brannen

    There are a couple of trunk disease educational opportunities that are available. One is a free short course recently developed by Dr. Kendra Baumgartner; the information, though developed in California is very pertinent to Georgia as well. Our primary pruning wound, cordon, and trunk pathogens are those caused by Botryosphaeria and Phomopsis species, in case…

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  • Topsin Use for Dormant Pruning Wounds

    Phil Brannen

    I had a question about use of Topsin M for application to pruning wounds (see label below) and how to best apply this fungicide and others for this purpose. In an ideal world, we could have a sprayer designed specifically to go over the top of the cordons after each day of pruning – a…

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