I observed significant Pierce’s disease and downy mildew yesterday, and both diseases are starting to show up in multiple northern Georgia locations now. As I was looking at plants, I realized that one can confuse early downy mildew and Pierce’s disease if one is not careful. If plants have confirmed…
Read More
Bunch Grapes posts
On Saturday, June 8, the Vineyard and Winery Association of West Georgia presented the annual Southern Winegrape Symposium in Carrollton, Georgia. New and existing vineyard and winery owners from across the state participated in the day long educational program. The following are the presentations slides from the featured speakers. Winery…
Read More
Thrips are small yellowish-brown insects, approximately 0.04 inch long, with feathery wings. Thrips are generally not a problem for wine grapes, but both western flower thrips and grape thrips are known to cause damage on grapes. Western flower thrips are…
Read More
On June 7 and 8, the Vineyard and Winery Association of West Georgia presents their annual Southern Winegrape Symposium in Carrollton, Georgia. The Winegrape Symposium is for current and aspiring individuals interested in learning more about winegrape growing and making wine. Wine Tasting 101, a wine class and tasting with wine expert…
Read More
I have heard many great reviews of the 2019 Georgia Wine Producers Conference. At long last, here are copies of all presentations given by our speakers at this year’s conference in February – for review for those in attendance, and for your information for those who weren’t. Thanks to the…
Read More
I wanted to briefly share some data from our delayed pruning experiment now that pruning is the primary vineyard focus for many industry members… Hopefully this will provide some “food for thought” as y’all consider your delayed pruning strategies this dormant season. I apologize in advance for the lack of…
Read More
Many of us had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Andy Walker and listening to him speak when he visited Georgia in January of 2018. Here is another opportunity to visit with Andy… A wine grape conference is being hosted by the Alabama Winemakers and Grape Growers Association, Alabama Cooperative Extension,…
Read More
It’s really not news that the use of glyphosate has been a controversial issue as of late. Regardless of position on this issue, it is a fact that many use this chemical in our grape industry as well as in other agricultural industries. Wayne Mitchem, our UGA Extension vineyard and…
Read More
I just wanted to alert everyone that spotted wing drosophila (SWD) management timing is once again upon us. The SWD flies are active nearly year round in these parts, but as the brix levels in wine grapes reach approximately 15 degrees Brix, the grapes become attractive (and thus susceptible) to…
Read More
As a follow up to yesterday’s post on scouting your vineyard for system disease and/or nutrient imbalance symptoms… Grapevine tissue (leaf blades and/or petioles) sampling is a good, objective indicator of nutrient status in your vineyard. Many southeastern US vineyards will be entering veraison over the next couple weeks. Veraison…
Read More
As vines enter veraison, there is a shift in resource (nutrients, carbon) allocation from the canopy toward the ripening fruit. The result is can be a manifestation of nutritional and systemic disease (viral, bacterial) symptoms in canopies of deficient and/or infected vines. Please be on the look out for symptomatic…
Read More
Good evening everyone, I have another post that may seem scary, but there is no need for panic…yet. As many of you have probably already heard, the spotted lanternfly (SLF) is the latest non-native species to invade the U.S. This insect is not a fly, but is actually a large,…
Read More
Hello everyone, I don’t want to cause any unwarranted panic, but there has been a report of a substantial mite infestation in a vineyard block in North Georgia. Nothing a little miticide can’t handle, but I wanted to remind everyone was aware that mites can be a problem, especially as…
Read More
All: A kind reminder to please help us out by taking this sour rot survey. Your responses can help us make a case that research is highly needed to further investigate optimal management methods for this devastating disease. Here is the text from the previous post: As we enter veraison…
Read More
As we enter veraison this vintage, it is timely to ask y’all to please consider helping us by answering this short survey on grape sour rot. Sour rot has been devastating in many cases over the last two ripening periods. We still have LOTS to learn about refining sour rot…
Read More