Thanks to efforts by Dr. Phil Brannen, we now have two Pierce’s disease testing kits, one located in White County and one in Lumpkin County. These “field” kits are very reliable for confirming PD in suspect vines. Each test kit can run 48 samples, meaning we only have 96 samples…
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I look forward to seeing those that are attending the vineyard tour THIS Wednesday. Please come prepared for the weather (humidity, high temperatures, wet grass in the morning, etc.) as we will be out in some vineyards for parts of each stop. We will have refreshments available throughout the tour….
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We collected our first grape root borer adults today in one of our pheromone traps in north Georgia. This means that the adults have started to emerge from the soil out of their pupal stage. For the next few weeks the adults will emerge, mate, and the females will lay…
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We have been receiving multiple grape samples with black rot in our diagnostic clinic. Only one or two infected grapes can provide a vast number of spores for secondary infections of clusters going forward. Prevalent rainfall has made control difficult. The disease cycle will slow as grapes mature, but fruit…
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The Schnabel lab at Clemson University is still offering free testing to help identify resistance problems in the gray mold pathogen Botrytis cinerea from small fruits. The test covers the most important FRAC codes for gray mold control. As grapes approach veraison, Botrytis may start to become a problem as clusters…
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We are within a few weeks of the anticipated initial emergence of grape root borer (GRB) adults here in Georgia. If you are planning on implementing mating disruption as a management tactic for GRB and you haven’t deployed your pheromone dispensers/ties, now is the time to get those distributed. If…
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I think most producers are fully aware that recent rainfall events will increase disease levels in wine grapes. I am particularly concerned about fruit rots and downy mildew. In particular, more active materials for downy mildew are needed at this time. Though the contact materials such as Captan and Mancozeb…
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… please contact Cheng-Fang Hong, Dr. Phil Brannen’s graduate student. Here is the note that Cheng-Fang sent me the other day: “I am looking for phylloxera galls on Blanc du Bois leaves. Specifically, I will need mature Blanc du Bois leaves with some well formed phylloxera galls. The galls and…
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I think only Grateful Dead fans will understand the unworthy attempt at being funny in the title… sorry. But it has been a long, strange pre-bloom / bloom period in Georgia vineyards, and perhaps throughout other grape growing regions in the southeastern US. Most bunch grape vineyards in Georgia are…
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Grapes are important. But then I hear news like I did today and I think… grapes are still important. BUT… not as important as this amazing news: Kenneth Clay Eason was born as healthy as they come – 9 lbs 14 oz of pure miracle and beauty! “Clay” is the…
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