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Powdery mildew is just starting to show up on untreated plants in the research vineyard at Blairsville, GA. The photograph below was taken today, but infections likely started occurring some time ago. I hope you will not see it yet in well managed vineyards, but recent rains and other difficulties may have hampered spray programs.…
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Much of the wine grape pathology research we have conducted in Georgia over the last 2-3 years has been associated with resistance management of fungal pathogens such as downy mildew, powdery mildew, Botrytis and others. Alternation or tank-mixing of different fungicide classes is critical for prevention of resistance development. Under the direction of Dr. Walt…
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Vineyards in many of the northern counties of Georgia have received cold damage on multiple occasions this year. The most recent damage occurred 10 May, which means that grapes were phenologically more advanced that one would have observed with past frost/freeze events. In fact, this is the latest event of this nature that I remember…
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See below for a message from our Associate Dean relative new funds that are available for helping farmers. I am not sure whether wine grape producers could benefit from these funds or not, but I am sure that muscadine producers for fresh market consumption could benefit. At a minimum, I would follow up to ask…
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It is time for tissue sampling in grapes. Student workers were taking samples today in our research vineyards, as we are in full bloom in the Athens area. I suspect that the bloom will vary by variety and location, but all of us are close. I am providing more information than you might want for…
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Mark Hoffman, viticulturist for NCSU, sent me the following information this morning. There will be a pertinent webinar on responding to COVID in winery operations. The webinar will take place on Monday, May 18th from 12-1:30 PM, and is titled “Re”wine”ing the Clock in a Post-COVID World: ensuring personal safety & production efficiency as winery operations…
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University personnel and industry members collaborated to develop the newly pubished (today, 4/27/2020) UGA Extension Bulletin: Watson Training System for Bunch Wine Grapes. Here is a link to the publication: https://secure.caes.uga.edu/extension/publications/files/pdf/B%201522_2.PDF Growers in GA and TX often train Pierce’s disease (PD)-tolerant bunch wine grape cultivars using the Watson System. The extension publication outlines considerations for…
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Frost damage to varying extents has been reported in vineyards in GA, TN, NC, VA, MD, and PA. Spring frost may still be a threat for some vineyards located in more northern growing regions in the eastern US. For example, according to one online source, a 50% chance of 32 deg. F temperatures remain through…
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Brooke Warres, a graduate student in the Plant Pathology Department of the University of Georgia, has been researching powdery mildew resistance to QoI and DMI fungicides. The attached is a news article that she composed, and it will be distributed through various outlets. However, you can have a look at it through the attached. I…
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Bud break is occurring in some vineyards located in the piedmont and lower elevation mountain regions. The frequent rain events have posed a challenge to pruning on several days. Hopefully many are finished, or near finished, pruning their vineyard. A previous post (https://site.extension.uga.edu/viticulture/2020/03/vineyard-frost-protection-considerations/) discussed frost protection considerations. Shoot thinning is the first canopy management practice…
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