It looks like the 2017 season for us has officially begun. Our 8 years old Chardonnay at Virginia Tech’s Winchester AREC was about 10% bud break as of yesterday. Despite a warm winter, a colder spring might have kept things slow (I am not complaining!)
Once again, the important disease at this point is Phomopsis cane and leaf spot. Please refer to my previous post about Phomopsis management.
Also for our Chardonnay plot, we have a chronic issue with climbing cutworms. Since we know the location of our vineyard where we always see some damages, we typically apply an insecticide to the panels of vines that is facing a wooded area. Without spraying the whole vineyard, it seems to provide adequate control.
Good luck with the 2017 season. I will post key disease management tips as the season moves along.