Here’s a snapshot from the last week, showing the number of days with the risk of each disease: Ph = Phomopsis, PW = Powdery mildew, BR = Black rot, and DM = Downy mildew. At this point, Phomopsis and black rot risk probably won’t be as important as earlier in the season. You can ignore Phomopsis and black rot since Phomopsis should be done with their spore production, and clusters are resistant to black rot infection. This information was made available through the Wine Board-funded Sentinel Vineyard project.
Storms went through many parts of Virginia last week. In addition, the overall temperature dropped and resulted in warm and humid nights. These conditions resulted in quite some days with downy mildew risk events. It looks like we are back to our typical year. I received emails from several growers with their downy mildew problem. Please remind yourself that the best approach is prevention. Once we get behind and start playing catch-up, it will be difficult even to keep healthy tissues remaining uninfected.
Please ensure you won’t violate the 66-day PHI of Mancozeb products. Also, some other products have a relatively long PHI (e.g., Ranman’s PHI is 30 days). Make sure to read the label or refer to our PMG. Also, you may need to protect your vines against powdery mildew because they can infect leaves and shoots. Please check my slide presentation for veraison/pre-harvest disease management considerations.
Also, the post from last week contains the list of fungicides with short PHIs.
The image above concisely summarizes the past seven days, aiding your understanding of recent events. However, the best action is proactively safeguarding your vines. For more comprehensive information, please visit https://newa.cornell.edu/, where you can access detailed daily weather data and disease and insect pest model results, including forecasted risks. We have covered the annual fee to ensure free access for growers in Virginia to the NEWA platform.
Utilizing this information, you can adjust your spray intervals accordingly. If you notice several days with disease risks, you may need to shorten your spray interval. Conversely, if you missed a material for downy mildew or black rot, you might consider using materials with kick-back activity. On the other hand, if the number of risks has been limited this year, you could extend your spray interval.
Remember that your spray decision should not solely rely on weather conditions. It is crucial to consider factors such as the cultivar and the disease’s history in your vineyard.
Lastly, we will have our Virtual Vineyard meeting tomorrow (8/10/2023) from 1 PM. Please join us!
