South Jersey vineyard and winery managers are invited to an Alert Meeting at Auburn Road Vineyard and Winery, 117 Sharptown-Pilesgrove Road, Woodstown, NJ on Monday September 29th at 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM.

Do you have plants that look like this?
It may be a virus symptom.

We often see red leaves in vineyards at this time of the season, which can result from many causes including viruses, mineral deficiencies, trunk injury, and crown gall. In a season like 2014, following a damaging winter, the most common causes include the aftereffects of cold injury to the woody parts of the vines and the subsequent crown gall infections.

There are several well-documented types of viruses known to have serious deleterious effects on the performance of grape vines with names like Grape Leaf Roll and Grape Fan Leaf. A newly identified virus, generally called Red Blotch, is present in New Jersey vineyards. Red Blotch biology and potential impact on vineyard performance is yet to be worked out.

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Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc can produce excellent wine grapes and wine in New Jersey, but the effect of cluster thinning on optimal yields has not been established. This study suggests that high quality grapes and wines can be made from these varieties under various climatic conditions and without the necessity of economically unsustainably low yields that can result from cluster thinning.

Grant support: USDA NESARE and from Coia Vineyards, the Outer Coastal Plain Vineyard Association, and Rutgers NJAES.

If you were hit by a hailstorm on May 22nd, as we were at RAREC, you are probably making some hard decisions on what to do in the vineyard.

Removal of dead and compromised leaves and flower clusters will help reduce development of fungal pathogens.

Stem wounding will be a big concern especially for vineyards with crown gall. Treatments that aid in wound healing or have bactericidal effects may provide some help. However, shoots severely damaged by hail may need to be pruned out.

New growth will continue to push as weather conditions allow. This new growth should be protected against black rot, powdery and downy mildews as you would in any other year.

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When used properly Captan is a safe and effective fungicide that plays an important role in grape disease control and fungicide resistance management, but it is crucially important to never apply Captan mixed with oil or close in time to the application of any oils. The active ingredient in Captan cannot easily penetrate into the plant, but when it does it can be very toxic, especially to grapes. Injury from this type of spray combination has been reported in blueberries and there are many anecdotal reports of less severe phytotoxicity in other fruit crops. By comparison, the damage to grapes can be very severe and the symptoms include leaf necrosis, longitudinal stem splitting and vine death (Fig. 1, 2, 3). Sadly, experience has shown that under the appropriate conditions a single spray of Captan with an emulsifiable concentrate insecticide can kill an entire vineyard. [Read more…]