Skip to main content

It's tempting, but it's not the time to use pruning shears, yet.

Please see the message below from Dr. Sara Spayd, who is an extension viticulture specialist at NCSU.  The information is probably more applicable to people in the southern VA, but we have not really seen cold temperature in the northern VA either. While we can enjoy outdoor activities in the middle of December, this warm weather is bit concerning for grapevines.  Let's hope for a gradual temperature drop in the near future...

--

Please pass this on to all grape growers:

I know this beautiful weather is tempting, but please DO NOT PRUNE - even hedging. Pruning helps to stimulate vine growth. I would not be at all surprised if you see grape buds in some degree of bud swell, particularly the European bunch grape varieties. Those varieties have very little chilling requirement and it was likely met in the few cold days that we have had. 

The short predicted cooling pattern for this weekend will do little to harden the vines and buds for any potential cold weather in January or February. Apparently the prediction is for temperatures to climb up again for Dec 24-25. A precipitous drop (30-40F) in temperatures after warm weather can cause a lot of damage.

Sara

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Season's Greetings!

I hope you and your family have a good holiday season and a Happy (and safe) New Year! Thanks again for your support of our programs. Here are some recent media highlights. 😉 The link will open a new window. AHS AREC promotional video  that highlights some of our activities. The link did not work... It asks you to log in to VT. I will request the IT people to change the setting, but in a meantime, here's the same video. We also appeared in  the Library of Congress project “Winery Workers of Virginia”. One more announcement: I will be moving this blog to a new location ( ext.grapepathology.org ) early next year. I had to make a change due to the email subscription service, which has been terminated.  You do not need to change your bookmark or your email subscription. The URL will be forwarded to a new site and your email subscription has been moved to a new site already. 

Recent downy mildew risk events

 It seems that several rain events have happened over the course of the past two weeks or so. Here is a summary of recent downy mildew risk events, based on the NEWA stations and DMCast. Bristol, VA Fifteen days with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. The latest event happened last Sunday. Floyd, VA Eleven days with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. The last event happened last Friday. Charles City, VA Twelve days with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. The latest event happened yesterday. Central VA Since there was a wide variation among stations, I am listing several around Central VA. Tyro, VA Nine days with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. The latest event happened yesterday. Red Hill and Crozet, VA Only one day with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. Olympic Lake Thirteen days with potential DM infection event(s) since Sept 1. The latest event happened last Sunday. Washington, VA Eight days with potential DM infection event

A quick reminder for late-season disease management materials in preparation for Ida.

  In preparation for hurricane Ida, here is some information that you may find useful (This is a repeat of the previous post, but I received some emails asking for them.) 1)  List of short PHI fungicides for late-season diseases (will open a pdf file) 2)  Updated presentation from the last virtual field day (will open a pdf file). Recent downy mildew risks Many of us have been experiencing more rains lately than the past several months, here are a number of days with downy mildew risk events in the past two weeks based on the NEWA’s DMCast. Many of these rains have been sporadic in terms of area and time it covered, so, use these numbers as a guide. Bristol: 14 days (latest was on 8/30) Floyd: 9 days (latest was on 8/29) Charles City: 14 days (latest was on 8/30) Tyro: 7 days (latest was on 8/30) Red Hill: 5 days (latest was on 8/29) Washington: 8 days (latest was on 8/29) Winchester: 9 days(latest was on 8/29) It is probably a good idea to protect your vines against downy mildew in a