Virginia Grape Disease Updates

I received several emails and phone calls concerning spray before the upcoming hurricane Florence. Hopefully, we will have a window of opportunity to apply materials. Looks like we have a break from rain starting tomorrow for maybe 1.5 to 2 days. Here is the list of materials with low PHI (same as the one I posted last month). Just FYI: here are previous posts about... Late season downy management Botrytis gray mold management Once you have about 1.5-2 hours for the materials to dry after application, that will be sufficient for them to stick to the leaf and cluster surface. Good luck!!

Field day: Use of Protective Covers to Reduce Fungicide Usages in (Organic) Wine Grape Production in Virginia 5 September 2018 1 – 4 pm AHS AREC 595 Laurel Grove Rd. Winchester VA 22602 Mizuho Nita, Ph.D, Virginia Tech Nita24@vt.edu The total acreage of certified organic grape production in the US has increased from 12,575 acres in 1995 to 38,664 acres in 2011. However, only three Virginia vineyards have been approved by the USDA for their organic management practices for wine grape production, and only two have a winery as of 2018. The main reason why organic wine grape production is not common in VA or any other states located the east of Rockies is fungal diseases, which are driven by frequent rain events during summer months. Thus, the Nita lab has established two experimental vineyards with financial aid from the USDA/NIFA VDACS Specialty Crop Research Initiative Block Grant in 2012. Although we identified several cultivars that may do well with the orga