Making Sense Of Weight Loss
Obesity is on the march. The numbers are plain. - 127 million adults within the U.S. Are ob…
Read more
Showing posts with the label Disease managementShow all
Botrytis
Late season fungicide options (= materials with short PHI)
At Winchester, the night time relative humidity has been still very high, close to 100%, in nearly every nights in the past three weeks. In addition, we have been observing rapid development of thunderstorms, pretty much every day in the past few days. I know I sound like a brok…
Read more
Disease management
Don't forget about powdery mildew!
Powdery mildew colonies at the center of two leaves in the picture With this wet season, what we think most are downy mildew, black rot, Phomopsis, and Botrytis. Powdery mildew is often associated with a dry season, partially because this pathogen does not require rain for its i…
Read more
Disease management
Bloom time fungicide application suggestions
Although our bud break was about two weeks behind of a typical year, the wet and hot May pushed our vines forward rather quickly. Many people in northern VA are about to see blooms (our 3-year old young Chardonnay vines are trace bloom), and I am sure rest of regions are going …
Read more
Disease management
Rain rain rain... What should we do?
As if almost a week of thunderstorms and rains was not enough, it looks like we are expecting even more rain in the coming week. Hopefully, you had a good protection before the rain, but even if you did, rain more than 1-2 inches can wash the material away from the canopy. Pleas…
Read more
Disease management
A quick reminder before in-coming rain events
Looks like we will likely to have another round of rain from Hurricane Irma sometimes next week. Just a reminder that we do not have any curative materials for Botrytis and other late season rots. In order to obtain better results, you need to protect your vines before the rain!…
Read more
Botrytis
Disease management considerations toward bunch closure
In a typical year, the fourth of July weekend is the time the critical period for cluster infection by downy mildew, powdery mildew, and black rot will end for many of us because it will be about 5-6 weeks after bloom. (Bloom this year was about 1-2 weeks ahead of typical years,…
Read more
Disease management
Post bloom disease management considerations
As of today, it is about 10% bloom at our Chardonnay plots. Since bud break was about 2 weeks ahead of a typical year, things are moving along as we would expect. Of course, bloom in VA almost always has to happen in rain... As for bloom time disease management consideration, pl…
Read more
Black Rot
Observations from the field
Some shoots of our vines are about to reach the second catch wire, but I saw many that were still about 10-12 inches too. It looks like series of rain during the month of April drove developments of black rot and Phomopsis. Although it was not severe, I found several vines with …
Read more
Disease management
Bloom time disease management considerations
Many of our vines at VT's AHS AREC are about to reach the first catch wire and going strong. When shoots are about 10-12 inches long, downy mildew, powdery mildew, and black rot tend to show up. Then, at bloom time, flowers and young berries will be susceptible to these dise…
Read more
Disease management
From bud break to pre-bloom disease considerations
Our reds broke buds, and whites have about 1-inch shoot growth on it today, and more rains in the weather forecast. It is time to think about Phomopsis! What happen from this point to pre-bloom is a relatively simple spray program to manage Phomopsis, downy mildew, and powdery m…
Read more
Disease management
Early season disease reminder: Phomopsis cane and leaf spot
Our Chardonnay and some of the hybrid vines are in bud swell stage as of this week, and others are tagging along. It looks like we will see bud break very soon with warmer temperature coming up next week. One of the diseases you need to consider this time of the year is Phomo…
Read more
Disease management
Fungicide application template
I have updated my fungicide application template that I have been using for my fungicide guides. If you are interested in, it can be downloaded from this link . (will open a new Google Doc page) Many thanks to Mr. Bob Romsey who shared the original template to me! NOTE (8 march…
Read more
Disease management
Last stretch!!
I heard that some of early cultivars are ready to be picked on 7-10 days. Looks like no tropical storms to worry, yet... (crossing my fingers!) There have been frequent thunderstorms went through our area, and some of them (like the one we had last night) resulted in a signific…
Read more
Botrytis
Seasonal disease management considerations toward the end of the season.
Most of us are about to finish critical time when clusters are susceptible to infection by downy mildew, powdery mildew, and black rot. This critical time varies by varieties, but in general, 4 to 6 weeks and 3-4 weeks from bloom for V. vinifera and V. labr…
Read more
Disease management
An extensive wetness event recorded (and still going)
A cool and wet Fourth of July weekend resulted in a very long leaf wetness hours. So far, more than 12 hours of wetness has been recorded at Winchester AREC, and at this rate, it will go on over the night (= potentially it will be a longer than 24 hours of wetness event). As not…
Read more
Disease management
Another reminder on seasonal diseases
Photo: we have started to see powdery mildew on clusters. I hope you are not! Looks like series of thunderstorms are hitting various part of the state this week. Just a reminder that due to April frost events, some of us experienced extended bloom. This not only means potential …
Read more
Disease management
Handout from last week's meeting + we are still in the critical period!
Here's my handout from last week's meeting at Stone Tower Winery . Thanks for those who attended the meeting! It looks like we may have rains here and there this week. Since we have not had significant rains in the past week or so, the risks of downy maybe low, but most…
Read more
Disease management
What to do when you receive a lots of rain after fungicide application?
At Winchester area, we ended up having a pretty good weekend. There were several periods with rain, but it was not as extensive as the forecast. We received about an inch total over 2-3 days. However, it looks like the central VA received more rain than we did. I would like to s…
Read more
Disease management
Another rain events in the forecast...
Our Chardonnay vines are getting close to full bloom, and of course, we are expecting more rain over the weekend. Just an another reminder that from bloom to 4-5 weeks after bloom is the critical period for downy mildew, black rot, and powdery mildew infection on clusters, and a…
Read more
Black Rot
Quick reminder about black rot
I noticed that some of our 'Cheloir' vines are in trace bloom and also it has quite a bit of black rot. As I suspected, the cold rains we received were long enough for pathogens beyond Phomopsis to be able to infect vines. If you have not seen black rot lesions on leaves…
Read more
