cultural practices for disease control
TRANSCRIPT
Cultural Practices For Disease
Control in Vineyards
Caine Thompson, Viticulturist,
Mission Estate Winery
It Starts With Pruning
Purpose - to set vines up for growing season
- remove innoculum sources
- prune with balance in mind –avoid conjecstion
Cane pruning - number, selection, size, budspacing, wrap
Spur pruning - number, buds, height?
Shoot Thinning For Space Purpose – to remove surplus shoots and to
moderate crop yield
Advantages – open canopy, aeration, spray penetration, light
How – cane prune – doubles, unders, heads
How – spur prune – shoots per spur?
Severity depends on site and also end use of fruit
Leaf Plucking
Purpose – to open up bunch zone
Advantages – spray penetration, aeration,
promotion of ripening, disease control –
powdery, botrytis
Exposure – check with winery
Options – machine, hand, sheep
Leaf Plucking
Canopy Management
Tucking – keep shoots upright and within
wires – care required
Shoot positioning – ultimate for disease
control. Implemented at shoot thinning can be
taken to actual shoot tying
Canopy management
Bunch Thinning
Purpose to moderate crop load/remove
disease/reduce crowding
Timing – berries peas size
Supervision required
If pruned well, shoot thinned, positioned, then bunch
thinning may not be required
Required when bunches touching/growing together
and/or when crop load limits ripening potential
Bunch Trash Removal
Seen to be perhaps the key for botrytis control
in white varieties in particular
Collard leaf plucker – proven to clear trash
from bunches and to significantly improve
botrytis control at harvest
Chris Henry Canopy Blower – trials being
conducted this year
Flowers for insect control
Purpose to encourage bio control – parasitic wasp predation of LBAM
Sow every 10th row (30m)
Phacelia (3kg/ha) Buckwheat (25kg/ha)
Direct drill to reduce costs
Costs $26/ha
Prodigy costs $36/ha
Benefits soil structure
Flowers for insect control
Endopathegentic Control of Mealybug
Endopathegentic fungi being trialled in Virus
Elimination Project
Natural product fungus – Biogro certified
Been used extensively in Greenhouses in NZ
with good results
Being trialled in a 2ha trial comparing
conventional vs fungi
Endopathegentic Control of Mealybug
Summary
Cultural management is the key for managing
disease in an organic system
An open canopy is essential
Prune for shoot position
Shoothin for vine balance
Leaf pluck to open bunch zone
Balance is the key