Adelaide Hills Crop Watch 091009

CropWatch 2-3 LEAVES EL 9 Weather damage After two weeks of slow vine development growth has improved across the seven CropWatch vineyards. The Balhannah Chardonnay is the most advanced at 3-4 Leaf (EL 911) with 5-14 cm shoots. Monitored Pinot Noir blocks at Kuitpo in the southern hills are the least advanced being between Rosette and 2 Leaf (EL 5-8) with shoots 0-5 cm long. Frost and cold temperature damage is noticeable in some blocks, although levels are low. Many vineyards in the southern hills (south of Echunga) have significant hail damage and stem pitting. Check your vineyard for hail damage. The combination of weather damage and pest activity, including earwigs, snails plus in certain sites birds and Kangaroos has left many vineyards looking battered and scarred.

This message from Adelaide Hills CropWatch was compiled for the week ending Friday, October October 9th 2009 and will be updated prior to Octo October 16th. More Pest and Disease information is available at

Hopefully continued calm weather www.adelaidehillswine.blogspot.com and warm daytime temperatures will increase shoot growth and allow vines to grow away from this Powdery Mildew – From this week pay close attention to previous early season damage. disease hot spots. Research and field experience shows that infections are more likely to occur in areas where the disease has built up in the Downy Mildew. past. A flagshoot is shown (above). The weather in the last seven days was not conducive to Downy mildew. The current forecast for the next seven days does not seem to be likely to cause a 10:10:24 Downy Primary Event.

Remember spray coverage is very important! Good coverage is as important as the product you used for control. Practices that lead to poor coverage including poor spray set up, old nozzles and spraying in high winds or only spraying every second row for early season sprays, can lead to patchy powdery protection and is not a successful practice.

1 CropWatch SA Adelaide Hills is a service provided by service provided by the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Inc. DJ’s Grower Services provide vineyard monitoring data, interpret weather data & compile the messages. Information is general in nature. Always seek professional advice specific to your vineyard. All photos (c) James Hook, Richard McGeachy & Peter Magarey unless noted. CropWatch acknowledges the support of James Hook & Matthew Wilson in preparing this message.

Phomopsis No Phomopsis has been seen in any of the seven CropWatch Adelaide Hills vineyards however growers are advised that weather conditions could be favorable to the disease. Phomopsis is a fungal disease that is commonly found in the Adelaide Hills (right). We’ve had a reprieve from this disease over the past few years as Phomopsis develops over cool wet springs. There are two ‘types’ of Phomopsis. The first is ‘type 1’ Diaporthe. Diaporthe symptoms include: bleached internodes on dormant canes, small black fruiting bodies (Pycnidia) in the bleached areas, sharp black lines outlining the bleached areas. Diaporthe is not thought to reduce grape yields. The second type, ‘type 2’ Phomopsis viticola produces symptoms such as bleached internodes on dormant canes, elongated black cracks and scars on the lower 3-4 internodes of shoots, stunted shoots, and on leaves small black/brown spots (<1mm) with yellow halo’s (shoot shown right). These shoots are weak and can easily break off. The disease fruits (Pycnidia) will produce spores in spring after extended wet periods (>10 hours) and greater than 96% Relative humidity. These spores can be washed onto fresh leaves and shoots. Symptoms on leaves can be evident 21 days after infection and shoot symptoms evident after 28 days. Infected canes may produce spore bodies for up to 3 years. Monitoring is critical in disrupting the disease lifecycle. Various Group Y fungicides can be used to control the disease protecting spread after the original infection. Consult your winery or advisor for more information.

Above – It is easy to confuse Phomopsis viticola with hail damage. This damage is a reference photo of Phomopsis. Hail damage is very common this year. Hail is usually seen as circular pitting in vine stems.

Leaf Botrytis

– Three of the seven CropWatch vineyards have developed low levels of Leaf botrytis after the recent wet and windy weather.

All photos above – Leaf botrytis caused by weather damage. This is common in seasons where vineyards are hit with windy and wet weather in spring. Further rain increases Leaf botrytis infections while dry conditions will heal it up. Leaf botrytis is very easy to monitor. Hold any leaf botrytis up to light. If the edge of damage is a clear ‘fuzzy’ line the botrytis is still active, if the edge is a solid brown line the botrytis is inactive and been naturally controlled. CropWatch SA Adelaide Hills is a service provided by service provided by the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Inc. DJ’s Grower Services provide vineyard monitoring data, interpret weather data & compile the messages. Information is general in nature. Always seek professional advice specific to your vineyard. All photos (c) James Hook, Richard McGeachy & Peter Magarey unless noted. CropWatch acknowledges the support of James Hook & Matthew Wilson in preparing this message.