Members of the North Carolina Wine Growers Association at their Summer Tech Tailgate. Photo: HJBMichael and Amy Helton, owners of Hanover Park Vinyard, were on Charlotte Talks, a Charlotte area public radio program today to discuss V. vinfera wine production in NC. You can hear the radio program here. Amy is the current president of the NC Wine Growers Association, which held their Summer Tech Tailgate this past Sunday at Westbend Vineyard. Turner Sutton, NCSU plant pathologist, and myself attended to discuss summer disease and insect pressure in grape production.
Developing grapes at Westbend Vineyard. Photo: HJBBefore the meeting got started, I took a walk through the vineyard at Westbend and was pleased to find very little insect injury. There was a bit of thrips injury on some clusters (a distinctive star shaped scarring), but little other damage. This time of year, growers should be on the look out for spider mites (it's been an excellent spider mite season thus far) and early Japanese beetle feeding. Japanese beetles will begin feeding on the upper parts of the plant.
I presented an overview of insect and mite monitoring in bunch grapes (find a link to this handout here) and Turner discussed the fungal and bacterial rots that are a continuous challenge to grape production in the southeast.
More information
Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium Bunch Grape IPM Guide
NC Ag Chem Manual wine grape spray program
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