By Layne Wade, Technical Sales Support, Arysta LifeScience

With rainfall due to El Niño during the maturation of California’s grape crops, the chance for disease pressure remains high, particularly at harvest.

Botrytis cinerea, which causes Gray mold, commonly leads to fruit rot. Early-season wet conditions can cause flower cluster and shoot infections, and lead to an increase in late-season inoculum levels. The pathogen can overwinter on grape clusters from the previous year, but it is also commonly present on other decaying organic matter within vineyards during the growing season. Infection of grapes can begin on the plant’s leaves, stems and bud axils, but as the berries mature they are increasingly susceptible to infection, with the peak of susceptibility occurring post-veraison. Additionally, as the berries ripen, fruit flies may help spread Botrytis spores on their bodies from cluster to cluster. To combat disease pressure, researchers recommend proper removal of leaves from around grape clusters to lessen the accumulation of humidity and aid in protecting them with effective fungicides. 

Making sure Botrytis is kept in check at harvest time often requires a season-long approach and rotations with effective materials such as PH-D^® and ELEVATE^® Fungicides. These products, from Arysta LifeScience, provide effective disease control while preserving grape growers’ fungicide options for years to come:

To learn more about PH-D, ELEVATE and the entire Arysta LifeScience portfolio of crop protection products for grapes, contact your crop protection retailer, visit www.ArystaSpecialty.com/Grapes or call 866-761-9397.

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