The past two days were spent suckering and thinning shoots. It's quite a fun task. I got to see each vine up close and personal. It gave me an opportunity to check for frost damage which, I am pleased to report, there is almost none of. A few of the bench grafts, that were cut down to two buds, are showing some damage on the leaves that were just beginning to peek out of their milk cartons. Otherwise everything else seems fine. The Pinot gris vines are pushing out every possible bud they can...they look like Chia pets! Well, they did before I went through and put a stop to their vigorous little game. It took quite a while but now there are actually spaces between the shoots. I am thinking they are wanting to be infected with powdery mildew.
One thing I did notice is that there hundreds of ladybird (Coccinellidae) larvae all over the vineyard. This bodes well for my grape pest management programme, which consists of hoping I have all the good insects for vines...and none of the bad ones. The larvae in the picture is quite advanced, she'll be hatching anytime soon. The sheer number of ladybirds, at every stage right now, reminded me of the plague of ladybirds we had in England in 1976. That was a crunchy summer indeed!
5 comments:
Those little buggers can bite!
Vests.....that's all I associate with Ladybirds! Well, that and itching!
Yes, Woolies used to carry Ladybird children's vests!
Great post Vinogirl; and excellent 'Wildlife On 1' photo. You almost certainly know this, but if you cut up some garden canes, with a knuckle at one end (leaving the other end open), then tie them together in a bundle and leave them in a sheltered spot with the open ends facing slightly down to keep the water out, you will have created an ideal winter habitat for lacewings, ladybirds and so on. I imagine the vast tracts of Vinoland are littered with them, but thought I'd throw it in.
Fred, thanks for the tip. I may try it because I am always happy to see lacewings in the vineyard...fantastic predators.
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