How green is my valley.

I don't know if it's me, the light quality today, or the fact that Vinoland's grapevines got a little extra TLC last night, but everything in Vinoland just looks wonderfully verdant today.  The Pinot grigio grapes are definitely a little shinier: I'll explain.
In the never ending quest to produce good quality grapes from disease free vines, preventing pests from damaging the grape crop calls for a combination of techniques, or integrated pest management (IPM).  Along with cultural practices, sometimes chemical control, the use of pesticides, can be more effective in controlling pests (in the greater context of a broad IPM strategy).  Yesterday evening was the first time Stylet-Oil (SO) was used on the grapevines (with a little Mettle® fungicide thrown in for good effect).  SO is a little more effective against powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) (PM) in cooler growing seasons (like the one the Napa Valley is experiencing this year) versus the more conventional use of sulphur.  Sulphur needs warmer temperatures to volatize (65°F is the recognised minimum temperature required for sulphur activity against PM), whereas SO is not temperature dependent and so it acts as an eradicant, protectant and, most importantly, an antisporulant 24 hours a day.  In layman's terms, SO stops spores from growing, and insects from breathing.  And it makes baby-grapes shinier.

Spray day.

Today, at last, and for the next 5 day extended weather outlook, there is no rain in the forecast.  So, and not a moment too soon, the vines received their first application of sulphur for the season.  I was starting to get a bit worried about the Orange muscat vines which have a good 10-12 inches of growth already - they should have had two, preventative sulphur treatments (to ward off powdery mildew infection) by now, but the weather has not been cooperating.  Ho hum.

Past due.

It rained for most of today, most of the week actually.  Just enough drizzly rain to make my hair annoyingly curly, but not enough to put a dint in California's water shortage woes.  However, the amount of precipitation has been sufficient to make the first application (for the season) of wettable sulphur impossible.  The Orange muscat vines have about 10 inches of growth already and look fantastically healthy, but they are at the stage were they should be due a second application of powdery mildew killing sulphur, not awaiting their first.  Mother Nature is not cooperating.  So, besides my tonsorial-tribulations, I have running through my head tortuous images of the unfettered sporulation of Uncinula necator slowly creeping over my pretty, green, succulent Orange muscat shoots.  Hang in there buddies.

Hanging in there.

On this, the occasion of the winter solstice, I decided to take a quick walk around the vineyard with the Vinodogs.  Although we have had little rain, we have had quite a windy autumn and all the grapevines are now stripped of their leaves.  To my surprise, I found a skeletonised bunch of Red Globe table grapes that I obviously missed when picking the rest.  It looks like wasps have had their evil way with this bunch of grapes, but I'm hoping some birds have also found this a tasty little treat.  I learned, this past growing season, that the Red Globe grapes are rather immune to infection by powdery mildew...on the other hand Crimson Seedless and July Muscat are extremely susceptible to infection...hence the lack of those two varieties of grapes on my table this year!

Win early!

While everyone is in a tizzy about the appearance in the Napa Valley of the European grapevine moth, and understandably so, there are many other threats to the vintage that the winegrower must face every growing season. Just this past Monday (May 10th) we had an exceptionally late spring frost. Rain is forecast for this coming Monday and, with bloom nearly upon us, heavy rainfall now would be disastrous for fruit set.
Possibly the biggest headache for winegrowers every year is powdery mildew (Uncinula necator), a fungal pathogen that infects all green, succulent tissue on the grapevine, including leaves and young berries. Powdery mildew (PM) can cause extensive crop loss and poor wine quality if left untreated. Temperature is the most important factor influencing the development of PM: it positively thrives in temperatures between 68-81 degrees F. Vitus vinifera cultivars vary in susceptibility to PM, but the principal control method for preventing infection in all cultivars is the application of sulphur in wettable and dust forms.
It is looking like 2010 is going to be a bumper year for this particular disease as we have had no hot weather this spring. So far this year, each sulphur application in Vinoland has been followed by a rain event making it difficult to get the upper hand in preventing further germination of conidia. But, perseverance is the key and so Vinomaker was out spraying the vines today and could oft be heard muttering to himself the mantra, win early.

A Napa nest.

Spring is almost at an end.  Not that you'd know it from the unusually cool weather we have been having.  Summer is just around the corner but temps are at least 10 degrees below normal for this time of year. Perfect temperatures for powdery mildew infection of the vines.
The local avian population may be done with child-rearing for the season (as evidenced by the abandoned nest I found earlier: complete with Vinodog 1 fur-lining of course), but I still have yet to plant and rear my babies!
We did finally manage to get the tree stump out today, hooray! It took myself and Vinomaker, on a tractor each, ganging up on the aforementioned stump until it finally yielded to the power of John Deere and Ford.  Phew!
Now, aren't I supposed to be nest hunting for Thud?