Planning your Summer spray program in grapes

G'day, I'm Hugh Armstrong, Business Development Manager for Horticulture. It's early December, so just in that nexus between spring and summer. And the grapevines, particularly this year, have grown a lot. And a lot of vigorous leaf growth and shoot extension. And the bunches themselves have got to this really critical stage of pre-bunch closure. So it's a really important time for management. Not just pest and disease management, but also canopy management for the grape grower. Right at the moment, the vines are still quite susceptible to powdery mildew. And it's important by this stage to have had all of your preventative sprays in place. Because if you haven't got a thorough program in place by this time, you're going to be playing catch up. And the disease will probably get on top of the grapes. So a strong preventative program between the start of the season and now is really critical. Because those green berries are still very susceptible. The young growth on the shoots is very susceptible. And it becomes harder and harder to spray and get good penetration once you reach this period and beyond. Typically by now, growers should have sprayed five or six times between bud burst and this stage of growth in that pre-Christmas window. And it's really critical to understand the groups of chemistry that you're using and rotate within that spray program on an annual basis. But on top of that, the growers need to be very mindful of the restrictions in terms of the withholding periods. For every product, whether that be a fungicide or an insecticide. Because the export withholding periods can be quite more restrictive than what's on the label. Once the grapes start to ripen and those berries become soft, other diseases become more of an issue. So we're talking there about Botrytis bunch rot, otherwise known as grey mould. And a few other secondary rots that can occur if the seasonal conditions are moist. But generally, if the hard work's been done up until now, the growers can then focus on preparing those vineyards for harvest. Planning from day one as soon as bud burst begins is really, really important. Because whilst the chemistry we have is good, most of it relies on a preventative strategy. So you have to have that program in place and understanding the rotation of those products through the season. And then having some backup plans depending on the weather events that might happen during the year.