Skip to main content

Posts

Veraison to Harvest: Grape Cluster Sampling Strategy

  Hello Dear Readers! I hope the last couple of weeks have been treating you well. The weather has been wonderful, and harvest has slowly started. As we head into the home stretch, I thought it would be useful to focus on sampling strategy for this week. This post will be available as a fact sheet on the Perennia website soon.  The petiole sampling fact sheet is now available online. I will be on the road for the duration of harvest and dropping in to see you, so if you would like a visit, or a check-in, do let me know. Thank you and Happy Harvest! GRAPE SAMPLING STRATEGY Cluster sampling for fruit maturity after Veraison and up to harvest is one of the best techniques for monitoring and tracking crop maturity. Grape Quality is Impacted by: Maturity and condition of the grapes aroma/flavour and phenolic characteristics harvesting methods, transportation and processing protocols. Grape quality parameters agreed upon between the grape producer and the wineries are the foundation for mana
Recent posts

Following Veraison: Updates

  Hello Dear Readers! I hope you had a good week and enjoyed the long weekend. Last two Thursdays, Kevin, Lisa and I visited sites around the Valley and Bear River to check in on growers to see the seasonal progression. Saying we are very pleased is an understatement. With a good crop load and by all accounts, the season is early by about a week. Thank you for attending the GGANS Summer Tour. I appreciate seeing you again and learning alongside with you. Thank you also to those who attended the Best Practice session at Luckett Vineyards. For reference, I will post the berry/ cluster sampling protocol in the Fact Sheet Section of the Perennia Website.     As previously mentioned, I began sampling and recording the maturity progression (sugar accumulation) from several cultivars. The information is vital to the concept of precision viticulture and will be used to inform and optimize many decisions including pruning time, pesticide spray time, fertilization, harvest... Data and kno

Downy Mildew: Environmental Conditions, Developmental Cycle and Possible Solutions

  Hello Dear Readers! As promised, this post will focus on Downy Mildew. The weather- here in the valley and province in general, is warm, humid which unfortunately makes it very easy for Downy Mildew to take hold. This post will detail why this disease is so destructive, the development cycle, and possible preventative solutions. As mentioned in the previous post, it is much easier to prevent a disease than to react to it once it is established. So please, as always, go into veraison and harvest clean to maintain the best crop quality possible, and into the dormant season with healthy vines. Acknowledgement to Wendy McFadden Smith of Brock and Katie Gold of Cornell University for their research and publications on the topic. Please refer to these links for further reading: ·          The lowdown on downy mildew in grapes – ONfruit ·        Grape Disease Control, Spring 2021 | Cornell Fruit Resources: Grapes Additional citations are at the end of this article.   Downy M