Vineyard Pest Control
There are various types of pests that can jeopardize your grapevine. These include: disease, insects, birds or sometimes, deer.
Vineyard Pest Control – Disease:
The most common types of diseases are mildew, black rot, phomopsis cane, leaf spot and fungus. In the case your vine comes down with a disease, there will be symptoms that will help you identify the problem. The most frequent symptoms of disease are vine leaf discoloration, a film covering the leaves, and fruit decay. If your grapevine gets infected, a fungicide can be used to cure the disease. Make sure to investigate thoroughly the symptoms of your vines’ disease to determine a fungicide that will clear up the problem.
Vineyard Pest Control – Insects:
Grape berry moths are a common grapevine threat. They lay their eggs on top of the grapes, and the larvae then hatches into the fruit leaving behind tiny holes.
Grape leaf-hoppers feed on the under-parts of the leaves. Thankfully, only a big population of this type of insect will truly jeopardize your vine.
Japanese beetles are a common threat to USA’s vineyards, as their population seems to be growing bigger every year.
Rose chafers feed directly from the fruit itself, leaving insect bites behind as evidence of their damage.
Even though grapevines can endure a great amount of insect damage and it’s generally not necessary to control this kind of pest, a insecticide can be used to reduce infestation.
Vineyard Pest Control – Birds:
Birds can really jeopardize your grapevine, inflicting great damage to both the leaves and the fruit. A good solution to a bird problem is to place a net over the trellis holding the vines. With the use of a trellis, the placement of the net is easy and needs only be removed during the winter season to prevent icing.
Visual Repellents are another option to minimize bird damage on your grape vine. Amongst many, aluminum pie plates, artificial snakes, owls or hawks are popular visual bird repellents.
Vineyard Pest Control – Deer:
While deer will only be a threat in certain areas, they can cause serious damage to your vines if it is not prevented. Odor repellents are a practical solution to this problem: dog hair, human hair, coyote hair and soap as the leading kinds of repellents recommended by most growers.
Protecting your vine should be a priority, given the amount of time and effort you will invest in it. If you take care of the pests that can damage your grapes, the growing process should be a simple and successful one.
