D1.C8. Hazards, Pests and Diseases Flashcards
What are the minimum amounts of water per year needed for the vine in cool climates and warm climates?
- 500 mm per year in cool climates
- 750 mm per year in warm climates
What can be the results of insufficient water on the vine?
- Closure of stomata
- Decreased photosynthesis
- Unripe grapes and lower yields
- If prolonged, leaf loss and death
What are the management options against drought?
- Irrigation systems (if allowed)
- Drought resistant rootstocks rootstocks from V. rupestris and V. berlandieri parentage (110R and 140 R
- Drought tolerant cultivars like Garnacha
What can be the results of excess of water on the vine?
- Too much vegetative growth, shading the fruit, compromising ripeness
- Increased risk for fungal diseases
- Waterlogging
+ Reducing the amount of oxygen available to the roots, slowing down growth and eventually killing the vine
+ Compaction of the soils, making them difficult to work, and uncontrolled water run-off
What are the management options against excess of water?
- Drainage systems
- Planting on slopes
- Planting on free draining soil
What are the adverse effects of excess rainfall during pollination and fruit set, during summer and close to harvest?
- Pollination and fruit set: Millerandage and coulure
- Summer: Reduce the rate of ripening of fruit
- Close to harvest: Swelling of grapes reducing the concentration of must. Splitting of grapes leading to grey rot. It also makes the harvest difficult
What are the management options against untimely rainfall?
- Choice of the site: Climate, slope
- Condition of the soil
- Choice of whether or not to grass the land between rows of vines
- Adequacy of drainage
- Monitoring weather forecast: Winemakers may have to weigh up the options of early harvest with potentially less-ripe fruit
Under which temperature, the vine can be seriously damaged or even killed?
−20°C / −4°F
Which part of the vine is at most risk for winter freeze?
Graft (if grafted on a rootstock), followed by canes or cordons
What are the management options against winter freeze?
- Site selection
+ Hillside sites can be up to 5°C / 9°F warmer than the valley floor
+ Vineyards near large or deep bodies of water
+ Vines should be planted where snow settles most thickly, as a deep layer of snow can provide insulation for the vine - Choice of varieties: Cabernet Franc, Riesling, V. amurensis
- Protecting vines
+ Hilling up: Building up soil around the vine graft
+ Burying up: In extreme climates like China, very costly
+ Vines can also be pruned to have several trunks so that those killed in winter can be replaced
Under what condition does the frost occur?
Frosts occur when cold air below 0°C / 32°F collects at ground level, freezing water in the vine
Which part of the vine is at most risk for frost?
Newly burst buds or young shoots that have a high-water content
What happens if the buds and shoots are killed because of frost?
The vine puts out more shoots from secondary buds
What are the two types of frost
- Advective frost: Caused by large volumes of cold air moving in from very cold areas
- Radiative frost: It occurs on dry clear nights with no wind, when the heat radiated by the ground or plant tissue escapes unhindered into the atmosphere due to the absence of clouds, fog or haze
Why does freezing cold air collect at valley bottoms?
Because the cold air is denser than warm air
What are the preventive measures against frost?
- Avoiding frost pockets, choosing hillside sites where cold air can drain away
- Delaying pruning to postpone budburst into warmer months
- Choosing late budding varieties like Riesling
- High training vines
- Having bare soil rather than a cover crop, which absorbs more heat during the day and radiates this heat during the night
What are the options when frost threatens?
- Water sprinklers (aspersion)
- Wind machines
- Oil or propane gas heaters (smudge pots) and wax candles (bougies)
Which of the options against frost is the only method that is effective against advective frost?
Water sprinklers
How do the water sprinklers protect against frost?
As water freezes around the parts of the plant, it releases latent heat (the temperature at the growing point may rise up to 3-4 °C) , protecting the plant
What are the two important issues to be considered when using water sprinklers against frost?
- Sprinklers should be turned on when the temperature is above freezing around 1°C
- The system must be kept on until the temperature increases sufficiently to melt the ice coating
When are the wind machines effective?
These are effective where there is an inversion layer, a warm zone of air 10 m above the ground (+3–5°C)
When is the investment for wind machines cost effective?
If there is a chance of a damaging radiation frost once every five years
What is a similar solution like the wind machines?
Using helicopters
When is the use of helicopters cost effective
When the risk is severe, but short term
What are the disadvantages of smudge pots and bougies?
- High cost of fuel
- High cost of labour
- Low heating efficiency
- Air pollution
Which parts of the vine are most vulnerable to hail?
- Shoots, leave and canes when they are young
- Berries during ripening period (damage and prone to botrytis and other diseases)
Name two areas where grape growers suffer from repeated hail storms?
- Mendoza
- Burgundy
What are the management options for hail?
- Firing rockets into the thunderclouds to seed them with silver iodide to cause rainfall instead of hail
- Netting
- Decrease the risk by planting in different spots
- Consider the additional cost of crop insurance
Why netting is a more appropriate solution in Mendoza, rather than Burgundy?
As netting creates some shading, this solution can only be used where there are high sunlight levels
Why are the grapes more vulnerable to sunburn than the leaves?
Because, grape transpiration is much more limited, and therefore less effective, than leaf transpiration
Under which condition, the risk of sunburn increases?
When the vines are already in a situation of water stress.
What are the effects of sunburn on grape quality?
- Browning of the grape
- Bitter taste
- Increased susceptibility to rot
What should be done to sun burnt grapes?
They typically need to be removed by sorting, which reduces yields
What are the preventive options for sunburn
- In the Northern Hemisphere, east-west row orientation should be avoided so that grapes on the south side of the row are not subject to day-long sun and, particularly, intense afternoon sunshine
- Canopy management
- If a heatwave is forecast, additional irrigation, where allowed, may be applied to reduce water stress and, hence, the chance of sunburn
- Special agricultural sunscreen spray can be applied
- Vines can be shaded with a cloth or net
By which mechanism, does the smoke create “smoky” or “ plastic” aromas in the final wine
- Aroma compounds in smoke can be absorbed by the grapes.
- These compounds bind to with sugars and form aroma-less compounds
- These compounds then only become aromatic through the fermentation process
- The strength of the aroma can increase during the ageing of wine and during bottle ageing as further aroma precursors break down and become aromatic
What are the management options for smoke taint?
- Affected musts can be tested analytically and/or by micro-vinifications to establish the extent of the problem
- Hand harvesting, gentle or whole bunch pressing, lower fermentation temperatures and reduced maceration times can reduce the uptake of the compounds
- Flash détente and reverse osmosis can also help, but will not remove the taint completely
How can phylloxera spread?
- Crawling (rare)
- By humans (mostly)
+ On the roots of young vines
+ In soil
+ On equipment like leaf trimmers and harvesters
+ By irrigation water
What are the symptoms of phylloxera infestation?
- Vines die of drought in patches that increase in size year by year
- Vine roots are covered with the insects surrounded by yellow eggs
- Swellings on older roots
- Pale green leaf galls on the under-surface of the leaves
- Slow, stunted shoot growth and leaf yellowing appears in around three years, the plant dies after around five years
Which American vine species are most resistant to phylloxera infestation?
- V. riparia
- V. rupestris
- V. berlandieri
Why are the American vine species generally are not preferred for wine making?
They have undesirable aromas
Why grafting V. vinifera onto the rootstocks of single American species is problematic in Europe?
Because these rootstocks have little lime tolerance, resulting in chlorosis
How was the lime intolerance issue solved for American rootstocks?
By developing rootstock hybrids
- 99 Richter (V. berlandieri x V. rupestris)
- 5BB Kober (V. berlandieri x V. riparia)
What are nematodes?
They microscopic worms
What are the mechanisms that nematodes can damage vine?
- Causing damage by feeding off vine roots
- Transmitting viral diseases (fanleaf virus is transmitted by dagger nematode)
What are the two most common nematodes?
- Root-knot nematode
- Dagger nematode
How do nematodes spread?
Nematodes are either present in the soil already or can be spread by unclean nursery stock, irrigation water or vehicles
What are the management options for nematodes?
- Fumigation of the soil
+ By chemicals: Banned in most regions
+ Plough in a cover crop of mustard plant, that work as biofumigants - Using nematode-resistant rootstocks: Ramsey and Dog Ridge (both V. champini)
How do the grape moths damage the vines?
- By feeding on flowers and grapes. They have several generations per season, attacking flowers in spring and grapes later in the year
- The wounds created are then vulnerable to further attack from bacteria and fungi
What are the most common types of moths in different continents?
- Southern Europe: European grapevine moth
- Australia: Light brown apple moth
- Central and eastern North America: Grape berry moth
What are the management options against grape moths?
- Biological controls
+ Bacillus thuringiensis: It produces substances that are toxic to the moths
+ Pheromone capsules: Disrupt mating (sexual confusion)
+ Natural predators: Parasitic wasps, green lacewings, some spider species - Insecticides
What are the most destructive spider mites in California and in Europe?
- California: Pacific spider mite
- Europe: Red spider mite and two forms of yellow spider mite
On which part of the vine do the spider mites feed?
They feed on the surface cells of leaves
What are the symptoms of spider mite infestation?
- Discoloration of the leaves
- Reduction of photosynthesis leading to delayed ripening and reduction in yields
What are the favorable conditions for the spider mites to thrive?
- Dusty conditions
- Water stressed vines
What are the management options for spider mites?
- Reducing dust by the use of water sprinklers, cover crops or mulches
- Encourage predatory mites (Tyhplodromus pyri)
- Specific pesticides that do not kill predatory mites (costly)
How do leafhoppers and ladybugs adversely affect viticulture and vinification?
- Leafhoppers cause direct damage to the leaves
- Ladybugs can taint wines if they are in amongst the harvested grapes