# spiders on grapes?



## kitten (Apr 26, 2009)

i dont know if i am posing this in the right area or not but does anyone here grow your own grapes? 

and those of you that do do you have issues with spiders? how do you get rid of them? i have read up on it and found some recipes to spray that include vinegar and lavendar oil but i was afraid that would affect the grapes... just thought i would stop in and ask you guys what you thought...

any info at all will be welcome


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## Tom (Apr 26, 2009)

Are you talking about when its time for picking?
If so, a little "protien" won't hurt. The vineyards dont spray the spiders off just before picking. 
Relax have a glass of wine.


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## Racer (Apr 26, 2009)

Don't spray anything on your grapes near harvest (unless you want that taste in your wine). If you find any "floaters" in with your de-stemmed and crushed grapes go ahead and remove them but dont think they'll hurt your wine, it will be o.k. with or without them.


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## Manimal (Apr 26, 2009)

Spiders are most likely beneficial creatures to have living in your vine canopy. They don't harm the fruit and since they prey on insects they may help keep harmful pest populations at bay. Once you've harvested your grapes, you should sort them to cut out any rotten or damaged fruit and while you do this, you can remove any critters as you discover them. If a few get in the must, no big deal. However, there are some insects that are worth paying attention to as they can taint your wine... up here in Ontario we have had an explosion of Multi-coloured Asian Ladybird Beetles (MALB) in the past decade or so, and they give off a foul-smelling compound that can be detected at only a few parts per billion. They look almost like regular ladybugs. In 2001, when these insects first started to appear in large numbers, tens of thousands of liters of commercial wine had to be dumped due to ladybug taint. Since then, commercial wineries have been very successful at eliminating this problem through various viticultural and winemaking approaches, but for the home winemaker, I'd be extra wary of any ladybugs on your vines... even touching them with your fingers to pull them off the fruit can cause them to release the foul-smelling compound. You need to remove them by shaking or by pulling them off with metal implements such as pruners. The resulting taint in the wine is akin to rotten peanuts and can range from mild to very severe depending on the number of ladybugs in the must.


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## kiljoy (May 12, 2009)

I live on the lake and the amount of spiders here are crazy! I pick the bunches and put them in buckets. Then I fill the buckets with hose water and wait a few minutes. Spiders, earwhigs, etc. start to float to the top. Then I pull each bunch out one by one and spray them off with the shower setting on my hose and transfer into a another bucket. Still there are some left. You can't get them all.


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