Gall in my frontenacs.

[treesaver]

Last year I had a few of my frontenac vines had bumps on the leaves. It wasn't very widespread, and I thought it was an insect laying eggs in the leaf. It was late enough that I didn't worry about it. This year, it was back, and in just about every vine. So I took a leaf to a garden center that is pretty savvy about diseases in plants. He looked it up in his book, and I was shocked. No cure, and the map showed it wasn't even supposed to be in my area. It said that a lot of vines are susceptible to this, but that the hybreds were imune. Well my hybred isn't.

Now comes crunch time. I need to know if I pull those vines, will I be able to go back in that same rows with one like verona? Will it spread to my new vines, or am I worring for nothing. My norton vines are beside my frontenac, and no sign of an issue with them. From what I could figure out, this is not the same as crown gall, I do not believe. Maybe some of you fellas have crossed paths with this, and I'm trying to figure which way to go.

 

[Masbustelo]

Is it this ? Grape Phylloxera. I think I have this showing up on my Verona. Here is an article. https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef222,http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/88-125.htm If it is Phylloxera, it has two forms. Root and leaf (aerial) infestation. It is likely that you have the leaf type which you are observing. Apparently it is unsightly but not highly damaging. Since you have an American Hybrid, Your Frontenac probably doesn't have the root form of the infestation which is much more damaging. In a brief study I just read that Norton is resistant to the root form of Phylloxera.

 

[treesaver]

Yes sir, you nailed it. The book the gentleman used this morning, didn't mention phylloxera, but it's the same thing. Let me know if it gets in your verona. I hope it doesn't. It's funny, none of the rest of my grapes have it, only the frontenac. We will see how this plays out!

 

[Masbustelo]

Regarding Phylloxera: Should the leaves be pulled and destroyed that have the galls showing?

 

[grapeman]

Frontenac is fairly susceptible to the aerial phylloxera and LaCrescent is even more so. Hybrids are resistant to the pest but definitely not immune. It is considered more of an aesthetic problem but I have seen some that get so covered that it affects photosynthesis and ripening. There are sprays for it but they are expensive and need to be repeated a few times during the "crawler " stage to kill the nymphs. I have a friend that pulled the affected leaves and bagged them and she had a much reduced problem the next year. Was it the leaf pulling that helped? Unknown but the result was an improvement. Unless almost every leaf is covered with the phylloxera it should not be a real problem.

 

[treesaver]

That's the way a few of my vine are, Rich. Just about every leaf is curled and deformed. I wish I had known this much a few years ago when it first showed up. I'm not sure whether they have enough leaves to ripen the fruit that is on them.

 

[grapeman]

Vines are resilient and can adapt to their situations. You may find that the shoots will form plenty of summer laterals with fresh leaves on them and unless those get infested, they can ripen the crop. Good luck with them.

 

[KevinL]

I've got the Leaf Phylloxera on my Frontenac as well. I've just been pruning off the curled leaves just 'cause they don't look good. Other than that not sure what else to do.

 

[balatonwine]

I have a friend that pulled the affected leaves and bagged them and she had a much reduced problem the next year. Was it the leaf pulling that helped?

Yes. It is a form of population control. By removing the leaves and bagged them, she also removed a large part of the local population that was perpetrating this years infection and which would over winter and cause a new infection next year (phylloxera goes through several generations each summer on the same vine, so the earlier one deals with population control, the less infestation one will have later). This is a mechanical method of pest managment. But predators, parasitoids, or chemicals do the same thing.

 

[treesaver]

Thanks for the replys fellas, I appreciate your imput for sure!