I come from a land down under!

[Ralphee]

And was wondering how many others on here as from the land of Aus?
I am in Victoria, Australia and have a backyard vineyard (220 vines) and the only local based forum i could see was for commercial growers for 1000 tonnes and above (and they wanted a lot of $$ to become a member of the forums!!)
Looking for a knowledgeable bunch to join, this site here looks pretty popular (and busy) but it would be handy if there are a few locals around as well for the local knowledge...

For example - is anyone having damage from the recent bush fires here? The smoke haze looks like it could affect the crops!

So its a "G'day all!" from me!

 

[Johnd]

Welcome to WMT!! We’ve definitely got some winemakers from your island here, sure they’ll jump in.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Cellar Vader]

Welcome to WMT! Yes, you're going to find a lot of useful information here in addition to some very friendly and knowledgeable people!

 

[Ralphee]

Morning all,
Not sure if this is a good place for it, but can anyone tell me why half of my plants have done this?? (as per the photo)
They are due to be picked soon (going by the brix) but a lot of them have turned to raisin or just not grown at all?
We had a bad start to the season (no rain, then no sun, then bushfires that covered everywhere with smoke when we did have sun...)
I kept the water up to them, sprayed to prevent mildew etc etc, but a whole section have done this
This is a 22 year old vineyard, but i have just bought it, so very new to the whole process
Thanks!

 

[hounddawg]

dang i hate to see that,,
Dawg

 

[Ignoble Grape]

Ouch! Recommend cross-posting on r/viticulture subreddit if you don't get an answer here - or do you have a local university extension office, maybe? Good luck!

 

[Ralphee]

Posted up on r/viticulture subreddit to see how I go, but 'black rot' or 'powdery mildew' seem to be the answer
Also, we dont have a "local university extension office" in Australia, but we can send samples off to the state government to get tested, but it doesnt look cheap...
Thanks for the good pointers!

 

[Dennis Griffith]

I would say Botrytis cinerea (black rot). What did you spray with? Looks like insect damage on the leaves, so what kind of bugs are they?

 

[mbleill]

G'Day,

From the picture it looks like Black Rot. Here is a link to the Central US Recommended spray program for fruit. We probably have a lot more humidity than your area and a lot more fungi but this document developed by Purdue University should point you in the right direction for sprays. I use Mancozeb and Rally early for black rot from bud break to veraison, (berry coloring) on my french hybrid and American grapes.

https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/Hort/Documents/ID-465.pdf

Cheers!
Mike

 

[GeoffMcG]

G'day Ralphee,
I also live in Victoria and have a similar number of vines to you. Certainly has beena challenging year. Unless you live very close to the fires you shouldn't have problems with smoke taint. Apparently the fresh smoke is the problem rather than the haze that covered most of us.
My grape looked similar to yours last year, I think it was result of server powdery mildew

 

[Ralphee]

I must admit i have gone by the previous owners advice and used the chemicals as directed by him, but he has been doing it for 20+ years, so i am pretty confident he know what he is doing. I don't have the names of the chemicals on hand, but they are the proper stuff (I can post if it helps)
Thank you everyone for jumping in here, we have harvested what we could (the Cab Sav look okay, but i don't have a lot of them) and one half of the Merlot looks okay, but they tell me its a very small harvest this year even for the vines that weren't affected