Overwintering Phomopsis

[wood1954]

We’ve had really wet and cool weather this spring which really helped what I believe is phomopsis, when it was wet it was like a black mold. I wanted to spray lime sulfur before the buds swelled up, but I had a sore back and it seemed to rain every day. So, I sprayed mancozeb, captan and tebuconazole to try and control it over the last couple days. Today I went thru every vine and cut out any dead wood and any live areas that had a lot of black on it. I think it’s going to be a rough summer. I don’t know of any way to kill phomopsis during the season.
Otherwise the vines look great this year so far.

 

[GSMChris]

Well, that stinks… I don’t know anything you can do about it in season other than what you are already doing. Perhaps going through monthly and pruning out any hot spots, trying to minimize the spread. If you do that, be sure to sanitize your pruners either with a bleach solution or with rubbing alcohol frequently. Personally I carry a pocket full of alcohol wipes and wipe down after each vine and following that up with a dunk in bleach at the end of each row.