Sharing a couple tips to help make grape life easier

[efBobby]

First discovery I made is a very recent one but whether you have a fungal issue close to harvest and cannot use a systemic, practice organic gardening which limits your options or have elected to not use sulfur in an effort to stop/reverse imbalances in ground nutrients etc.

there are some organic and systemic pest/fungicides that are oil based and the directions generally call for mixing them with water which we all know does not work well.

so I decided to add a few drops of dawn to the next gallon and it does indeed help. It’s safe for plants at such a high dilution, is harmful to some pest, since it’s a surfactant it helps to equalize the surface tension between the water and the oil and it’s a degreaser which also helps to break up the oil and help it mix with the water.

now I hope it will work better not gumming up my sprayers etc.

I will gather more data as time progresses in regards to dilution rate and effective strength to ensure that the fungicide/pesticide is still effective.

the next tip is only applicable to those of you who either work in a greenhouse setting or inside.

this one I have gathered data from but in the applicable setting I found it’s insanely beneficial to run a 24h light cycle.

why? First I will start out saying it has no measurable benefits to plant growth etc...

however, I noticed a 90-95% reduction in fungal events. Even when there was an event it was only on 1-3 plants vs by the time you noticed it, nearly all were infected.

as a result you can also tinker with stepping into what is generally regarded as the forbidden zone which is increasing humidity; however there is still a trade off.

more humidity equals faster growth but the compromise comes in the form of needing more time to harden off your rooted cuttings etc....so find what works best for you.

hope this helps

 

[Handy Andy]

I use Water, Oil and Detergent, to effectively kill pests on my fruit trees at 100:1:1. 5litres of water 50ml of vegetable oil and 50ml of washing up soap. I have also been told mildew can be controlled with milk and water mixed at 10:1 ratio.

What soil imbalances is the use of sulphur causing you? How many years have you been using sulphur?

Is a sulphur imbalance something else I need to worry about? I thought grape vines were very tolerant to sulphur sprays for mildew

 

[SheridanVines]

lol What soil imbalances is the use of sulphur causing you? How many years have you been using sulphur?

Is a sulphur imbalance something else I need to worry about? I thought grape vines were very tolerant to sulphur sprays for mildew

Sulfur is mobile in the soil like nitrogen and much of it leaches with rainwater. Using sulfur fungicide won’t cause any”imbalance” in your soil.

 

[efBobby]

I have also read that milk can be used but have not tried it. I think I also read hydrogen peroxide can be used on mildew.

I did try that but it was not effective; perhaps I had it diluted too much/too cautious?

however I believe the oil base is more effective than a water base just bc it hangs around longer.

I may have misread the article on sulfur or perhaps the article was incorrect.

Either way My mistake