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Managing the Sour Rot Disease Complex in Grapes
Description
What makes Sour Rot so challenging for wine grape growers is that it is a disease complex. Hans C. Walter-Peterson, Viticulture Extension Specialist, Finger Lakes Grape Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension explains that Sour Rot comes in late season after ripening. Yeasts get into the berries and ferment the sugar out in the vineyard. Bacteria follow up, feasting on the alcohol, converting it into acetic acid – an unwelcome component in winemaking. And, the disease is spread rapidly by fruit flies.
In this interview Hans shares methods to reduce Sour Rot disease pressure by managing increasingly resistant fruit fly populations, leafing to encourage fewer berries at fruit set, the correct way to drop fruit, and timing antimicrobial and insecticide sprays to Brix to maximize effectiveness.
Cornell Cooperative Extension is trialing non-chemical control practices including UV light for sterilization and hormonal sprays plus a disease model is under development with Penn State University.
Resources:- 17: New Discoveries about Sour Rot – Megan Hall (Podcast)
- 117: Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light - David Gadoury (Podcast)
- 159: Under-Vine Vegetation to Control Vine Vigor – Justine Vanden Heuvel (Podcast)
- Alice Wise, Cornell Cooperative Extension
- Control of Sour Rot via Chemical and Canopy Management Techniques
- Hans Walter-Peterson, Cornell Cooperative Extension
- Hans Walter-Peterson ResearchGate
- Influence of timing and intensity of fruit zone leaf removal and kaolin applications on bunch rot control and quality improvement of Sauvignon blanc grapes, and wines, in a temperate humid climate
- Insecticide Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is Associated with Field Control Failure of Sour Rot Disease in a New York Vineyard
- Managing Fruit Flies for Sour Rot
- Summer Bunch Rot (Sour Rot) Pest Management UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines
- Wendy McFadden-Smith, PhD., Ontario