Grapes and Muscadines Resources
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The “Vineyard Canopy Management Series” of Extension circulars reviews a number of canopy-management practices individually. Each circular advises how to effectively implement a canopy-management practice and why it is important to do so. The practices collectively known as “canopy management” aim to maximize canopy leaf exposure, maintain crop yield and quality, decrease disease, and improve vineyard health and sustainability. Though labor-intensive, canopy management should not be considered optional if the goal is annual production of high-quality grapes and wines.
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Shoot thinning is the first seasonal canopy management practice in wine grape vineyards, but shoot thinning is not implemented in muscadine vineyards. Failure to shoot thin results in a highly congested canopy characterized by reduced air flow, high humidity, and extended damp periods. Muscadines can generally tolerate such conditions without adverse effects. Wine grapes grown in crowded fruit zones, however, will experience excessive disease incidence and severity—especially in the humid Southeastern U.S. Shoot thinning is therefore a necessary canopy management practice in wine grape vineyards in Georgia and other Southeastern states.
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C 1151
Viticulture Management
This phenology-based viticulture management poster provides a reference for sound viticultural, disease, and insect management practices in a digestible format. Viticultural practices optimize vineyard health, profitability, and sustainability and improve crop quantity and quality. Like pest management, viticultural practices should be implemented in a timely fashion throughout the growing season to maximize practice efficiency and benefit gain. Disease control in grapes is critical, as grapes are susceptible to a wide range of pathogens. Implementing timely and adequate cultural practices will greatly help to suppress diseases.
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C 1151-SP
Manejo del Viñedo
Este póster del manejo del viñedo está basado en la fenología de la planta y proporciona una referencia para las buenas prácticas de manejo de las enfermedades y los insectos de la vid en un formato atractivo y digerible. Las prácticas vitícolas optimizan la salud, la rentabilidad y la sostenibilidad de los viñedos al mismo tiempo que mejoran la cantidad y calidad del cultivo. Al igual que el manejo de plagas, las prácticas vitivinícolas deben implementarse de manera oportuna a lo largo de la temporada de crecimiento de la planta para maximizar la eficiencia de la práctica y la ganancia de beneficios.
El control de enfermedades en las uvas es crítico, ya que las uvas son susceptibles a una amplia gama de patógenos. La implementación de prácticas culturales oportunas y adecuadas ayudará enormemente a eliminar las enfermedades. Además, las uvas, más que muchos productos hortícolas, requieren programas de fungicidas agresivos durante todo el año para mantener la salud de la vid. El manejo integrado de plagas en el viñedo combina una variedad de técnicas y herramientas para controlar las plagas. Comienza identificando correctamente al insecto y comprendiendo su tiempo y actividad dentro de un cultivo a lo largo de la temporada. El monitoreo y la evaluación de la abundancia de plagas identificadas y las lesiones en los cultivos pueden ayudar a determinar el método correcto para el manejo efectivo de la plaga.
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Results from this study are preliminary, as only 2 years of data have been collected. Research over longer periods of time will be more revealing about how mechanical pruning will impact the perennial crop yield and health of the vineyard. Mechanical pruning is an option for dormant pruning ‘Carlos’ in situations where labor is unreliable and/or there is a low labor-to-acreage ratio which precludes the ability to finish pruning in the dormant period (December through March).
Concerns remain regarding the inaccuracy of mechanical pruning and the resultant amount of diseased and unproductive grapevine wood that remains in the canopy. It therefore may be a good practice to manually prune blocks of the vineyard on a recurring basis in order to reduce canopy congestion and the potential for disease buildup. Mechanical pruning may not be best practice in fresh-market muscadine cultivars, particularly those that produce bronze fruit that are less tolerant of rots and defects than purple fruit.
Mechanical pruning ‘Carlos’ and ‘Noble’ vineyards is worth consideration as these popular juice muscadine cultivars are vigorous and productive and may therefore sustain perennial health under high bud densities. Because of the preliminary nature of this report, it is recommended that mechanical, or “minimal” pruning, be trialed in vineyard blocks or sections before it is widely implemented with confidence.
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This bulletin is intended to provide to provide both veteran and new growers an overview of commercially popular pruning strategies and a greater depth of understanding of the theory behind pruning method practice. Dormant pruning is an important vineyard management decision as it sets the crop level and canopy density before green tissues are present. Growers must take several considerations into account when choosing a pruning method, including vineyard design, cultivar, and labor force throughout the year. Some growers may choose to adopt several different pruning strategies to successfully manage their vineyard. Regardless of the pruning method, it is important to develop a plan that includes scheduling when and how each vineyard block will be pruned throughout the dormant season. Effective dormant pruning sets the stage for successful vineyard management throughout the forthcoming growing season.
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This resource will guide vineyard managers through tissue sampling to determine grapevine nutrition, which is the most reliable way to obtain information to guide fertilization decisions. We cover techniques and considerations to help make sure that vineyards can collect the material efficiently and effectively.
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This 2025 update to the regional integrated pest management guide provides recommendations for muscadine grape production in the Southeastern U.S. Recommendations are based on information from the manufacturer’s label and performance data from research and Extension field tests. This publication is intended for use only as a guide. Specific rates and application methods are on the pesticide label, and these are subject to change at any time. This publication is a product of the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium.
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Pierce’s disease (PD) may be the greatest threat to the growth and sustainability of wine grape industries in the Southeastern U.S. The first step to managing grapevine PD is understanding the threat of PD as dictated by the region in which vines will be planted. It is highly advised that PD-tolerant cultivars be planted if a vineyard will be established in a region of high PD-threat. Growers should understand that there is a risk of planting Vitis vinifera and other PD-intolerant cultivars in several Southeastern U.S. regions, including the mountain regions of northern Georgia and piedmont regions in North Carolina. If PD-intolerant cultivars are planted, leafhopper vectors should be intensively scouted for and managed, and PD-infected vines should be immediately rogued out of the vineyard.
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