Recent Posts
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The path of Hurricane Florence is evolving, and the latest forecasts from the National Hurricane Center increase the likelihood that Georgia may experience significant impacts from the storm. A link to my latest weather discussion is below. Of course, the weather pattern is still developing so make sure you are following the forecasts from trusted…
Posted in: Weather -
https://grapes.ces.ncsu.edu/2018/09/hurricane-florence-warning/ Please click the link for updates (9/11/2018) on hurricane Florence. Feel free to contact me any time, Thanks, Mark
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Thanks to efforts by Dr. Phil Brannen, we now have two Pierce’s disease testing kits, one located in White County and one in Lumpkin County. These “field” kits are very reliable for confirming PD in suspect vines. Each test kit can run 48 samples, meaning we only have 96 samples we can run in total. …
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Have you been taking advantage of the glorious weather to harvest your grapes? We have seen better weather than I expected since my last weather update on August 24. The last two weeks have been much below normal in precipitation and temperatures have been running 2-4 degrees above normal during the same time period for…
Posted in: Weather -
Carol Crumley, owner of CeNita Vineyards in Cleveland, GA, will be teaching a continuing education class entitled “Starting Your Own Vineyard – For Your Own Enjoyment”. This class will be held on all Thursdays in October (4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th) at North Georgia Technical College in Clarkesville, GA. This class would be worthwhile for…
Posted in: Events -
Now that we at the peak of hurricane season, I thought you might like a look at what we can expect for weather the next few weeks and on into the winter. We are currently under the influence of a strong high pressure area, which is bringing sunny skies and low humidity to the area.…
Posted in: Weather -
Pierce’s disease (PD), caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, is quite prevalent in many locations this year. The cold winter this last year has not made up for the two previous warm winters, so the bacterium has survived and prospered over the last 2-3 years. Unfortunately, once vines are infected and symptomatic, the vines need…
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Well… I hate to say this out loud, but it hasn’t been raining as much recently. Let’s hold on to hope that these high pressure weather patterns that are predicted for next 10 days continue on for six weeks. Muscadines: Harvest has commenced for early-season, fresh market cultivars in south Georgia. Harvest of mid-season, fresh…
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As the brix levels in the grapes continue to rise, the attractiveness of the fruit to spotted wing drosophila (SWD) also increases. We are currently only catching a few SWD in our monitoring traps, but this is expected to drastically increase in the next few weeks. And since SWD is associated with sour rot and…
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Some of you already tried sending Botrytis samples to Clemson for fungicide resistance testing — only to find out that the service was no longer offered. However, Dr. Guido Schnabel will be conducting studies with the PROFILE system in early September, so he is volunteering to take Botrytis samples at this time — all free.…
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