With bud break getting underway in wine grapes across California, and soon to follow in the Pacific Northwest, our PCA and Territory Sales Manager Chris Rhoades has nutrient advice to help reduce wine grape shatter.
Chris has been in vineyards over the past few weeks talking with growers about the importance of Zinc. He says that when Zinc is applied at least twice in the 10-21 days before bloom, the likelihood of wine grape shatter is greatly reduced. His favorite product is TECH-FLO® Zeta Zinc 22%.
He says, “Zeta Zinc is a great product to incorporate into bloom spray programs on wine grapes because it allows enough zinc to get into plant tissues to make a difference. The compatibility of the product with other commonly used materials allows Zeta Zinc to be added to most spray tank mixes, so no additional applications are needed. This saves time and money for growers.”
He noted that 2 sprays leading up to bloom is more helpful than one. “Heavy applications don’t work as well as 2 or 3 applications. I prefer to use the spoon-feeding approach to get the best results.”
Michael Ruttan, our PCA and Territory Sales Manager in the Pacific Northwest, where the growing season starts a little later than California, recommends starting Zeta Zinc applications as early as 5 weeks before bloom, so long as applications occur again 10-21 days before bloom.
TECH-SPRAY® Hi-K 0-26-28 is a product that works really well on wine grapes, but is better suited for applications starting 2 weeks post bloom until 2 weeks pre-harvest. Chris suggests “if a grower needs to get Potassium on earlier than that, TECH-FLO Sigma 3-6-14 with 5% zinc is better suited for pre-bloom applications. TECH-FLO Alpha 0-10-0 also supplies 5% Zinc plus 8% Calcium, and I often recommend Alpha pre-bloom.”
To access any of our PCAs grape programs, email or call them directly. They can talk you through how to adjust programs to fit your specific needs and budget. Great harvests start now.
