Bunches become increasingly susceptible to botrytis bunch rot as they ripen. Monitor weather forecasts closely and make sure fungicide covers are applied in anticipation of wet weather. This should be the policy through until pre-harvest while strictly observing product PHIs.

• If bird damage is a perennial problem in your block, an integrated approach to their management might be appropriate. Netting should be the mainstay of any strategy for growers with high pressure blocks, as they physically exclude feeding activity. Various scaring devices play an important supplementary role and these should be moved frequently within the block to stop birds
  
  getting used to them.
• Lack of magnesium in vines may adversely affect their ability to manufacture carbohydrates and may even lead to premature fruit drop at harvest. Make sure Wine Grapes Mg levels are monitored during the growing season and well-timed sprays are made.

The period leading into harvest represents a key time to gauge the insect pest status in your vineyard blocks. Pests like leaf roller and mealy bug build up their populations as the season advances, so tend to be at their most abundant around harvest time. Both pests habitually migrate into bunches around veraison, the bunches offering them a highly-nutritious food source and a protected environment from their natural enemies.

Once inside their presence can impact negatively on fruit quality. The ability of mealy bug to transmit the grapevine leafroll 3 virus underlines the need to keep this pest under control.

Best practice to get an indication of pest pressure is to destructively assess a representative sample of bunches in each block and record the number which harbour insects. This information will not only give you an accurate record of the resident pest population but will also help frame the crop protection strategy for the following growing season. Remember SWNZ requires systematic monitoring be carried out before insecticides can be applied.