Vine diseases – a constant threat even from hermits
Vines are a plant that brings joy, beauty and value. But at the same time, she is extremely vulnerable. A few rainy days, neglect or an unfavorable neighbor are enough, and diseases can spread faster than the winemaker can notice the first symptoms.
Traditional diseases that every viticulturist knows
Peronospore (Plasmopara viticola) – the biggest scarecrow. Warm and humid weather is enough and typical oil stains appear on the leaves. If it is not caught in time, it can destroy the entire crop, because the berries fall prematurely.
Powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) – likes warmth and drier conditions. The berries are covered with a whitish coating, the grapes lose their quality and become unusable.
Botrytis – gray rot (Botrytis cinerea) – can do huge damage, especially in the period before harvesting. Healthy berries turn into gray-brown porridge.
These three diseases accompany winegrowers for generations –, but their intensity changes.
How climate changes the nature of diseases
Recent years have brought extreme weather fluctuations: prolonged rains, then heat, then drought and violent storms again. This „climate chaos“ creates ideal conditions for diseases.
Peronospora appears more often and in greater strength.
Powdery mildew penetrates even in positions where it was not so prominent before.
Botrytis develops earlier and its spread is more difficult to stop.
The winemaker no longer has a foothold in the traditional spraying calendar – must react flexibly and often make preventive interventions.
The economic burden of protection
Every hit costs something. Chemical protection means for winegrowers hundreds to thousands of euros per hectare per year. This is a huge burden for smaller growers.
There are ecological alternatives – biological preparations, support of biodiversity, less aggressive procedures –, but even these are financially demanding and, above all, are not always enough with a massive occurrence of diseases.
Hermits – source of infection for the whole environment
The biggest problem is not only climate change, but also hermits – vineyards that have been abandoned and no one cares about them.
Untreated bushes become „lye“ diseases. Both the peronospora and powdery mildew survive there without any intervention.
Wind and rain then transmit the infection to healthy vineyards.
Even though the winemaker cares, sprays and invests, his harvest is threatened only because a neglected vineyard crumbles a few meters next door.
Hermits are therefore not only an aesthetic problem of the landscape, but a direct one source of danger, which reduces the effectiveness of the work of honest growers.
New threat – golden yellowing of the vine
It is also added to traditional diseases latest threat – golden yellowing of the vine (Flavescence dorée). It is a quarantine disease that spreads with the help of cicadas and is even more dangerous than downy mildew or powdery mildew, because it attacks the very vitality of the vine. The plant gradually weakens, loses the ability to bear fruit and ultimately dies.
This disease poses a huge risk to the entire wine-growing regions of Slovakia, and its spread is already confirmed in the Small Carpathian wine-growing region.
👉 You can read more about the golden yellowing of the vine in separate article [here].
Risk of losing the entire harvest
If the vineyard is not protected, the disease can completely destroy it – the winemaker will lose his annual work, investments and income. In recent years, several growers have experienced a situation where downy mildew or botrytis were taken from them almost the entire harvest within a few days.
