Spray Diary: The Opening Shot

My CountyLine 30 gal. spray rig from Tractor

Supply. It's got two seasons under its belt with

no problems so far.

Spray Date: March 28, 2017

Today was the first spraying session of the new season. I used a witches brew of fungicides and one pesticide as the opening shot against the scourge of fungi that are a problem around here. This tank mix concoction comes from Denny Allen, my fellow viticulturist and winemaker down the road.

I prepped my sprayer and tested it to make sure the pump works properly (it did), and added the following fungicides to 15 gallons of water:

• Revus Top—22.5 ml to prevent Black Rot, Downy Mildew and Powdery Mildew.
• Dithane M45—6 oz. dry weight, measured on a small scale. I believe this is chemically the same as Mancozeb, to prevent Phomopsis Cane and Leaf Spot, Black Rot and Downy Mildew.
• Rally—45 ml to prevent Black Rot and Powdery Mildew.
• Agrifos—the tank recipe calls for 240 ml, but I only had 120 ml left from last year. I need to order more before the next spray. This actually treats active infections. We all got hit with an outbreak of Downy late last fall, thus this is designed to treat any holdover infection.
• Malathion—I'm not much for pesticides, but this is a treatment for the little worms that show up early in the Charlotte area. More on this later. I added 450 ml to the tank mix.

I make two passes for each row, spraying both sides of the vines. It's probably not necessary this early in the season, but I want to start off right. The 15 gallons of tank mix was exactly what I needed to cover both sides and the roses at each end of every row. I wear a spray mask, rubber gloves, long pants, long sleeves and safety glasses.

The whole process, from testing through clean-up, took about two hours. I clean up the tank and spray hoses with FarmWorks Spray Tank Flush, The label lists the only ingredient as sodium carbonate. I scrub the tank with an old milk tank brush, run most of the solution out through the spray heads, then rinse thoroughly with clean water. I have taken care of the tank and hoses, and so far, I am into my third year with this rig. Some people have reported problems with the pump, but I haven't had any trouble.

I will spray with this same mix on April 4.

The Viognier and a few of the Cab vines are pushing buds. And the first few crimson clover blooms showed themselves today.