Sixth Spray Train Wreck

Spray Date: June 1

I have been bedeviled by the weather of late, and my spraying schedule keeps getting pushed around by rainfall and wind. That was certainly true of my planned spray date on May 30 when we were hit with nearly four inches of rain in a 24-hour period.

The first opportunity to spray didn't come until June 1, when the sun finally came out, the clouds cleared and the wind subsided. It also coincided with this year's en masse  arrival of Japanese beetles. I mixed up 25 gallons of spray based on a new chart I developed using quarts per acre derived from the product labels on each of the chemicals. My original chart was also based on the product labels, but the solution strength was a multiple of hand-spray strengths, for example: the label might recommend 2 oz. per gallon of water for hand sprayer mixes, which I extended to 25 or thirty gallons of water for my tractor-mounted sprayer.

The new chart is based on recommended coverage of for example, two quarts per acre, diluted in 100 gallons of water. This resulted in reductions of some chemicals as well as increases in others. My vineyard is very close to a quarter acre, and it takes 25 gallons of spray to provide good coverage. This aligns nicely with the standard units of measure on the labels for products in my tank mix.

Here is the quantities in the 25-gal. tank mix I sprayed on June 1:

• Revus Top—The 2 oz. per 30 gallons of spray recommended by my supplier also works when converted to ounces per acre in 100 gallons of water, proportional to a quarter-acre and 25 gallons of water. This is unchanged from previous tank mixes.
• Manzate Pro-Stick—Previous tank mixes included 10 oz. of this product in 25 gallons of water, which is lower than the revised amount based on coverage. The new amount is 16 oz per 25 gallons of water. This product has a 66 day PHI, thus June 1 is the last day to spray this product until after harvest. I had exactly 16 oz. remaining in the package.
• Elevate—Used 4 oz. as recommended. This is the product that spurred the examination of the coverage vs. gallons.
• Rally—This was a big change from previous amounts. I had been using 3.3 oz. in the tank mix, which I reduced to 2 oz. on May 21. The correct amount should be 1 oz. for my vineyard.
• Reliant—This is one where the quantity increased, going up from 400 ml. to 480 ml. in 25 gallons. This is the recommended coverage.
• Sevin—As with Reliant, the Sevin increased to 480 ml.
• Latron B-1956—This product, a spreader-sticker, which works great, decreased to 15 ml. for 25 gallons. I over dosed one of my early tank mixes when I put an ounce in 30 gallons. The recommended rate is one to two ounces per 100 gallons of water.

When I started spraying, the conditions were perfect for a change, other than the fact it was a little over 90 degrees. That made it hot and sweaty in my PPE.

I was about half way through the vineyard when I realized the hose had pulled off the pump and I was dumping tank solution directly onto the ground. I quickly shut down the pump and assessed the damage: the torque chain had broken loose from the PTO pump, twisted the hoses and disconnected the hose from the pump, resulting in some loss of tank mix.

I repaired the connection, fixed the chain and was ready to start spraying when the sky turned black and the wind started gusting up to 21 miles-per-hour. Then the rain came. Fortunately, it didn't amount to much, but the wind was sufficient to shut down spraying operations.

After a 30 or 40 minute hiatus, I was back spraying in what was a light drizzle—more misting, really—confident that the Latron B-1956 would prevent the spray from washing off the vines. That's when I determined how much tank mix I lost in the hose malfunction. I was unable to cover the last two rows, perhaps 20 percent of the vineyard.

I had to quickly mix up 10 additional gallons of spray, but with the Manzate Pro-Stick depleted, I had to substitute Captan, which is not really a problem, as this is the proper alternative at this point in the season. The 10 gallons was just enough to finish.

Fortunately, the rain stopped and didn't start again until 24 hours later. That rain was very light, but added to the already waterlogged soil.