TREATING GRAPES INFECTED WITH BOTRYTIS
RUTIGLIANO, PROVINCE OF BARI, ITALY 2006
Cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, particularly wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot. The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of infections on grapes. The first, grey rot, is the result of consistently wet or humid conditions, and typically results in the loss of the affected bunches. The second, noble rot, occurs when drier conditions follow wetter, and can actually be a desired effect to create sweet wines. The prior however can result significant financial loss and can be a very problematic issue to deal because how fast it can spread throughout the crop. Traditional methods of treatment rely on chemical fungicides, but Micronomix has been shown to be a powerful tool in controlling and preventing the spread of infections. The three photos below show how the application of Micronomix products have been used to treat and stop the spread of botrytis in a vineyard that starting showing signs of the infection. The first application comprised of a mixture of 6 kg micronized zeolite, 1 kg of fungicide Teldor, 1.5 kg of Micronomix Universal, 1.5 kg Micronomix ErgoJolly per hectare. The second application was applied 10 days later using all the same products in the same ratios, except no fungicide was included. One can note from the photos that the grapes are coated with a thin layer of zeolite.
In photo 1, which was taken three days after the first treatment, you can see that the punctured grapes show no sign of the infection.
Photos 2 and 3 show that the the fungal mycelium remains contained to the single infected grape and shows no further spread of the infection to surrounding grapes. Grapes that have been infected tend to dry out in spite any significant humidity.