Fresh pruning wounds are susceptible to water/airborne fungal spores which can enter and start disease processes within the vine. This often manifests in foliar/shoot dieback symptoms and vine underperformance. Fungal pathogens causing these declines include eutypa and botryosphaeria spp which if able to infect pruning wounds will inevitably lead to vine decline and or death.
Vinevax is a New Zealand registered pruning wound dressing harnessing the protective and living barrier properties of Trichoderma that when applied to fresh pruning wounds inoculates and protects from fungal pathogen invasion. This wound protection and closing to infection is well demonstrated in the field challenge trial conducted by Dr Phillipe Rolshausen UC Davis, California.
Phillipe subjected fresh pruning wounds with or without Vinevax treatment to challenge inoculation with 1000 ascospores of Eutypa at either day 1, day 6 or day 11 after wounding. Wound tissue from each of the treatments was sampled and laboratory cultured for the presence/absence of Eutypa.
The results from the Vinevax treated group show that infections were reduced to 10% at day 1 of Eutypa challenge with no other infections from subsequent day 6 and day 11 Eutypa challenge. In contrast the untreated group (without Vinevax) resulted in 46% infection at day 1 Eutypa challenge, dropping to 22% and 16% infections at day 6 and day 11 respectively.
Vine decline pathogens often gain entry via pruning cuts, leading to long term vine decline and underperformance.
Management of vine decline is difficult once established within the vine.
This field work shows that Vinevax wound dressing significantly reduces pathogen entry opportunity, provides early closure of pruning wounds and protected, healthier vines. ν
