24/04/2024, Wednesday, 11:44
Due to the unusual heat, the grapes ripen a month earlier in the South Balaton plantations.
However, the weather also favors certain pests, so it was necessary to start protection.
– The intensive drive started towards the end of last week, the grapes burst. The weather was already very good in March, so we knew that we had to start work on the plantation first. Stem cleaning has already been done for the younger grapes, the older ones will also follow, we prepared for this with mechanization and the mechanical stem cleaning started today – says winemaker Ferenc Bujdosó.
“Thanks to the extreme heat, the phenological phases are advanced by two or three weeks,” said winemaker Bernát Országh.
“Now the grapes are at the end of April, where they should be in the middle of May.” For this reason, we also started plant protection in the vineyards earlier, as the pests are more active due to the unusual heat. They have already encountered powdery mildew in the wine region, but they are hoping for the cooling that arrived on Tuesday, as it may slow it down. Plant protection had to be started first, with two sprayings we are already ahead. It’s a joy in the joy that in the terrible heat the grapes grew so much that the plant grew out from under the mite’s mouth, so at least there’s no need to worry about it – explained Ferenc Trunkó.
All winegrowers agree that the harvest will be earlier this year than they were used to in the wine region. Even in previous years, the pearl barley and irises were picked in August.
“All diseases appeared earlier in the vineyards because of the unusually mild weather,” said István Tóth, plant protection engineer in Kaposvár. “Fortunately, for winegrowers, there is a fairly serious selection of preventive deep-acting absorption agents and curative agents that are effective when the disease is already present,” said the expert. Those who suggested to the winegrowers that last year should not be repeated, should definitely pay attention to preventive measures.
