Manually removing suckers from grapevines can now be done using a simpler, faster alternative of chemical desuckering from Crop Care Australasia .
Spotlight Plus was especially designed for the horticulture market. It contains 60g/L of carfentrazone-ethyl, plus a built-in adjuvant to maximize activity and minimize drift, reducing any potential damage to vines.
Crop Care technical representative for southeast Queensland Ed Bracey: “Spotlight Plus has proven a wonderful tool for saving labour when winegrape pricing is under pressure. More than 80% of growers have a vine desuckering program - with 60% removing suckers manually.
“Unwanted sucker growth competes with the vine’s productive canopy, interferes with fruit access during harvesting, and can harbour pests and diseases.
“Pruning is expensive, time-consuming and backbreaking. The use of Spotlight Plus in trials and commercial vineyards has achieved at least 80% reduction in sucker growth in both red and white wine grape varieties. Some growers have achieved more than 95% control of suckers with careful use of a hand lance from a tractor-mounted spray unit.
“Spraying Spotlight Plus on suckers arising from the rootstock at the base of the vine results in rapid burndown of suckers. Any regrowth is likely to be less vigorous, but may need a repeat application for season-long control.
“Spotlight Plus also satisfies the high quality demands of the wine industry – with nil residues in Australian, French and German trials; nil taint in French wine taste tests; and no impact on yield in European tests.”
Crop Care recommends an application setup that produces slightly coarser droplets and reduces the percentage of fines for improved drift management.
Spotlight Plus should preferably be applied with a fully-shrouded sprayer designed for the purpose, or applied with a directed sprayer targeting the bottom 60cm of trunk. The spray should be directed downwards and away from canopy foliage to minimise drift damage to leaves and green stems.
Coverage should wet the foliage and stems of unwanted shoots to the point of runoff. The recommended minimum spray solution volume is 50 litres per kilometer of vine row (both sides sprayed).