Travisty's "Vineyard"

[Waldo]

You might see if you can get some Diatomaceous Earth at your garden center. I've used it to control grubs, cut worms, etc in the garden and it worked well. It's also used for pool filtration so sometimes you can find it cheaper in larger quantities at pool places.

Another ploy to stop the cutworms is to take a 20 penny nail and just push it down into the dirt right next to the stem of whatever it is you are trying to protect

 

[Travisty]

Well, after a couple weeks I had another shoot beginning to push out on my affected vine. It was looking good and growing quickly. Then I got home from work last night and it was gone. Again. I did another search for the offending creature and still found nothing. In the past couple of weeks, I have seen a couple of what look like cutworms in other parts of my small vineyard. They've been in the aisles though and, of course, I have promptly executed them. Something else I noticed this time is that the remaining tiny little leaf had about 40% of it's area chewed off and that there are a lot of ants around the vine. Is it possible that this is the work of ants, not a cutworm? Some of the rest of my vines showed some leaf damage on early leaves, but all the new growth has been fine so far. Still, part of me is thinking that maybe I should begin spraying for insects.


Should I spray or no? If yes, what should I use? If no, talk me down!

 

[AlFulchino]

i have not heard of ants eating leaves...you could get some double sticky yellow tape to hang hearby..it will catch any travelling insects...or if it is a critter then maybe some of its hairs to tip you off

i have heard of ants nesting in the root area and messing up the root system, but never eating shoots and leaves

if the situation does not afford you the time to catch what it is and determine the next step, then yes indeed i would choose a home owner friendly all purpose insectide...a systemic wold be your best choice

however, i really like to know what it is i am trying to get rid of before i do things like that as it is not a good practice for the environment

 

[grapeman]

I'm not sure if they are where you live or not, but they might be leaf cutter ants.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafcutter_ant


I'm not sure how to deal with them, since we don't have them here.

 

[Travisty]

No leafcutters in this area as far as I know. At the very least, the ants I see look nothin like a leafcutter ant. So probably not the ants causing the problem then. I have to think it's a cutworm doing this, but no other vines have been affected. Is that normal to cutworm activity? I'd like to figure this out. If this vine dies on me, I do have the three that are in pots right now and doing well, but I don't want to set one of those out next year only to have the same problem.

 

[fivebk]

Travis , I live just south of you about 45 min. I had trouble with my new vines having the leaves disapear. I found the culprits to be rabbits. One vine they ate all but one leaf off. Since I live in the country I got my rabbit repeller out ( 12 ga ) and the problem was shortly taken care of. You might want to put some cages around them to see if it's varmits not insect critters that are eating your leaves

BOB

 

[Travisty]

We do have a decent amount of rabbits around our place, but both times this vine has been affected I've found the missing laves laying on the ground next to the vine so I don't think it was rabbits.


Unless maybe they're rabbits on a diet!

 

[AlFulchino]

it would be a travesty if they do any more damage....

rabbit stew

 

[Travisty]

it would be a travesty if they do any more damage....

rabbit stew

 

[R Ziegler]

You could put up a small wire cage around the vine - which would quickly rule out rabbits, squirrels and deer (if it had a top on it).
Then if you still have problems - I would set up a video camera and let it run all day while you are away. Since itsounds like it happens during the day while you are gone.


Since you postd a picture of your vineyard from the street towards your house before - could you use photoshop ormicrosoft paintand place a arrow or circle around which vine it is. Because if it is an outside corner vine - it could be a kid or a neighbor who is walking their dog w/ one of those retractable leashes.

 

[Travisty]

It's actually the vine that is the furthest from the street corner. When this vine is damaged, I do find the leaves that are missing laying on the ground next to the vine. If the pest is human, they're using scissors. If it's a rabbit, it's not eating the leaves and shoots it nips off and it's only going after the one vine.


It seems to me that a cutworm is the most logical suspect. I just wish I could find it! I may have to go ahead and put something down around that vine.

 

[Travisty]

Ruh roh, my first japanese beetle!

Caught this bugger on one of the potted vines onour back deck. When I went to pick it off I accidentally pushed it instead and it fell under the deck. I'll get him next time though!

 

[AlFulchino]

there are certain things that occur in vineyards that mark your career...you are supposed to trap buggers like this...put them in some insect aquarium type of thing and preserve them along w your wine collection

you have to admit, they are actually a beautiful looking thing

 

[grapeman]

Good idea, but you better have a big aquarium thing to keep them all in. It seems like a nonstop invasion of pests!

 

[Travisty]

You're right Al. The coloring they have is quite beautiful. I don't think I'll be trapping it and keeping it as a pet though.

 

[R Ziegler]

YIKES!!!
Those things are so destructive. The completely de-foliaged my 30 ft tall river birch when I lived in arkansas every year until I found a insecticide that worked really well.


Seven - works wonders on them - kills them instantly. The first time I sprayed them it sounded like it was raining.

 

[Travisty]

Just thought I'd update withacouple newpics.


The planted vines:

The potted vines:

As you can see, that poor vine in the corner just cannot get a break. Looks like I'll probably have to replace it. Can I replace with one of the potted vines this fall or do I need to wait until next spring to do it?

 

[Travisty]

Oh and BTW, I have yet to spray for anything and yet I have not seen another Japanese Beetle since that one I took a picture of. Seems odd to me.

 

[grapeman]

Go ahead and plant one there now. It will grow as well in the yard as in a pot, probably better. The worst that can happen is you will need to replace it again next spring, but chances are it will do fine.


It seems to be a light Japanese Beetle year. Count your blessings and don't worry about it.

 

[AlFulchino]

its a light jb year here as welll..but heavy on the foliar phylloxera