David

Written by Dr. Ting, Compiled and Edited by Jess Trapeni A summary of two fruit thinning experiments involving shoulder thinning and cluster halving. Introduction Fertile Virginia soils can often produce vigorous grape vines with a heavy crop load that struggle to fully ripen. It is common practice to reduce crop load by pruning and cluster thinning to decrease shading and disease pressure, increase sunlight exposure, and encourage ripening. Crop reduction is also thought to improve overall vine balance and prevent stress that can lead to lower fruitfulness in subsequent years1. However, crop reduction comes at a measurable cost. In her landmark [...]

Written by David Eiserman The 2024 Summer Technical Meeting was held in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley at the lovely Bluestone Vineyards. The morning started with a talk and demonstration led by Dr. Sally Dickinson from Virginia Tech School of Animal Sciences, about the use of dogs to detect spotted lantern fly(SLF) egg masses in a farm setting. This project is informally referred to as The Canine Citizen Science Study and was begun as a study by Texas Tech and, last year, was expanded into the East Coast by means of a partnership with Virginia Tech. In the short time that [...]