Treatment against powdery mildew by means of sulphur dusting: keys for dusting machines

As you may know, the powdery mildew is one of the most frequent illnesses in our vineyards. It is produced by the fungus Uncinula necator and affects the green parts of the plant: leaves, shoots, tendrils and racemes. It is also known as rust, whiteness, powder, blight... These are names which refer to the main symptom of this illness: a very thin white powder which covers the grapevines. 

If you are used to visiting vineyards, you have surely seen its effects: blackened stems, leaves dirtied with white powder, racemes covered also with this greyish blight and even with cracked grains.

For the vine growers, the powdery mildew is a usual problem. Nowadays it is fought using dusting machines that cover the plants with substances that defend them against fungi.

You must know that the powder sulphur makes effect on the powder mildew in two ways: by direct contact and through certain gaseous metabolites that this one generates.  Sulphur must be distributed in a homogeneous way over the vineyards so that both dusting ways could be effective. 

Agricultural dusters: the key of a good preventive job 

In the vineyards, the key of success in prevention and treatment of illnesses is based on an adequate application. But to apply correctly a sulphur treatment is not so easy. If you do not mechanize the task, you are risking not being precise: some plants may receive more product than others and you do not carry out a homogeneous work.

To avoid these problems, from Teyme we offer a wide range of dusters which will help you to be much more efficient.  Teyme dusters are thought to meet all requirements that are demanded to an agricultural dusting machine: 

Uniform product distribution. Surely, the most important feature of a duster. The dusting machines have to be able to guarantee that the sulphur could be delivered uniformly throughout all the vineyard and that no parts could be left without treatment. At the same time, they must keep as low as possible the drift of the product.

• Performance. Directly related to the uniform distribution of product, this feature deals with the capacity of making the most of it and enable that with the same amount of sulphur and less time more plants and larger surface could be treated. In this sense, the chance of regulating the dosage is fundamental, because it is not needed the same amount of sulphur when the plant is in stem season as when it has reached the full growth. Being able to adapt the dose withoutany need to change the machine is a very important factor. 

• Care of the product. If the powder - the sulphur- is not treated correctly, it can become compacted, which makes significantly difficult the application. The dusters of quality have available devices against compacity which stir continuously the powder and prevent this from solidifying or from turning into clods.  

Pieces of advice to treat with sulphur in dusters 

With our range of sprayers, it becomes really easy to implement a sulphur treatment against the powdery mildew.  But remember that it will be more effective if you apply it following the next pieces of advice:

• Suitable moments for treatment: when the racemes become visible, at the beginning of the blooming stage, when the grapes have the size of a pea and at the beginning of the veraison. 

• Temperature and moistness: it is not advisable to apply sulphure if temperature is higher than 28ºC or if there is dew or it is raining.

• Wind: the wind makes difficult the treatment because it carries away the powder. To avoid it, it is advisable to treat in days without wind and with dusting machines which allow you to be more precise to carry the product to the plant. 

If you follow these pieces of advice, you will be able to treat the powdery mildew comfortably and with total safety using one of our dusting machines. 

Contact us for further information!:)