Jeff Franklin from AAFC Kentville is bringing the weekly weather update. Like last week, in this publication you can see the degree days accumulation in the air. The main difference this time is that the temperatures have increased, and triggered bud burst in the earliest varieties.
The first table shows the temperature base 5⁰ C and 10⁰ C from 2019 until 2022 accumulated from March 1 until May 16. At the end
of each section, it’s possible to see the average of the last 5 and 10 years
respectively.
|
Category |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
5 year average |
10 year average |
|
Plant development
(Base 5ºC) |
155.0 |
113.7 |
210.6 |
196.9 |
175.8 |
184.3 |
|
Insect development
(Base 10º) |
43.6 |
22.8 |
70.2 |
60.5 |
58.2 |
66.1 |
Figure 1. Degree day accumulations as of May 16, 2022. All data are taken from the Kentville weather
station, based on a start date of March 1, and calculated using the single sine
method.
The last couple of weeks has been quite slow for 2022, as
mentioned in the previous publication, but everything changed with the increase
of temperatures last week. Even though the season 2021 has still the highest
accumulation of degree days in the last years until May 16, both for 5 and 10
degrees Celsius, this difference has diminished compared to 2022. The weekly
values when compared with the average of the last 5 and 10 years, 2022 shows similarities
with the 5 year average and it’s slightly lower than the 10 years. Next week
will have an increase according to the weather forecast for the coming days.
In the following
column graph, you can see the values from 2004 until 2021 and at the end the
average of the last 5 and 10 years respectively.
Figure 2. Degree day accumulations as of May 16, 2022
base 10⁰ C. All data are taken from the
Kentville weather station, based on a start date of March 1, and calculated
using the single sine method.
As previously mentioned, in the graph you can observe the
increase of temperature in 2022, becoming similar to the average of the last 5
and 10 years. It’s interesting to highlight that until last week the 2022 was
behind 2019, which was one of the coldest growing seasons in the last couple of
years.
Important to keep in mind that with the increase of
temperatures, the plant growth will develop faster. It’s crucial to finish
tying up the vines to avoid or diminish bud damage when the canes are starting
bud burst, because the new development will be more susceptible to damage.
In the following photos, you can see some varieties with different bud burst stages in progress.
Figure 3. On the left Castel and on the right Lucie Kuhlmann last Tuesday.
Figure 4. On the left L’Acadie blanc on Tuesday and on the right Frontenac on Wednesday.
Figure 5. Chardonnay, on the left in Avonport and on
the right in Sheffield Mills.
Next week grapevines will have more development, therefore,
it’s important to have sprayers calibrated and prepared for the first
applications. If you haven’t calibrated your sprayer, don’t panic you’re still
on time to do it. The following video show’s the steps to consider a good
sprayer calibration.
Other video to keep in mind it is calibration of sprayer with rate controllers, presented by Thomas Harrington, Agri-Environmental Specialist of Perennia: