[Growwine] vidal [downey mildew: uPtaKe Plus]

[Andrew Bennett]

On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:30:45 -0300, "jack/shirley hoganson"
<windermerevineyard at gmail.com> wrote:

>This product is a fertilizer,NPK nbrs escape me but used sometimes for
>potatoes. I had a serious DM problem three or four years ago and this
>product cured it for me.

>> *From:* jack/shirley hoganson <windermerevineyard at gmail.com>
>> *To:* growwine at littlefatwino.com
>>   *Sent:* Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:24 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Growwine] vidal
>>
>> Look into a product called Uptake Plus. Recommended by Kevin Ker

It is (mostly) potassium phosphite and labeled in Canada as a
fertilizer ... and not at all for grapes but nobody takes any
notice of labels on fertilizers, do they?

In Australia, it is labelled as a fungicide for downey mildew
in grapes (or was, the last time I searched the web) with a
very high prescribed dose and dire warnings about resistance.

On Kevin Ker's advice, I have used it and found it initially
to be extremely effective against downey at a dose much lower
than that on the Australian label. Once. Resistance develops
very fast. On the positive side, the foliar fertilizer action
gives extra functioning leaves to get the fruit ripe at the
end of the season ... the varieties that were most badly
affected with downey got the most UPTAKE sprays and came in
at unexpectedly high Brix! I think the higher sugar bonus
more than paid for the UPTAKE.

Organic? I doubt it.

Andrew Bennett, Scarsdale Vineyard, Nova Scotia.