Budbreak and Bugs

The good news is that we have budbreak in the vineyard! On Friday, we were Waiting for Budbreak and now, a mere 3 days later, the buds have unfurled revealing beautiful, pale green leaves. Here on the left is our Auxerrois, so even the laggards are catching up.
Along with budbreak comes the inevitable onslaught of bugs. We are on bug patrol already and have seen some familiar bugs such as the Grape Flea Beetle and then some unfamiliar bugs such as the Click Beetle. My husband, who has eagle eyes saw this first bug, a hairy caterpillar, that was maybe 1/4-inch in length. I don't know how he can see that!

For bug patrol, I walk the vineyard with a container of soapy water and carefully maneuver the offending bug to it's soapy death. According to the University of California Pest Management Guidelines, the Click Beetle can feed on buds in the spring with the injury to the bud looking essentially the same as that of the grape bud beetle. Fortunately, the site also mentions that for Click Beetles even with high populations in the vineyards, they seldom cause economic damage to grapes.