A New Way to Think About Pest and Disease in the Vineyard
- CropBioLife
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Most pest and disease management starts from the same place. Something shows up, you identify it, and you reach for the chemistry that targets it. It works, but it is reactive, and it keeps you on a treadmill. It's also known that consistent use of chemistry allow the pests and disease to build resistance, and it's rare for these synthetic chemicals to NOT kill beneficials.
A recent conversation on Farm Learning with Tim Thompson explored a different way of thinking about it. Tim sat down with Peter Briscoe of GreenMate Agriculture, an authorised distributor of CropBioLife, to dig into an idea that is gaining ground among plant scientists and is particularly relevant to grape growers.
Here are the key takeaways.
Disease attacks unhealthy plants, not random ones
The central idea is that pests and diseases are not really the problem. They are the symptom. They exist in every ecosystem, and their role is to clean up plants that are already struggling. A genuinely healthy plant, in the right internal balance, is not an attractive target. Grow healthier plants, and you remove the conditions disease relies on.
It comes down to EH and pH balance inside the plant
Peter explains that plants are constantly managing two things internally: their pH, and their EH (redox potential), which is a measure of their electrical or energy state. EH reflects the balance of electrons in the plant, and is closely tied to how well the plant is photosynthesising. When these drift out of their ideal range in certain parts of the plant, they create exactly the conditions specific pathogens need to move in. Keep the plant balanced and photosynthesising well, and those windows of opportunity close.
You can now measure it
What makes this practical rather than theoretical is that EH and pH can now be measured with a relatively inexpensive meter. Peter notes that meters measuring both in the soil are commercially available, sitting around the 500 to 600 Australian dollar mark. For a grower, that opens the door to seeing disease pressure building before it shows up as symptoms, and acting early.
Driving photosynthesis is one way to bring a plant back into balance
When a plant's EH climbs out of range, the way back is to get it photosynthesising harder. This is where CropBioLife fits into Peter's approach. He describes using it to stimulate the plant and open up its photosynthetic capacity for a window of time, helping the plant break the cycle and start defending itself again. In his words, it triggers the plant to open its guard cells "up to 50% wider for only a period of two to four weeks." He uses it regularly alongside microbial inputs across the farms GreenMate manages.
Chemistry has a place, but it is the antibiotic, not the diet
Peter is clear that agricultural chemicals are sometimes necessary, and he advocates for using them when a plant is under genuine attack. The key is to treat them like antibiotics. Use them when you truly need them, not preventatively, and always follow up by rehabilitating the soil and plant biology afterwards. Lean on chemistry as your only tool and you strip the plant of its own defences, leaving it dependent.
The most useful habit costs nothing
The simplest takeaway from the whole conversation: observe, test, and observe again. Peter's advice is to get out into the vineyard, dig a hole, look at your soil and root structures, and pay attention to what the plant is telling you. Diversity in and around the planting helps. The best results come from working with the plant's own systems rather than constantly getting in their way.
Watch the full conversation
The full discussion goes much deeper into the three points where pathogens attack the plant, the specific diseases relevant to grapes like downy mildew, botrytis and verticillium wilt, and how Peter approaches each one. Worth a watch if any of the above piqued your interest.
If you would like to talk through how this applies to your own vineyard, Peter and the team at GreenMate Agriculture are an authorised distributor of CropBioLife and well worth a conversation.
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