We’ve been watching grape mealybug adults and now it’s time to shift to watching for eggs and hatching. First generation crawlers generally start moving now and immatures are often seen through July. Those first-generation crawlers will move from the old wood to the green portions of the vine, where they will feed on fruit and foliage.

We must stop them before they impact our marketable yield.

Platinum® 75 SG insecticide is a soil-applied neonicotinoid that targets chewing and sucking pests, including grape and vine mealybugs, sharpshooters and leafhoppers. Platinum 75 SG is highly water soluble (4100 ppm) and, when applied through drip irrigation, moves through the root zone and is taken up by the vine. For best control, apply Platinum 75 SG through the drip during the last 1/3 of the irrigation cycle.

Application rate for grapes: 2.67 – 5.67 oz/A

Platinum 75 SG Notes and Restrictions:

• Relatively high water solubility allows for rapid uptake through the plant’s root zone
• Moves systemically into expanding tissues
• Controls grape and vine mealybug, sharpshooter, leafhopper, Phylloxera spp.
• Effective in all soil types
• Application approved through chemigation
• IRAC Group: 4A
• PHI:  60 days
• REI: 12 hours
• Maximum allowed per growing season: 5.67 oz/A (0.266 lb a.i./A)

Labeled Application Methods: Apply specified dosage in sufficient water volume to ensure uniform application and incorporation into the soil using one of the following methods:

• Apply by chemigation into the root zone through low-pressure micro-sprinkler, trickle or drip type irrigation systems. This is the preferred method.
• Apply a surface band on each side of the row out to the plant canopy drip line or within the vegetation-free herbicide strip (calculated on a broadcast basis but concentrated in the band).
• Hill drench in sufficient water to ensure incorporation into the root zone followed by irrigation.

Additional Notes on Chemigation Application:      

The higher labeled rate (5.67 oz/A) is recommended where vigorous vine growth is expected or in warmer growing areas such as the Coachella, the San Joaquin or Sacramento Valleys, or where mealybug populations are heavy.

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