Effects of shading and covering material application for delaying harvest on gray mold disease severity

To delay the harvest of Sultani Cekirdeksiz grape variety and to reduce pre and post-harvest botrytis bunch rot severity, shading and covering material application were tested in 2009 to 2010 growing periods. In this study, grape vines were shaded with shading materials which had three different shading densities (35, 55, and 75% shading density) from veraison period to harvest. The grape vines were also covered with four different covering materials (transparent polyethylene, mogul, polypropen cross-stich and lifepack) before rainfall, at the end of August until harvest. The gray mold severity was recorded three times (before shading at unriped grape stage, veraison period, shortly after shading and twice at 20 day interval) during growing period. Based on the results of this study, the highest gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) severity was obtained in the control (uncovered and unshaded) treatment and the lowest disease severity was observed in lifepack treatment with or without shading. Since gray mold disease of grape was the main factor affecting harvest date of the crop lifepack, + 35 or 55% shading could be recommended to delay harvest and reduce the gray mold severity of grape in Manisa province-Turkey.Key words: Sultani seedless, table grape, shading, cover material, delaying harvest disease severity, Botrytis cinerea