It is important to understand that there are viruses found in grapevine material that do not impact on the health of the vine or the production of fruit, while some others can be detrimental. A virus status report listing the presence or not of the viruses we have tested for in the material used in the production of your order can be supplied upon request. There are many viruses in grapevines in Australia however we test only for the viruses known to affect the vine health or production. We are very aware of the importance of maintaining vine health in all Australian vineyards and part of our protocol is to regularly virus test all of the source blocks we use for the collection of our propagation material. It’s one important way you can protect your vineyard asset into the future. We take phylloxera seriously and hence recommend grafted vines for any plantings, whatever the current Phylloxera status of your region. This sample should be sent to a recognised Virus Testing Laboratory such as AWRI Virus Testing in SA or Agriculture Victoria Diagnostic Crop Health Services. You can do this by sending a tissue sample(s) from your existing vines that you will be top-working for virus testing to confirm that there are no viruses that would prevent a compatible graft. If you decide to continue with your top-working program, then before we can supply cuttings of your desired variety, we require that you provide us with a virus status fro the vines in question. Even if the new bud used for top-working has a ‘virus free’ status it can still pickup any existing virus from the established vine in your vineyard. If these vines are top-worked with the new variety you are wanting, then this may add further to the virus load of the existing vine and can impact on the quality you can achieve in your vineyard. There is always a risk of virus content in grapevines, and any viruses that are present in either the rootstock or the scion will move between the two. It is important to understand that should you choose to top work the vines you have currently planted in your vineyard with a new variety, that this is not something we would recommend. We are confident that the benefits of newly established vines, when prepared and established properly, will give the best results in terms of quality and only see a marginally longer lag time between productivity of the old and new planting. If you’re renewing an older planting Chalmers always recommends replanting over top-working. There are also some great online resources for general Australian grapevine rootstock information such as Vine Health Australia website, this excellent Rootstock Selection guide from California or this handy Rootstock Resources Factsheet with many bibliographic references for further rootstock resources and Wine Australia’s Rootstock Selection Helper Tool. We are happy to help you with your choice if necessary and we have a suite of rootstocks ain our high health in-house source block which are less commonly used in Australia. It is always important to make sure the rootstock and the scion are compatible for grafting and that the rootstock is suitable for the soil type and climate conditions in your new vineyard site. If you choose to plant grafted vines it’s important you order your vines on a rootstock that is both compatible with the variety you are planting and will produce the viticultural and grape quality characteristics you are wanting from this variety. We are also able to supply container grown grafted vines which can be ordered in the year of planting and supplied to you as a potted green vine to some states depending on plant movement regulation restrictions. Chalmers can offer you dormant grafted vines or dormant own rooted vines which need to be ordered in the year prior to planting.
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