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March 2018 WINES&VINES 63 WINE EAST GRAPEGROWING thermore, if a grower implements delayed pruning practices on white grape varieties with the goal of achieving later bud burst, the bud burst dates could end up being simi- lar to late-budding red varieties that were pruned a month prior. I would recommend recording the final pruning dates, especially if timing strategies vary for different grape varieties on one site. Tools for tracking phenology Tracking of phenology can easily be integrated into a routine scout- ing program for a vineyard. A laminated version of the modified E-L stages can be used as a refer- ence. Numerical reference points in vineyard scouting records can help a grower determine if man- agement practices were carried out at the appropriate time and indicate where improvements can be made in the future. Any disease or insect pressure recorded during vineyard scouting can also be linked to phenology to help grow- ers better prepare for and prevent the same problems in future sea- sons. Just noting a calendar date alone will not be as effective. One of the most limiting factors for collecting a complete data set for seasonal phenology is the need for manual input and interpreta- tion. To my knowledge, there are currently no sensors or software that can record grapevine phenol- ogy automatically. Therefore, just as with a grower's pesticide and fertilizer records, there will need to be manual input for these data points. This job is best assigned to a vineyard manager or an intern who is dedicated to recording this data on a weekly basis. If the task is part of someone's job, it is more likely that appropriate records will be entered. Vines can grow up to 12 inches per week in warm climates, which makes weekly input necessary to prevent gaps in data. Perhaps a camera or scanning device will be developed to automate this pro- cess and allow for predictive mod- els for grapevine phenology without human input of data in the future. Until then, growers should print out the chart and make record-keeping of grapevine phenology a routine part of their weekly management plan. Fritz Westover, owner of Westover Vine- yard Advising, is based in Houston, Texas. He specializes in vineyard con- sulting, research and education in the south and southeastern United States and maintains a practical grapegrowers blog and grower resources at vineyard- advising.com. - B E C O PA D - Y E A S T & E N Z Y M E S - C R U S H PA D E Q U I P M E N T - S T E R I L E F I LT R AT I O N - W I N E R Y H O S E - O A K A LT E R N AT I V E S References for this article and the modified E-L system are available at winesandvines.com/features. Clusters of Lenoir grapes undergo véraison (Modified Eichhorn-Lorenz Stage 35).