1- Tinder of the vine or Parasitic apoplexy in vineyard.
Tinder vine is a long-known disease in the countries where the vine is grown. It only manifested itself in warmer environments , but it has now been detected in colder climates as well. In Spain, due to the warm climate in the vine growing areas, it is a disease with considerable repercussions, and since it has no cure, it is very important to follow preventive advice to avoid spreading.
2- What is the tinder of the vine?
Vine tinder is a parasitic disease produced by fungi (Stereum hirsutum Per. And Phellinus igniarius Fr.) that penetrate the wood through significant wounds produced during pruning .
It is a very forceful disease in its attack, since you can go in 10 days, from seeing a healthy and vigorous strain, to wilting of an arm and subsequent total death.
When temperatures rise rapidly , the affected tissues cannot compensate for the intense evapotranspiration and the affected part of the vegetation abruptly withers (water imbalance). This would be the rapid form of action of the disease, which occurs mainly in clay, deep and cool soils, while the slow form occurs in siliceous or limestone soils.
3- Symptoms and Damages produced by vine tinder.
3.1.- On green organs of the vine plant:
The symptoms are common to those caused by other diseases that affect the circulation of the sap, which is basically the wilting of the leaf and the green parts. It can manifest itself quickly or slowly.
3.1.1- In the Slow Form of Attack Tinder Vine:
-This way of manifesting and attacking the disease is the most frequent and can affect the vegetation of one or more arms of vines.
-Normally attacks plants that are generally isolated.
-The symptoms of vine tinder usually start in full bloom or already in midsummer and consist of the appearance of internervial discolorations, and on the edges of the leaves, yellowish in the white and reddish varieties in the inks that converge and dry in the center.
The leaves eventually fall and the bunches lose weight and can dry out.
3.1.2- Quick or aplopéjica form:
-This form of tinder attack, usually occurs in the driest climates and in midsummer . -The vegetation of a vigorous vine strain withers quickly, takes on a greyish-green color and ends up partially or totally drying out in a few days.
3.2.- On the arms and trunks:
-In the vines affected by the tinder of the vine, cutting the trunk , you can see yellow wood in the center, surrounded by an area of dark wood and a ring of healthy wood. -The attacked areas begin in a pruning wound , larger than normal, and do not usually penetrate the pattern, so it can re-sprout. This pattern or rootstock can be re-grafted.
The symptoms described translate into damage ranging from loss of weight and sugars at harvest, to the death of one or more arms or the entire strain.
4- Means of control and preventive treatment against vine tinder.
Currently there is no chemical control for this disease. Phytosanitary product laboratories are launching new formulations on the market, but they have not just been totally effective in controlling this fungus of tinder on the vine.
The recommendations provided manage to control the spread of the fungus and improve the affected strains, but they do not manage to fully control the disease.
Since it is a disease that is transmitted by pruning wounds , it is best to keep pruning tools clean and disinfected.
4.1.- Pruning precautions: for the treatment of vine tinder it is recommended:
– Disinfection of pruning tools, even when changing from strain to strain.
– Prune the affected strains last, in this way we will avoid transmission with pruning utensils.
– Burn the pruning remains, to destroy the fungi of the affected and already dead strains, and prevent them from ending up in a healthy strain.
– Use a protective product on pruning wounds. If large pruning cuts are made, use a protective product that will disinfect the cut and prevent entry.
– In the case of highly affected strains , it is recommended to open the affected trunk with an ax, preventing it from closing by placing a stone, with the idea that the fungus dies due to the presence of air. This practice is used only in the case of severely affected strains.
In summary, all the operations that we can facilitate aeration and ventilation and all the precautions to avoid transmitting the disease from one healthy strain to another using pruning tools.
4.2.- Chemical control methods:
Currently its use is prohibited, but this disease has always been controlled with sodium arsenite .
There is no control of the tinder, the only thing we can do is apply preventive measures or once the vine is affected, cut it and burn it to prevent it from spreading further within our vineyard.
