Cold weather sets back raisin vineyards two weeks | Western Farm Press

A month of below normal temperatures has slowed the growth of Mitch Sangha’s 400 acres of Thompson seedless grapes near Del Rey, Calif.

After budding out the last week of March, the vines had produced about 6 to 10 inches of new growth at mid-April, when nighttime temperatures were still in the 40s. “The vines are about a week or two behind normal,” says the third generation raisin grower.

Continued wet weather had increased the threat of his two main disease concerns — powdery mildew and phomopsis.