Thursday, March 29, 2012

Grape Vines Dripping Sap- Indoors? (Solved!)



***  I found out what it is-  see this site.  They are Grape Pearls, not a disease or pest.  There is a short explanation in the Comments of this post or you can research further:

 OMAFRA newsletter referenced above, page 8
http://www.mcgill.ca/files/brace/2007MayJune_TFGV.pdf

Ohio State University publication http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2009/6-3/grapepearls.html


My husband noticed that our grape plant had beads of what appears to be sap all up and down their vines.   We didn't get time to plant it last year so this plant has been in our house all winter on the table with windows on two sides.  It began to grow and suddenly this!

It doesn't appear to be injured. It has not been pruned.  No bugs that I can see.  I don't see the outside grapes doing this.

Any ideas?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

bug eggs ?

Clint Baker said...

Thats strange!

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

I don't know; however, they are perfectly clear, just like a drop of water and sticky, just like sap. I know it will drip if you prune it, but nothing has been done and it's inside. Confusing!

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

I found out what it is!

According to the Ontario (Canada) Ministry of Agriculture "Tender Fruit Grape Vine Newsletter for Commercial Fruit Growers" (Volume 11, Issue 5 May/June 2007) these are sap droplets called grape pearls or sap balls.
Here is how Neil Carter, Grape IPM Specialist with OMAFRA described grape pearls: "Grape pearls are small sap-like, fluid-filled balls that are exuded from surface cells of rapidly growing grape vines. They appear most commonly in the spring and are often confused with mite or insect eggs. Some vines have many grape pearls but the pearls can appear singly or in smaller groups. They are usually found on the underside of leaves but can be on shoots as well. Grape pearls, also called "sap balls" are of no consequence to the vine."
Mike continued to examine grape vines for this phenomenon and wrote the following after visiting Summerset winery near Indianola: "I looked at all of their grapes. None of the hybrids had any sap balls but two American varieties, Niagara and Concord were loaded with them."


http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2009/6-3/grapepearls.html

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Here is a news letter with more photos- scroll down

http://www.mcgill.ca/files/brace/2007MayJune_TFGV.pdf

Candy C. said...

Ah, I suppose it is because it has been in the house and is growing quicker than if outdoors! Glad it is nothing serious!

Manny said...

Interesting. I pruned my and my mother's grape vines last weekend. I was going to say it might be from pruning but you covered that. When do you prune your vines?

Michelle said...

I am glad to know the plant is ok. I would of worried also if I found them on my grapes.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Hey Manny, Tom here (though it appears that this will post under Kathy's header because I'm too lazy to log out and back in again under mine). Vine pruning seems to be my job so I'll answer for my lovely wife. I generally prune them in January. The last few years it seems like it's been warmer around here so the plants don't really go dormant 'til sometime in December and by February the sap starts to flow again. I know that tapping the maples used to be more of a mid February thing around here, too, and now it needs to be done in the first week or two of January.

And now here we are, the last week of March and I've got grapes all over the vines out there. I'm going to start spraying fungicide today to try and stay ahead of the black rot that plagues us. We lose our grapes to it every year. Copper spray helped last year so I'm going to be a bit more diligent this time 'round.

Manny said...

Hey Tom. Great idea to prune early. I always get cought too late. I've never used the fubngicide, but last year we started getting the rot. If it happens again, then next year i will have to do so. I'm reluctant to use chemicals. Wow, grapes already. You do get it early. Ours are just sprouting leaves.

Anonymous said...

hi we just put our new grapevine in the yard yesterday with ever so special care and even built a nice trellis around this dainty plant in hopes that our tlc will produce some fruit this season. I noticed this afternoon these little white pearls and immediately got online to see if we were already getting a pest problem. Your comments gave me peace of mind so I just wanted to say thank you :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing, coz my Grape Tree also have the same "tiny egg".
My tree is also growing indoor.
I was very worrying about it, after reading this article article, I'm getting happy.
Thank you for all of the replies and info.