Forty Five North Testing Ozonated Water
Michigan NPR recently ran a story about experiments that Forty Five North Winery in the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan is doing with ozonated water. See: Northern Michigan Vineyard Experiments With New Kind of Chemical Free Pest Control
As Midwest Wine Press explained in a story earlier this year, there are potential benefits to ozogation versus chemical fungicides and pesticides. However, there is no university research currently underway regarding ozone that we’re aware of. Could it be that the big agri-chemical companies don’t want research being done on a potential competitor?
There seem to be at least two limitations to using ozonated water for vineyard pest control. First, it’s sort of a “scorched earth” type of product…it kills everything it contacts(including beneficial insects). Second, it has no residual effects….thus, the vines could be reinfected in a short period of time after ozone application.
Another potential problem with using ozonated water for pest control in vineyards…..the ozone itself can by phytotoxic to grapevine foliage. There have been a number of articles published over the years about this phenomenon, most recently your own newsletter: http://midwestwinepress.com/2012/10/18/ozone-damage-to-grape-leaves/