The current solution to phylloxera is through the use of resistant rootstocks. The use of rootstocks has worked well for over 100 years, and will most likely will work for another 100 years, however resistance can break down. The main cause of this occurs when the rootstock chosen has weak resistance because one of its parents is not purely resistant. Seedling populations of some resistant types may have come from parents that were surrounded by V. vinifera vineyards, leaving open the possiblity of undetected V. vinifera parentage. This could cause some resistant types to have phylloxera susceptible genes. If this occurs, some of the resistant varieties may revert back, and once again become susceptible to phylloxera.

Grape phylloxera is difficult to detect in a healthy vineyard, so vines that have consistently displayed weaker growth should be monitored carefully. In North Coast vineyards, symptoms generally occur exhibit potassium deficiency symptoms. Since populations die out on declining vines, concentrate monitoring efforts on the periphery of declining areas where damage symptoms are still minimal. Dig around the trunk to of vines and look for whitish yellow, hooked feeder roots that are galled. The galls should be checked with a hand lens to determine the presence of grape phylloxera.

A pesticide treatment will not eradicate the populations. Because the pest prefers heavy soils, it is difficult for the insecticide to reach down into the soil. Also, since many of the phylloxera will be killed by the treatment, the remaining insects will quickly rebuild the population. It may also take many years of chemical treatments to reverse severe damage. It is better to prevent damage, since only a couple of pesticides are registered for control of grape phylloxera.

A recent study looked at the possilbility of using Entomopathogenic Nematodes for controlling the soil form of grape phylloxera. Two strains of entomopathogenic were tested to see if they could control grape phylloxera. The two strains tested were Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema glaseri. H. bacteriophora was shown to reduce the survival of phylloxera by up to 80% relative to the control treatment. Even though these results indicate that the nematodes would be a useful biological control agent, it can not be used at this time for a number of reasons. The most limiting to their use is cost. Even though high densities of the nematodes were used, 100% mortality was never acheived. From these studies, it is estimated that the nematodes would have to be applied at about 4.9 billion nematodes per hectare. Given the current techniques for rearing entomopathogenic nematodes, using such high numbers as indicated, it would be prohibitively expensive to use the nematodes in a control program. Even though the nematodes are not a practical control method at this time, one day they may be. Only two strains of the entomopathogenic nematodes were studied. Further research may one day make the use of the nematodes practical.

Since the number of control options are limited, prevention is the key to keeping vineyards phylloxera free. Crawlers can be spread on vineyard equipment. Keeping equipment clean is key to preventing an outbreak. Also, when a section of a vineyard is known to contain an infestation, never move equipment from the infested site to an uninfested site. And above all, remember to use resistant rootstocks.