Backyard Vineyard 3

Backyard Vineyard 3

• pointsevenout 13 years ago
  YAY! This is the third growing season and am expecting to harvest some grapes this year. Will get pictures posted as the vines progress and hope to show you some nice looking grapes.
  Need to stay on my spraying and mowing schedule to keep all looking pretty.
  This thread will be linked back to the 2nd year thread and 2nd year thread to this years thread: Backyard Vineyard 2
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  First herbicide spray is down on the vine rows for this early start to spring. Will take 5 days to show results. Not much weeds and grasses around the vines but there's nothing like an early ounce of prevention, which was definitely not done last year.
  Drip irrigation is not hooked up as of yet because of all the rain and there is still a full two weeks to be cautious about a late frost.
  There are two inches of growth on the vines, which is what is spec'ed for a fungicide application. I have a week to decide on what day to spray. In the mean time I should get an insecticide application done.
  Will try to get a picture posted of some early leaves and baby bunches to watch their progress.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Added a couple pics of early shoot growth to the grapevine trellis pictures recipe of this 3rd year growth.
  Will try to get some insecticide or fungicide applied this morning after the dew lifts and if the wind doesn't get up.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  WOW! Vines have really exploded. Expecting rain this evening. Will have to wait 'till tomorrow or the next day to spray.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Wind had trees doing the mamba all day. Finally laid down about dusk. Got the grapevines and peach trees sprayed with an insecticide. I'm hoping I can get some fungicide applied tomorrow.
  Will add another pic to show you their advancement.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Finally a calm day! Applied a fungicide spray to the vines. Have to mark it on the calender to keep track.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Putting in posts for a fourth row of vines. Took the opportunity to snap another pic of the shoot I've been monitoring. Leaves are getting bigger now and the shoot is almost a foot long and should be up to the top wire by next week.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Shoots are thinned for better air circulation to help prevent fungal diseases. Mother practically has a cow every time I go to pruning and thinning. But it's done, for now.
  Waiting for a calm day this week to get some more insecticide applied.
  That one shoot I've been monitoring and taking pictures of is a casualty of the thinning. Will have to pick another for show and tell.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Four more vines planted in the new row with two to go. The vines are as old as the rest of the three year old vines but are stunted, being in a pot for that time.
  Planting holes have finally dried out enough from the last rain to plant without having to worry about a wet socket. Have teased out the roots and planted. We are expecting rain for tomorrow and the next.
  Giving my gloves a dry out period before planting the remaining two. If these stunted vines don't take off in the new soil, it's no big loss. I can, and will, fill up the row with an espalier fruit tree row, including any of the stunted vines that don't grow this year.
  Making a different trellis for these plants. A high cordon on one line, although there will be a horizontal line running every 18" in height to accommodate training the fruit trees, as yet to be ordered
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  All stunted grapevines are planted. Now on to staking the rest of the row for fruit trees.
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• pointsevenout 13 years ago said:
  Well what an exciting couple of days. Spent Wednesday running away from tornadoes. Just getting back on-line this evening.
  Sprayed the grapevines with another type of fungicide today. Wind levels were down enough to permit it.
  Those newly planted vines are well watered-in from rains for the last couple days.
  A few new branches on the vineyard had hail damage but not enough to grow an ulcer over.
  Now, just to keep up the fungicide, insecticide, herbicide routine and hope for a good crop this year.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Another application of fungicide. Noticed a few leaves with black rot rings. I'm depressed. These fungicides should be knocking the black rot out. Will have to snip and bag the infected leaves. Have been applying fungicide every other week since the beginning of March. Applying insecticide on the in-between weeks.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  All black rot leaves are snipped back and bagged. Sprayed all rows with herbicide. Will try to get another pic posted in about a week.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Worked 'till dark tying up canes long enough to reach the top wire. Going to spray fungicide tomorrow and, if I can remember, take a picture or two.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Fungicide applied. Snipped some of the black rot leaves. Will need to snip snip more later. Forgot pic. On the to do list.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Insecticide applied. Expecting the Japanese beetle attack beginning in June. Sprayed everything; grapes, peaches, vegetable gardens.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Fungicide applied. Starting to see those pesky Japanese beetles. I've got a surprise for them today as soon as the dew lifts. Will start an increased yield insecticide of a weekly schedule, instead of two weeks, until they are beat back.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Stepped up the insecticide to 2Tbsp/gal and soaked down all berry plants good. Sent those beetles flying. Hope it put a bad taste in their mouth or worse. Will monitor closely for effectiveness.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Stepped out this evening after the sun went down to check on the beetles. NOT A ONE IN SIGHT. Took the opportunity to tie up some of the longer canes and take some pictures.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Beetles are back. Sprayed them up again. Looks like it will be an every 5 day schedule until they go back to the ground in a month.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Beetles are back in 3 days. Time to change formula. Sprayed a fungicide. Waited an hour for it to dry. Then sprayed with the new insecticide.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  New formula worked well, again, not a beetle in sight.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Two days of rain and the beetles are back. Sprayed again after counting a dozen of them. Expecting 4 to 5 days of 40% rain in a row. Will need another application after that.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Found out where the beetles went. We have two junior filbert trees, all of about 4' tall, that have been half skeletonized by the little troublemakers. Must be hundreds and hundreds of the beetles on them. Well, they all got a good mouthful of insecticide spray this morning.
  They are located about 15 to 20 yards from the vineyard.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Looks like someone opened a box of raisins and sprinkled them around the Hazelnut trees.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Up early this morning to tie up more of the canes that have grown long enough to reach the upper wire. Rainstorm chased me in after an hours work. When it dries up tomorrow it will be time for more bug spray and some fungicide.
  It's getting toward the end of the month and I expect the Japanese beetles to end their reign of terror soon. Believe I have the upper hand this year but they have still done some damage.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  All in all, a row and a quarter tied up today. A few bugs but not many. Will still spray insecticide anyway. Saw a stinkbug (shield bug) and some tiny black ants with a whitish rear. This tying up may take a couple of days.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Tying up the canes is done. Bug spray is applied. Time for some fungicide in a few days. Might even get some herbicide down to clean up the row centers.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Deer have found the grapes! Dang! There are about a dozen clusters torn up right at the end of the row, not ten yards from my neighbors watermelon patch which is surrounded by electronic deer repellent devices. Not sure those repellent devices work too well or the deer would not have stood around to eat my grapes.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Grapes are coloring up nicely. Getting ready to pluck a mess of them for the farmers market. Took a few pics. Will post on the grapevine trellis recipe.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Deer are putting a lot of pressure on the vines. One third of the crop is gone. Difficult to see it. Spent all spring and half the summer spraying for bugs and beetles so they would leave some leaves so the grapes would grow to have the deer eat the fruit. Better get what's left to the farmers market come this next Friday.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Culled one half of one vine row this morning. Greens and reds and purples, but mostly greens. Selling at $1/lb. The other vendors at the farmers market descended on my booth as soon as I rolled out the grapes. Purples and reds were gone in a flash. Sold half the culling. That's enough for the booth charge and gas for the trip.
  Have some customers waiting for the next culling this Friday. They're looking for the purples and reds.
  I'll have to look up some jelly or juice recipes for what I didn't sell today.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Juiced up just shy of a gallon of green grape juice from the remnants of today's work.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  I'm a pickin' an' grinnin'.
  Picked two more refrigerator crisper drawers full of grapes. Need to pick more but don't really have room to store and chill any more for Friday's farmer's market.
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• pointsevenout 12 years ago said:
  Sold 40lbs at the market with about 10lbs remaining, of those being white grapes. That will become juice or jelly. Vines are pretty spent there are a few clusters left that need more time on the vine. My seeded grapes are due to come in later in August.
  Estimating 20lbs yesterday and 40lbs today with 10lbs remaining unsold yesterday and today, that's 80lbs. Minimally one third of the crop was decimated by deer and June bugs which would have added generously another 30lbs of potential crop. Add to that another 10lbs of seeded grapes yet to come in.
  That's 120lbs which will be doubled next year.
  Not too bad for a first year's crop on 100 vines for this beginner.
  That's about 12lbs per vine. My book learnin' says a vine should average put out 20 - 22lbs. With the new pruning techniques this winter the vines should put out the average poundage. And I learned some new techniques for making the berries larger which will make them more desirable next year.
  Looking forward to trimming up the vineyard this winter.
  Thanks for following my grape adventures in the vineyard.
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