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Iceland sounds very exotic from here. Welcome to this forum

Why are you going to use grow tubes? Do you have deer? The row spacing to me seems to close. Six foot is the minimal, minimal, between rows. Not the optimal. It will be very difficult to walk between the rows, when mature, very difficult to spray by hand, and impossible to get a 4x4 etc in for...

How did you do your weather search?

I think most would advise to play it safe. I'd hate to baby the vines long, invest money and time and then every five years have them frozen to the ground. It's an unnecessary risk, excellenet wines are being made from the Northern hybrids. Marquette as a red needs to be mentioned as well.

Give Ardon Creek Vineyard in Letts Iowa a call. They might be a little North of you and are growing (it appears) Seyval Blanc, and LaCrosse. Regarding Traminette, I did a little search and didn't turn up anyone growing it in Iowa, but it seems common in Missouri.

Stark Brothers lists Traminette as Hardy to -15. For whites you might want to look at La Crescent. There is a vineyard near me with La Crescent. It is an early bearing, productive variety. I think you have to stay on top of your spray schedule with it. It is susceptible to leaf Phylloxera...

A few years ago my zone was adjusted from 5 to 5b. I don't know if all zones were bumped like that or not, but I would play it safe and plant at least for the next half zone down. Also GDD (Growing Degree Days) needs to be taken into account. It might be possible for plants to survive the...

At harvest I am having Ph close to 4.0, and suspect high K levels, which in turn cause Mg deficiency signs toward the end of the year. This is my diagnosis, but a known problem with Northern Hybrids grown on fertile soils. So I'm thinking about the petiole analysis to see if I am diagnosing...

Have some of you done petiole analysis in the past, or do so with ongoing regularity? If so what were some deficiencies identified, and how did you treat for them?

I'm considering, or rather planning on doing a leaf/petiole analysis this year. I have no experience with this. I assume it is best done early in the season? When and how should it be done? Does it matter which lab I use? I am in Northern Illinois, border with Iowa. Any information is appreciated.

Regarding being patient with plants sometimes: A few years ago I ordered a cherry tree. I planted it in April. It finally produced leaves at the end of June. I was sure it was dead.

I've read quite a bit about it, but haven't tried it yet.

I also would say that Petite Pearl makes a very good 'stand alone' wine. The grape that has a flaw is Marquette. It is a ruby colored wine by itself (which is very good). The Petite Pearl is very strong on color and I can see why it should make a nice blend with Marquette.

Today is the optimal day for pruning your vines. I think for people to answer your question regarding how to prune, it would be helpful to send some photos, so people can see your trellis system.

An up and coming Northern variety is Verona. We had -30 temps this winter. I am pruning today and there seems to be no damage from the cold whatsoever.

Phylloxera tends to kill the grape varieties that are European stock, hence the neeed to graft them on to resistant rootstock. The grape varieties grown in the Midwest, particularly the hybrids which are crossed with native U.S. varieties are immune to being killed by Phylloxera root disease...

Is anyone observing vine damage related to the minus 30 degree weather in the Midwest?

Yes, it will be a while. Typically, for wine, the seeds are a desired component. They add desired tannins to the wine. I'm sure you can make acceptable wine from seedless grapes, you might need to tweak it in the process by adding tannins.

If you want to go fishing after a couple of years you have lots of big worms too.

American agriculture is so saturated with chemicals that home gardeners cant safely use manure, hay or straw in their gardens. Usually compost produced by cities in sophisticated systems are considered safe. For mulch i use leaves and wood chips. Wood chips can also be used commercially or in...