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I would not add all the sugar up front. Too much sugar can inhibit proper activity of the yeast. Whether you add it now or later, you still need to add it. Waiting doesn't help you and adding up front COULD hurt you.

Your carboy was too full for such an active fermentation. Foam entered the airlock and this is the result. You have to wait for it to calm down before racking so full.

Raspberry is likely to be acidic. This will make it harsh on the palate if not properly dealt with.

You have to decide how much you want to play with fire. Mine started getting like that, I elected to try to go just one more week (picking mid-week was not practical). It got my Foch to perfect chemistry, although I probably lost 10-20% of wine volume to yellow jackets. But I had 100% loss on...

LINK I've never heard of doing this to grape vines but this could be it.

Yes, I have fruit trees too and the hand sprayer won't do. My father had this problem and we built a tractor-mounted sprayer from scratch. It wasn't so much the pressure that solved the issue but an extra long wand, I think it was 4-5 feet. I'm hoping one of these years he feels he's done...

I would not move the vines until they are dormant. Perhaps better to wait until spring before they emerge from dormancy. You'll need to cut them back to just a few buds and take as much root as possible. I have 98 vines and use a 2 gallon hand sprayer from Lowe's. If you have 2 vines you'll...

Having 2 degrees in biochem and molecular biology (BS,MS), I will tell you not to waste your money on any meter under $60-80. The one linked above for $7, I can't believe that is worth anything. The Hanna meter (which I own) is the bargain basement lowest option I would spend my money on. pH...

I'm not sure why you would want to do this. I don't. Most grape roots go deep so it should not hurt as long as you don't get very very close.

Either alcohol or formaldehyde. I've read of using straight 80 proof vodka for this purpose but have no personal experience. I have a bottle of cherries in 80 proof alcohol given to me a couple years ago, they still look good.

FYI I got my medals/notes sometime over the past couple days (just found the mail). Generally, the judges were remarkably consistent. I'm not sure what was up with the one who didn't bother to fill in scores though....

It typically takes a few weeks for them to get mailed out....I forget exactly how long last year. I got a silver with my 2013 Cayuga, which was my goal as I got bronze with my 2012 last year and I felt the 2013 was a clear step forward. I got a bronze with my 2012 Foch, which was my goal...

It depends what you grow. The little reds like Foch, Marquette, Oberlin/Pinot Noir....the birds strip them quickly. But my big whites (Cayuga) and table grapes are never bothered....too big. Now if you are growing little reds and not having problems, just thank your lucky stars! Nets...

I run them through my fruit chopper, which results in them being better torn up than cutting (and much faster). I then let them soak overnight before adjusting the SG so sugar has time to get from fruit to solution. I do, however, press when racking from primary into secondary.

+1, I would not use VSP with Cayuga. Mine have done very well on top wire cordon. If you are training it with a single trunk to TWC, you can carefully bend the main shoot over as one of the cordons or you can head it off a few inches over the top wire and use laterals for the cordons. If you...

I went to the effort of digging 2 feet deep and mixing the soil the first year I planted. All it caused me was problems, like weeds. The rest I planted with a shovel in a hole just deep enough to hold the roots, no problems. As said it really depends on your soil. Unless it is overly hard or...

Wow, I was thinking of trying a Pinot or something red through them but that's quite rich for my blood.

Perhaps potassium deficiency. I've been researching a similar issue.

Easley Winery in Indianapolis sells juice on site. I believe you can sign up for notifications with them.

If I were 1500 mile closer I'd loan you my 60-yr-old auger....built much heavier and would not break like that. Problem I have with heavy clay/loam is that it does not want to dig, it just clogs. It only works when the ground is really dry. So I have had to dig all my holes by hand...