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My advice is to hold off on this annual recommendation until you observe the growth of your vines. Too much OM and nitrogen can cause excessive vigor. The ideal range for OM in a vineyard is 2-3% from soil samples taken between 6 and 8 inches. Your 1.9% at 12 inches doesn't seem too bad. Your...

How much OM did you measure in your soil? H

The varieties you plant will matter. I did not spray my first year vines, but that is mostly because I didn't know any better. My recommendation is to figure out how what equipment you are going to spray with, and at least put some manzate on every couple weeks, and be ready to go to war with...

Any direction you pick will have some pros and some cons. You have to decide which pros and cons matter the most 1. NW to SE following the slope. Nice morning sun exposure and limits evening sun a bit. Downside is erosion concerns 2. N/S rows give equal sun exposure with a downside of more...

There are very few perfect vineyard locations. Your location doesn't sound too terrible. As a general rule, the effects of a tree are confined to the area beneath its canopy. Although pine needles have a reputation for acidity, I learned that intentionally using them to acidify your soil rarely...

My hunch is that nearly all your losses are from ***** feeding at night. Eliminate them as a problem, and then re-assess. Squirrels are daytime creatures. If they are a serious problem, then you should be able catch them in the act. H

It will be interesting how those vines do next year. They may act like they were overcropped: poor hardening of shoots, more winter damage, and weird emergence next spring. But who knows. H

My advice is to calculate * how many days you have between the last killing frost in the fall and the first killing frost in the spring * how many growing degree days you accumulate during the winter * visit nearby vineyards and see if you can find one that is similar to your site. Talk with...

Second pic shows some pretty clear 2,4-D damage. Leaf blistering, distorted veins, and deformed leaf edges are the giveaways. This could be from your lawn company, or from a 2,4-D product being applied to a neighbors lawn. 2,4-D evaporates and can drift hundreds of yards. 2,4-D is a post...

Here is my advice. If a vine's trunk has good internode distances, is mostly straight, looks healthy, and made it 2/3 of the way to the top wire with pencil thick wood, then you can resume growth from the last qualifying bud. Try to reach the top wire and grow a short cordon this year. You need...

B. I haven't seen anyone answer the question, but if you are following this advice, you are cutting back to healthy wood that is at least a pencil thick. Now obviously, you don't keep all wood that is pencil thick, but I think you are well beyond that. H

Changing to VSP requires running catch wires and a low fruiting wire. I would personally not switch everything over, but that is me. I don't grow baco noir or america. H

I would let them hang if the berries are in good shape and you have pests under control. 2.74 is pretty acidic yet. I usually harvest mine around 25 brix and 3.1 pH. Keep an eye on the berries though. Look for SWD damage and signs of rot starting in the skins. H

Phosphorus and potassium are not very mobile in soil. If you decide to amend your soil, it is best to do it before planting and till them in as deep as your equipment allows. You may need annual applications of potassium to replenish what grapes take out (which is quite a bit). Note that my...

IMO, your first pic looks like bird damage followed by sour rot setting in. 2nd pic looks like a different problem. I haven't seen botrytis much in my vineyard, so I will defer to others. There are two types of botrytis, with one being much worse news than the other (noble vs gray) H

I have had good luck with the MBR31 strain with pH above 3.2. You have probably gotten all the pH shift you are going to see from the skins, but I could be wrong. I think you will be fine. Use MLB nutrients if you are concerned. Some yeasts can coexist with an active MLF. I think 212 is one of...

I relocate the ***** that visit my sweetcorn patch and vineyard to a far, far better place. They tell me it is like heaven. H

Moles create an unsightly mess, but they are more of an ally than a foe. They eat grubs, including Japanese beetle grubs. Consider applying milky spore to reduce the JB grub population. Get milky spore established over a few years, and the moles might move on to greener pastures. Voles on the...

Those numbers are not bad for Marquette in a hot summer. It would have been nice to get the TA down another couple points, but I don't think you had that option. In the future, you can use a malolactic metabolizing yeast like 71B to chew up 30-40% of your malic acid. That will increase the pH...

Here are some pics from my vineyard. I grow everything on a high fruiting wire (GDC or TWC). The first two are from Brianna, which is known for its procumbent growth habit (droopy and sprawling). The second two are La Crosse, which is the most upright variety I have. The blue arrows show...