Chateau Michaelena Vineyard

[ibglowin]

2014 Grape Growing Season is Over…...

Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of grape buds cried out in terror and were then suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened…….

Tried sheets with thick heavy towels on top to no avail. Got down to 23 this AM.

Good luck to everybody else still playing the game!

 

[grapeman]

Now that is just sad................

Lower the flag and observe a moment of silence.

Maybe the secondaries hadn't opened yet and the buds will give you some crop. Best of luck to you. You sure as heck need it now!

 

[mgmarty]

Wow that sucks. Froze here two nights ago. Ran the sprinklers. Mine faired pretty well. Better luck next time.


Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc in Utah

 

[Kraffty]

Really sorry to see that for anyone. On to Plan B for the season.
Mike

 

[ibglowin]

Trying to figure out (outside of moving out of this cold air drainage area we live in) how to raise the temps to save them next year. Smudge pots? Fans? Sprinklers? They did OK with towels down to ~30 (the night before for a short period). Hadn't seen clusters that pretty in 2 years.

 

[sour_grapes]

So sorry, Mike. Wish there was a way to "unlike" a post!

 

[GreginND]

Oh no. So sorry. Looks like a freeze coming for us tonight but our buds have hardly swelled yet so we should be ok.


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[fabrictodyefor]

So sorry for your loss! I do admire that you are trying! I'm thinking this is something I'm just not willing to attempt. Tempting!! But at a zone 2 I'm not sure if anything would winter over! This is a very harsh spring for everyone.

 

[Boatboy24]

Oh no! It brings me great pain to see that. Time to invest in several patio heaters and a giant, underground propane tank.

 

[ibglowin]

I am definitely going to look into smudge pots for next year. I have lived in this area for 28 years now and it "used" to always, and I mean always be safe to plant after Mothers Day. Not any more. Of course look at the forecast for the entire next week. Just perfect……..

 

[ibglowin]

"I'm not dead yet!"……..

Well the late bud breakers (Noiret and Corot Noir) decided that they would show the Marquette just how smart they are by being late bloomers……

Who am I to argue with them! LOL

 

[grapeman]

Are you saying the Marquette hasn't bloomed yet? They should about 10 days ahead.

 

[ibglowin]

The Marquette all got wiped out with the 23 degree freeze back on May the 12th. They have started to re-rud but are WAY behind with only a few clusters at the moment. The Cordons on those that had broke bud and got hammered are still not really pushing new blooms/growth. All new growth is coming from the base or up in the center of the vine near the top wire. I have cut into the cordons and they are green and seem healthy. I have been pulling/sniping the growth from the base trying to force the energy/growth up top and out to the cordons but it is slow still. I finally hit the vines with a good dose of fertilizer this weekend and got the drip system repaired and working after the dogs got carried away. I was hand watering before this weekend which was getting really old!

 

[GreginND]

Yes, early budding means greater risks of spring freezes. Nice to see your other vines doing so well. Good luck with the Marquette.

 

[OilnH2O]

That's good news - and will be interesting to see how it all works out. I guess now you'll doubly-sweat an early fall frost. I'm able to let our grapes make it through the first few freezes in September to not pick until October... but it's always touch and go. Knowing your penchant for numbers I suspect you'll have a great analysis of the results when it's all over!

(Now you know why I say, "I'm waiting on global warming to kick in!")

Hang in there

Dave

 

[grapeman]

Not surprising at all then. I forgot about that freeze. When your first buds-primary- get wiped out, that gets rid of most of the crop. Secondaries are less fruitful and the tertiary ones don't generally have any fruit. One of the downfalls of Marquette is early growth and a late freeze.

 

[ibglowin]

Historically we seem to be more prone to late freezes in the Spring than early frost in the Fall.

I wonder what the protection factor is for ice sheets (how low it will protect) We had 23 degrees on May 12th this year. I could also run some strands of lights on the top wire and perhaps even cover them with blankets/beach towels/sheets……..

The smudge pots look pretty expensive. I have a patio heater (actually 2 of them) but it seems like I would need about 4-5 of them to cover the entire garden plus propane.

The light strands seem to be the least expensive option as long as I don't set anything on fire!

 

[fabrictodyefor]

The light strands seem to be the least expensive option as long as I don't set anything on fire!

I use old fashioned Christmas tree light strands to ward off an early frost and cover with blankets. It seems like we always have a frost early in September and if I can get my vegies through that first one I'm good till the harsher weather comes later in the fall. The lights seem to work!

 

[ibglowin]

I was thinking something like these that are bigger and hopefully put out a little more heat would work well. Target sells ones like this IIRC.

 

[ibglowin]

Gloom, Despair and Agony on me……...

Deep, dark depression, excessive misery….
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all….
Gloom, despair, and agony on me….

The vines had really recovered nicely after our late frost back in mid May. I had been meaning to post some pics of the growth but didn't quite make it in time…. LOL

We got 0.5" of rain last night. Thats always good news in the Southwest especially during fire season. But the bad news is the rain was associated with pea and marble sized hail…..

I have seen worse for sure in the 28 years I have lived here but….. the Monsoon season has only just begun….. Wish it could just "plain rain" here, always has to be loaded with drama it seems!