Maine vineyard

[bilbo-in-maine]

Most vines did reach the upper wire. Perhaps four didn't. Maybe a quarter of them all have not grown to the recommended pencil width diameter and I am probably going to prune them back to two buds, thinking it will be interesting to see how quickly they catch up to the larger vines. All but one variety will be trained to bilateral cordons on the lower wire in order to use VSP. Frontenac especially are supposed to benefit from this training as a method to control extreme vigor. I'm trying to callus some cuttings of St. Pepin and Frontenac Gris that I took in December. These, along with some Marquette vines, will be new plantings in May. Boy, it is hard to wait to get back to digging in the dirt!

 

[NorthernWinos]

This time of the year gets one wanting to be outside digging and planting....The days are getting longer, the sun has some heat...then you look at the calender, look outside and try to find something else to do....

The seed and nursery catalogs are such 'teasers'...I ordered my seeds and within that week they arrived from NY State....so...put them with the other seeds...looked for anything that might need to be started this early...looked again...put the seeds away ...and tried to find something else to do...

Went downstairs and looked under the grow lights....a few Geranium cuttings made it...only one grape cutting made it....the grape vine cuttings in the fridge didn't callus...planted 4 trays of lettuce, only one came up, but...which made the best salad of the season...Planted a few Aloe Vera suckers...looked through the seeds again for Geranium seeds to plant now...didn't have any...put the seeds away....found something else to do...

Cabin Fever????...maybe!!!

 

[Angell Wine]

This has been the first winter in about 15 years that has been (well like winter). I'm sick of it. Come on spring time.

 

[grapeman]

NW, It sounds like you have cabin fever bad up there! Hang in there gal, spring will be knocking at the door before you know it. I assume your growing area is in the basement or another semi-warm area and you have lots of grow lamps. Does your furnace have a flat top on it? If so, callous your cuttings there. Take a cat litter size plastic tub or dishpan and put about 6 inches of potting soil in it(moist of course). Place the cuttings in it, making sure you have the right end down. In about 10 days to 2 weeks they will have formed callous on them. If it isn't enough to see just a few hairs, put it back a few more days. When you get a few short hairs, plant them in containers and set under the lamps to grow. You want the top growth to start slow until the roots have a chance to develop more.


This should give you a little something to beat back the mid-winter blues.

 

[grapeman]

Hey Bill, when you got your vines in those little pots, did they have bottoms in them? I want to start my cuttings this year in some and I think Andy must use Zip-Sets. They have sample packs which include the trays and your choice of pot sizes. I probably will go with 2wx6d size, or 36 per sq ft. Any input of what you liked or didn't like about them would be appreciated.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Hey Richard,
Yes, Andy uses bottomless 2"X6" heavy paper tubes with perforated sides. As you probably know, the idea is to allow the roots to grow freely straight down so they won't spread laterally at a shallow depth. I don't think I can think of any dislikes about having used them. They seem a very sensible way of getting a plant in the ground. Very little digging is needed to prepare a hole for the plant - you just jam a trowel into the soil and pull it aside a few inches (I then sprinkled in some Biovam) and drop in the tube so it is buried slightly deeper than its top edge. There is little or no root disturbance.
I am hoping to take the cheap-o route this spring with my cuttings (assuming they start for me, it has only been a week so far) by putting them in peat pots from which I've cut the bottoms off and just drop them in as I did Andy's tubes.
Have you located Zip-Sets locally?Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[OilnH2O]

Rich and Bill --


I'mstill hoping to take you up on any spare cuttings you have -- although I think I can get some from Andy at Tenspoons here as well. My little patch will be about 30' by 10' so it won't be much -- but it'll be a start! My wife wants me to plant some white varieties too...But it's a pretty small patch as it is!

We're in those "dark ages" between real winter and real spring here -- a skiff of snow this morning but 42 degrees F. the other day!

Bill -- were you ever able to get a bottle of Marachal to try? I can still pick one up and put it in the mail/fedex/ups etc. Just say the word...


Dave

 

[grapeman]

Dave,
Do you want cuttings, or some one year old plants? I don't have too much of a selection of one year vines, but have Frontenac, Buffalo,Chardonel, and Niagara. They are still under 2-3 feet of snow here, but spring is around the corner. I will have a better selection of cuttings than vines, but won't be taking any for probably a month until they thaw out. Somewhere under my posts I have a list of the varieties I have. It looks like you will have room for about 10 vines- plant two rows and space the vines 6 feet apart. Three posts per row, three vines,post at third vine,two vines(five per row). I am also looking at getting about 250- 300 zipsets to start some cuttings in. I could send some of those plants about June 1, if I can figure how to ship without them getting turned upside down by UPS/FEDEX.Edited by: appleman

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Hi Dave - That's very good of you to remember that I was interested in a bottle of Foch. How about a swap? I send you lots of cuttings (soon so you can get them started) and you send me the cheapest bottle of Foch you can lay your hands on. Appleman's offer is very attractive, and probably you should take him up on it. He can offer much more than I can, although your vineyard area is small so you don't really need too many vines. If we both send you material, you will have much to choose from!
Bill

I should mention the varieties I have again:
Reds - Frontenac, St. Croix, Foch, Landot Noir
Whites - Frontenac Grix, St. Pepin (cuttings from these will be sparse since I only have 3 vines)Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[grapeman]

Hey Richard,
I am hoping to take the cheap-o route this spring with my cuttings (assuming they start for me, it has only been a week so far) by putting them in peat pots from which I've cut the bottoms off and just drop them in as I did Andy's tubes.
Have you located Zip-Sets locally?

Bill how many are you starting? Would you like some zipsets? I got a case of 2200 so I have a few to spare

. They ship flat, so if you would like some, they could be mailed in a big mailer envelope pretty cheap. I got a case of flats also, but you could just set a dozen or two in some kind of container- maybe find what size flat you need, throw a few pieces of wood together for a frame and staple some screen mesh to the bottom to keep air movement.
Just say the word and they are on the way!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Richard, I am doing only 4 cuttings each of Frontenac Gris and St. Pepin, and they are now all in compostable posts with potting soil. I guess I'd better not disturb them, but I sure appreciate your kind offer. I'm shortly going to send Dave (OilnH2O) about a dozen cuttings, so maybe he would like some of your Zip-Sets. That would put them to good use.

 

[OilnH2O]

Had a consulting job in Santa Barbara for the last several days and just got home today from the airport only a few minutes after the FEDEX guy delivered the big box of Maine-FRESH cuttings from Bill! What timing, Bill!!!

THANKS!!!


And, now that I know what I'm doing tomorrow -- starting the callus process -- Rich, I'll figure out if I need anything more (YOU probably know that better than me

) . You'll be happy to know that I'm stretching my "vinyard" to 40+ feet and am thinking about plants 5' feet apart to get two rows of 8 (if that'll work...) -- ain't life grand???

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Its been many weeks since anything was added to this thread. The vineyard is doing well at this point in June - here are a few photos taken today. All the vines are trained from the mid wire for VSP. This year the emphasis is on developing the lateral cordons on the mid wire. The lower tier of catch wires are all up and shoots are starting to climb toward them. Next year's crop comes from the laterals pushing up from cordons right now. The Frontenac (and Gris) and the Foch are the most advanced. Landot Noir is the slowest. Almost all vines produced flower clusters at the outset, but I've kept only a few on the Frontenac in an attempt to check their amazing vigor. As things developed I was surprised to see the Foch keeping pace with the Frontenac, and on several of them, even surpassing the Frontenac in growth and vigor. During their first growing season last summer they didn't show such enthusiasm. I've kept all the rows mulched, with grass in the aisles between rows. So far, no sign of bugs or disease.

Although I took down a number of oaks during the winter that I knew were shading the vineyard, it is apparent that even more need to be cut for better exposure on the periphery. Since we heat with wood anyway, taking out the trees helps in more ways than one.

Dave, do you have anything worth photographing yet in your vineyard? Be forewarned that the Landot Noir are late to push buds and slow to show growth. If I sent you some Foch, I hope they grow as well for you there as they seem to do here.Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[Waldo]

Looking very good there Bilbo. You will be well rewarded for your efforts.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Bilbo...looks like you've been tending to your vines with loving care...nicely trimmed and the ground looks nicely cared for.


Is there mulch over the rows??? What are you using???

 

[grapeman]

Coming along nicely there Bill. I wasn't sure what type of trellis system to use here either last year and like you am leaning towards VSP. It is a little more work to set up and maintain, but the narrower canopy gives the fruit more light to ripen. Are you using movable catch wires or stationary ones? Arguments both ways. Last year I set the fruiting wire a little high for VSP on the LaCrosse and St. Pepin, figuring on 4 Arm-Kniffen. I'm going to leave them as is for now since they seem well adapted to that system. Time will tell.


How's the garden coming along?

 

[Wade E]

Looking good Bilbo!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

A big thunderstorm just blew through, so we were driven inside and I thought of checking the forum. Thanks for your comments Wade, Richard, NW and Waldo. As for the several questions,the rows are indeed mulched. I used aged bark mulch since I was able to get it for free, and topped that with rotted cow manure. It is a rare weed that pushes up from the depths so it is easy to keep the rows clear. I've also found that several inches down it is usually moist. The catch wires are fixed although with a little effort they can be shifted, but probably don't need to be. I think that two tiers between cordon wire and top wire will be sufficient for shoot support. Once they reach the top wire I'll have to think about what to do. Richard, sounds like you are expecting your St. Pepin to be quite vigorous to need a four arm Kniffen trellis. In a way I hope you are right. My St. Pepin is on the slow side of vigor and in neither year is/did it develop much vegetation. Could be differences in sites maybe. And the garden is going pretty well! Thanks for asking. It is bigger than last year's, trying some watermelons that will probably be a stretch. We've been enjoying salad greens for quite a while. Peppers are blossoming, but tomatoes will be awhile in that respect. How about your's?

 

[grapeman]

You are right Bilbo- I expect the St Pepin to be vigorous. The LaCrosse are even more so. They just look right on the 4 Arm Kniffen system and will fill in quite well. Second year and on the heavier soil, they are very vigorous even though I pruned a lot out of new growth. Some vines I'm leaving 15 to 20 bunches on to help check them. The laterals are about 3-4 feet long and stick out, although not bad. The cordons on those 2 varieties wintered better than any other of them. That was a surprise because they were the ones that started to bloom at the end of the season last year. The new vines I planted are doing well this year- in the ground about 3 weeks at some are coming out of the grow tubes at 30 inches. I had also pruned them all back almost to the ground before applying the tubes. I will be applying Roundup soon to get rid of the quackgrass and thistles left over from the 2 rows of trees I got rid of(or at least what the mice hadn't gotten rid of).


The garden is growing well. I didn't plant lettuce- it never does well on this sany ground. The peppers are blooming, cucumbers running and just an occasional bloom. The tomatoes are about 16-18 inches and have marble size tomatoes on them. The cole crops are looking really good. I also planted at the last minute some of the seeds from the multi-headed monster from last year. I also planted about 50 pumpkins from a monster pumkin I saved the seeds from a few years ago.

I dusted the Black Currants with a sulfur dust a few days ago-looked like mildew on them and don't want that around. They are doing well and are about 3 feet high now.Edited by: appleman

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Everything under excellent control, per the usual! It will be fun to post individual updates. Now if only we can hear from Dave in Montana, who has the hybrid eastern/western vineyard...