It does pretty well, I’m backing straight up the rows so I don’t have to do much maneuvering.
first 50 vines in the dirt. My back is dead
50 more tomorrow!
New Maryland Vineyard
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first 50 vines in the dirt. My back is dead
50 more tomorrow!
150 more holes drilled today, 50 Chardonnay in the ground, 30 trellis posts loosely in holes at correct height, 140 bamboo steaks set busy day!
We got all 430 holes drilled in a single weekend. Now to wait on delivery of the next 179 plants.
im starting to get worried about plumbing and setting all these posts. That feels like a task all to itself!
more to do, super beat...
im starting to get worried about plumbing and setting all these posts. That feels like a task all to itself!
more to do, super beat...
Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
Great job! And here I am feeling tired from merely spreading 5 yards of mulch.
Cynewulf
Senior Member
Exciting! Do you have your spray plan figured out?
Not at all...I’m probably behind the curve on that one. I’ve got some time to figure it out right? Maybe a couple weeks or longer before first application? Post bud break right??
any help you can give is appreciated.
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Cynewulf
Senior Member
Yes, you’ll need to start spraying at 1/2-1” shoots. What you’re doing is on a much larger scale than my 75 vines so you might want to check with some commercial growers in your area, but I reckon you should at least get yourself ready with some mancozeb as black rot will be your early enemy and the commercial growers I’ve spoken with use it as I do (6 applications/year with a 66 day pre-harvest interval). Throw in some sulfur as well for powdery mildew, especially since you can spray with it all season. Since 2019 I also spray early with BT for caterpillars. I’m not sure about what is available in Maryland, but Virginia Tech has an extremely helpful grape disease blog that I follow and have learned a ton from. They just updated their spray schedule template which I modified for my home use and you might want to take a look at: Fungicide application template, a table of fungicide resistance, and upcoming meetings. They also have a new online tool www.grapeipm.org for tracking your sprays and materials that I’ve only just started messing around with but looks pretty cool. Also, this may sound obvious but keep your fungicide sprayer separate from the one you use for weed killer. Good luck - you’ve got a big investment of time and money to protect!
Cynewulf
Senior Member
Once your vines wake up, this is the kind of thing you’ll want to be ready for with a preventative spray, preferably a day or two in advance:
78 more vines in the ground. Just beat some heavy rains. Super tired again...
SheridanVines
Junior
I bet you’re glad to be done! It’s a lot of work, but really worth it once they start growing. My advice is to care of your vines this year and things will go better in the future. I had to replant my whole vineyard after one year (thankfully I bought the vines with credit card points).
I didn’t apply any fungicide my first year. The vines looked heathy most of the year until fall. A reduced spray program should suit you well. An early and harsh winter did in my vinifera, but I’m in Michigan and I know Maryland is much milder.
Weeds were the other issue. If your field was hay for 5+ years the weeds might not be too bad, but spraying roundup or liberty every couple of weeks gets old. Prowl H2O is labeled for the year of establishment as long as the soil around the grapes has settled and it isn’t cracked (after a few rains). It’s really a life saver. I applied some in March and no weeds to speak of yet.
I didn’t apply any fungicide my first year. The vines looked heathy most of the year until fall. A reduced spray program should suit you well. An early and harsh winter did in my vinifera, but I’m in Michigan and I know Maryland is much milder.
Weeds were the other issue. If your field was hay for 5+ years the weeds might not be too bad, but spraying roundup or liberty every couple of weeks gets old. Prowl H2O is labeled for the year of establishment as long as the soil around the grapes has settled and it isn’t cracked (after a few rains). It’s really a life saver. I applied some in March and no weeds to speak of yet.
Cynewulf
Senior Member
Can’t wait to see how the season goes for you!
Can’t wait to see how the season goes for you!
after a few rains the soil around several plants has settled, pulling the vines down too. The union of many of the vines was pulled down below grade. Will all the rain the past couple days the soil was saturated enough to pull the vines up a few inches. I backfilled around the vines and now the unions are sitting at the correct height. I’ll have to remember this next year and plant them a little taller to begin with.
I noticed bugs on one vine. I think this was the only sickly/unhealthy looking vine. Any idea what this is?
franc1969
Senior Member
That's an earwig. They usually eat dead plant matter, but I hate them anyway. Vines look like they are establishing great.
Chickened out on spraying close to the vines. Sharing a current pic for fun.
Three of the vines are now taller than the grow tubes!!! Exciting!
the lower part of the field gets less early morning sun and stays a little damper. Should I be worried about the appearance of small slugs in the lower field?
the lower part of the field gets less early morning sun and stays a little damper. Should I be worried about the appearance of small slugs in the lower field?
The grass spray you wanted to try contains Glyphosate (Rounup) and is a contact killer only. As long as you don't spray the vines, you're in good shape. It breaks down once it hits the soil. I spray freely, carefully and without fear, because I hate weeding!☺
Update: noticed some Japanese beetles last Sunday. did one more burn down Monday. Pulled all the grow tubes, tied up vines, prayed for beetles Wednesday. Ordered my missing trellis posts Friday. Build the three H braces that I had lumber for today. Also ran the wires for the first two rows.
