Soil Test results

[wfournier]

Hi Folks looking for some opinions on the soil test results I got for the piece of land I'm thinking of planting grapes in. This represents a roughly 25X75 foot space that I'm thinking of starting with to see how this goes.

My initial layman's impression is that having low levels is better than high levels because it is easier to bring them up. My other question is the levels recommended are for american grapes, I'm planning on american hybrids but I'm not sure if these levels are catered more towards table grapes or wine grapes or if there is a difference.

 

[CTDrew]

You definitely need to lime this piece of land to start off. Raising soil pH will free up nutrients that are tied up in the soil and this may be enough to get you going. You can always add nutrients if they look a bit weak during the season.

 

[grapeman]

CTDrew his pH is perfect for American/hybrid grapes. Vinifera prefers a bit higher around 6.2 to 6.5 but not the hybrids. Even his soil test recommendations say the target pH is 5.5 so 5.7 is great. There really is no difference between table grape and wine grape recommendations. I agree a bit low is easier to correct than a bit too high. Follow their guide amounds and you will be fine.

 

[wfournier]

Thanks for the input folks I appreciate it. Any recommendations for what I should be looking for to increase these levels? I'm assuming this is going to be something a little more concentrated on each element rather than an off the shelf mix. Based on what I've read I'm assuming I looking at something like potash and either triple super phosphate or monoammonium phosphate (11–52–0) which looks like it might hit both the phosphate and nitrogen recommendations.

Are there other more organic options that will be effective and not cost a fortune?

 

[dwhill40]

I'll share my two cents after four years of growing various vinifera varieties in a supposedly unfriendly environment.

Read up on mycorrhizae. I have had luck with using no chemical fertilizers especially super phosphate and nitrates and my soil report was much worse than yours. I inoculated the roots with myke at planting and applied a small amount of soft rock phosphate and for nitrogen I use a small amount of composted cow manure. I found a local source of free granite dust for K and every other trace mineral.

I started with a PH of 5.2 in the topsoil and 4.9 in the subsoil. I dug in lime around the new plantings after receiving my soil report(cart before horse syndrome) and broadcast = 1 ton an acre. Then I applied gypsum to help prevent aluminum uptake.

My Cab vines look spectacular and the results are now in a carboy.

 

[cgallamo]

I'll share my two cents after four years of growing various vinifera varieties in a supposedly unfriendly environment.

Read up on mycorrhizae. I have had luck with using no chemical fertilizers especially super phosphate and nitrates and my soil report was much worse than yours. I inoculated the roots with myke at planting and applied a small amount of soft rock phosphate and for nitrogen I use a small amount of composted cow manure. I found a local source of free granite dust for K and every other trace mineral.

I started with a PH of 5.2 in the topsoil and 4.9 in the subsoil. I dug in lime around the new plantings after receiving my soil report(cart before horse syndrome) and broadcast = 1 ton an acre. Then I applied gypsum to help prevent aluminum uptake.

My Cab vines look spectacular and the results are now in a carboy.

Nice - how do you deal with fungus?

 

[dwhill40]

Yes, fungus control is the trick. Black rot and anthracnose almost won even though my vines are positioned on a clean windy hill top. I spray sulfer-lime pre-budbreak then spray mancozeb early and then alternate myclobutanil, strobulirins, and captan every two weeks. Once verasion sets in I use Serenade. I use a quad cordon setup and keep the shoots thinned and pull leaves from the eastern facing side of the northeast/southwest oriented rows. I use turf fescue as a ground cover and keep it mowed short. I roundup, weed-eat, and hoe under the vines. Vines finished this year clean as a whistle.

 

[cgallamo]

Very cool - those vines are thicker than my 7 year old cab vines

 

[dwhill40]

Sandy soil, high temps and usually ample rain in north Alabama. Without the 12 feet of cordon per vine at 6 feet spacing I'd be managing kudzu. My row space is 10 ft but I need to reduce that to 9 and future plantings. Zin, Malbec, merlot, Barbera aren't nearly as aggressive. Tannat is a frickin' monster.

Sorry for hijacking your discussion wfournier. I'll stop now.

 

[dwhill40]

...one more...Sangiovese grows like it belongs. Here's a pic of a cluster of a single bunch of Tannat.

 

[cgallamo]

I love Tannat - have 50 vines in N. GA...

 

[dwhill40]

Out of 15 varieties I'm testing Tannat is a spectacle compared. I am also located in North GA. near lake lanier. Send me your location and I'll stop by when I'm out and about, if you like.

 

[cgallamo]

Sure I'll PM my location and info. Can you elaborate on spectacle? I am re-doing the vineyard now - was planning on hybrid varieties (Chambourcin, Norton, Noiret, Black Spanish (Lenoir), Oberlin Noir). Just don't like spraying so much - I'm very lazy...

 

[dwhill40]

Spectacle as in the fourth year of growing on a VSP trellis with abt 10 feet of cordon and could have 8 foot shoots if I let them go. I dropped probably 60% of the fruit and still ended up with a gallon of wine from the one vine. And all of that with no fertilizer other than I mentioned above.

From what I can tell from a taste after primary fermentation it's tannic and nasty as it should be and a small amount in a blend would probably carry a softer grape a long ways towards thickness and mouthfeel.

The clusters are hand grenades when green, you could probably throw one at a person and hurt them, so they have to be sprayed well. I used Serenade the last six weeks of the season and had no bunch rot.

Just a guess from my observations would put it at least two times as productive as the other reds I'm growing if not three.