Vineyard From the Beginning- Grapeman

[Mark64]

And what happens if you leave them on like I did for first 3 yrs?

 

[grapeman]

And what happens if you leave them on like I did for first 3 yrs?

You stunt the vine some from developing a really good root system.

 

[TrapperPete]

Vine Spacing

Great thread :> We're in Northern Lower Michigan and are in our second year of planting. We put in 800 last year. 200 each of Kay Gray, Marquette, Valiant and Elvira. This spring we put in 200 each of Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, Brianna and Louise Swenson. I've got about 250 cuttings rooting from this spring's pruning of last year's vines. Next year we're planning 400 Marquettes and 400 LaCrescents. We're members of SAGGA, Straits Area Grape Grower's Association.

Corley5,

Would you mind sharing your vine and row spacing? Also, would it be possible to see your vineyard?

Thanks, Trapper Pete

 

[Corley5]

My rows are 10' OC and my vines are spaced 6' with line posts at 18'. I'm six miles west of Wolverine on the Wolverine/Mitchell Rd or 18 miles east of Petoskey on the same rd. I'm usually around evenings

 

[grapeman]

It has been a while since I posted some pictures. I have sprayed the field to kill the grass and then last weekend I plowed the field up. There was one spot that was a bit wet so it didn't roll over good. I have harrowed it a few times now to work it up and level it out. I will probably do it once or twice and then set the plastic where the rows will be.

Here are some pictures of the site and then some of the wildlife on the farm- beef cows and insect control AKA- Gulls from the Lake Champlain that come in to feed.

Normally the Green Mountains of Vermont show over the houses and barn, but it was a bit hazy and overcast today. The Adirondacks show to the west some on clear days. I will trim some trees around the edges to get rid of a little shade. There will be a road around the vineyard mostly where the shade hits.

 

[Corley5]

Looks great!! What do have for a tractor?

 

[GreginND]

That is looking great. I know you are planning on planting this year. Making good progress.

I need to get moving on my vineyard. I will be planting no sooner than next year. My plan is to kill off the weeds and grass, break up the ground like you have done and then plant a cover of low growing grass. Next year I will till the rows for the vines through the ground cover. My thinking is that if I get a good ground cover established first it will help down the road with weeds, etc. Does that make any sense? Should I do it differently? Suggestions for grass to plant?

My area is not as big as yours. But it is at least a couple of acres that eventually will be planted. I want to prepare it all now. But I don't have any equipment yet. My farm ignorance is showing here. What kind of tractor, equipment would I need? This year I was hoping to borrow or rent equipment, or even hire someone to break up and level the land for me.

Finally, Plastic for the rows? Can you elaborate? This is to keep down weeds?

Thanks.

 

[grapeman]

Corley5 it is an IH584 I have had for years. It is a bit wider than I would like and eventually I will get about a 35 HP narrow tractor.

Greg if you can hire the tillage done then you can get a nice compact tractor to fit the rows easier. I was considering just tilling the rows this year and leaving the old pasture, but it was pretty unlevel from the beef cows punching it up previously. The plastic is 4 foot plastic mulch which leaves about 3 feet uncovere that will give a nice warm bed to grow the roots quicker and keep weeds down the first year. There are very few sprays that can be used the year of establishment, and I don't have time to hand hoe all of it this year. The vines will be set hopefully within two weeks using our water wheel transplanter used for vegetables on the farm.

Again, this is a very unconventional way of planting a vineyard and this is sort of a trial run of some basic concepts I have developed over the years. I have tried all of them independently, but never as a whole package. Time will tell how well it will work. I wish I had more vines started because I know some will not make it to planting, but I ran out of greenhouse space. I only have a tiny 8x12 foot greenhouse where my brother has over a half acre in 13 greenhouses. Too bad they have been overflowing with flowers and veggie plants. I may need to put up a larger one next time.

 

[mwestern]

Looks very nice,How many plants/rows do you plan to get in your space ? It really makes our attempt here in Mo. look really small,but I'm hoping to maybe expand in 21 months when I'm finally retired !! ;-) We mowed between our rows with a 60" Cub Cadet for 3 yrs but i got tired of weeding so we weed barriered the whole thing and put down 16 yards of oak mulch.We have 5 -60' rows with buried 5/8" soaker hose and it's working very good so far.We enjoy watching your progress,Good luck. Mike

6-gals homemade peach
6-gals angel blanco
6-gals liebraumilch
1-gal sweet cherry
6-gal acai raspberry cabernet sauvignon
6-gal Seville Orange sangria

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Beautiful pictures, I always pictured New York like what I see on television, nothing but large buildings, taxi cabs and black top. I
didn't realize you had such beautiful farm land. Looks like New York
isn't as bad as I figured. Beautiful, thanks for the pictures.
Semper Fi

 

[grapeman]

I'm getting ahead of myself here but since you asked......

There will be 21 rows 10 feet apart x 2. By this, I mean the field is almost 800 feet long so it would be over 700 feet long so I am splittling it in two. There will be a road up the middle also for better access plus one between the rows at about the 350-400 foot mark. There will be four blocks altogether. The one block will be shaped with an angle out of it at the back so it will be sort of a triangle. The others will each have 10 or 11 rows in it with about 55-60 vines each. The whole thing will be around 2000 vines. My other much larger thread covers from initial planting up through our small commercial vineyard.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f25/champlain-valley-my-vineyard-19820/

 

[grapeman]

Bud, 99% of New York is rural. The Adirondack Park which is a State Park is something like 2.5 million acres of mixed rural farms and heavily wooded mountain forests. Clinton County where I live is much like rural Vermont which shares Lake Champlain with NY.

 

[grapeman]

Here are a couple pictures of the larger vines. I will be putting them outside to harden off soon but we may get severe storms today and tomorrow so I will wait until the chances of bad weather pass.

For those who didn't look yesterday, there are various pictures of the new sit on the previous page.

 

[ibglowin]

Looks like it coming along nicely Rich. Well done!

 

[stacilynn18]

Dear Mr. Grapeman

Next I take the plug trays and fill them with the same potting mix. I then shove the calloused cuttings in them to fill. I am using a standard flat size that holds 38 cuttings. These are a bit over 2 inches deep and form a root plug.
First an empty tray and then a row of filled trays without any buds pushing yet.

I truly appreciate your advice as I am starting the process from a grape vine that is over 100 yrs old. Research tells me that at that age it is difficult to transplant. I have had great success with my shoots and roots in water but am now concerned that moving them to soil will be a problem. I read that leaving them in water will damage the grape for wine making. Would love to have someone to communicate with during this large endeavor. Please help. Am I off to a good start?

 

[grapeman]

If you have roots on some cuttings, you can plant them either in pots or outside depending on how hot it is. Wherever you read that leaving them in water will damage them for making wine out of, is absolutely incorrect. That will have no effect on future wine, only the health of the cutting. If you rooted them in water and they rooted, it worked.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[stacilynn18]

Mr Grapeman,

Thank you for your quick response. Such encouraging news. I am sooo excited. Thanks again!

 

[downunder]

I truly appreciate your advice as I am starting the process from a grape vine that is over 100 yrs old. Research tells me that at that age it is difficult to transplant. I have had great success with my shoots and roots in water but am now concerned that moving them to soil will be a problem. I read that leaving them in water will damage the grape for wine making. Would love to have someone to communicate with during this large endeavor. Please help. Am I off to a good start?

Have been following this thread with lots of interest. In Australia we do things a little differently (well a lot differently really) but not here to disrupt the flow of the thread.
Just wanted to make the point that 50 or 100 year old wines are easy to transplant if you do the right thing.
Have containers filled with water ready to take the vines (I use 700 ltr grape bins).
Wrap a strap around the trunk of the vine.
Use a forklift/tractor to pull the vine out of the ground. Yes you will break roots off and only get a small root ball but that's ok.
Trim the arms back to 1 or 2 spurs on each arm.
Have the hole ready to take the vine. Have the fertilizer etc already in it.
Trim the roots to fit the hole. (on the big roots I use pruning paint over the big cuts and sprinkle rooting hormone on them.)
Plant the vine. Keep in wet during the first year growing cycle.. By the second year you are almost in full production.
Did this with 50 year old grenache. Moved 100 vines.....lost one.

Bob

 

[echoloc8]

Hey all, new forum member with only a few kit wines under my belt, but sharp curiosity about vineyard planting. My father-in-law has 15 acres or so that's currently growing Christmas trees, but someday I expect my wife to inherit, and he's already said I can plant a few vines as an experiment this year.

I'm loving this thread, and it's building my enthusiasm! Thanks, Rich, for the effort!

-Rich

 

[grapeman]

Have been following this thread with lots of interest. In Australia we do things a little differently (well a lot differently really) but not here to disrupt the flow of the thread.
Just wanted to make the point that 50 or 100 year old wines are easy to transplant if you do the right thing.
Have containers filled with water ready to take the vines (I use 700 ltr grape bins).
Wrap a strap around the trunk of the vine.
Use a forklift/tractor to pull the vine out of the ground. Yes you will break roots off and only get a small root ball but that's ok.
Trim the arms back to 1 or 2 spurs on each arm.
Have the hole ready to take the vine. Have the fertilizer etc already in it.
Trim the roots to fit the hole. (on the big roots I use pruning paint over the big cuts and sprinkle rooting hormone on them.)
Plant the vine. Keep in wet during the first year growing cycle.. By the second year you are almost in full production.
Did this with 50 year old grenache. Moved 100 vines.....lost one.

Bob

It is always great to hear how things are done in different areas of the world. That would probably work for those 100 year old vines here, if she has a forklift available. I have tried it before with my tractor, but usually the vines break off so I don't bother with them. I find it easier just to begin over with cuttings.