WINE GARDEN

[swillologist]

The rabbits did a job on the nanking cherries here. There were a few blooms on the ones they didn't chew on. I had to cut must of them down and let them start over.


I only saw one bumblebee on the trees this spring. I never did see any honeybees. Most of the pollinating was done by smallinsects. I need to get my spray schedule going but I hate to spray the little buggers after all the work they did. But it needs to be done. If the wind cooperate tomorrow, I will have to get started on that. Edited by: swillologist

 

[NorthernWinos]

When I mowed the yard the other day I saw baby bunnies....hope the dogs see them too. In the past I put chicken wire around the youngest fruiting bush plants, but set out 62 assorted ones this year, so won't be 'fencing' them off.

Earlier I saw Bumble Bees and little insects, but yesterday was Honey Bee Heaven in the fruit trees. Last year seeing a Honey Bee was a rare event.

Hope in a few years to have a regular supply of various small fruits for wines......Yuuuummmm...can hardly wait.

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

The Wine garden has been pretty slow awakening this spring....

The Nanking Cherries must have suffered from the late spring....or harsh winter.....never have they not bloomed in their 8 years....This year the only blossoms we around the bottom of the bushes [snow line] and the very young [short] bushes.

The apple trees usually produce abundantly with both flowers and fruit...this year the flowers are sparse on most trees...One bi-annual tree is loaded with flowers and is a pretty reliable bi-annual producer.

The Sand Cherries and June Berries are fully flowered. The wild Choke Cherry trees are starting to flower....had a bumper crop last year.

The grapes are slow to come around. I pruned hard after a few years of neglect.....Some of the older vines with hard wood are sprouting some new shoots, still bleeding from the lifeless ends and will have to be rejuvenated with new growth for next year.

The younger vines are looking pretty good...

The Strawberries are loaded with flowers and the raspberries have nice buds....
So, we will get what we can for the Winemaking Effort....there are always those jars of juices from last year we can tap into...and perhaps a few batches of Black Currant from those reliable cans.

So...what's in your gardens????

 

[NorthernWinos]

So...Is there any hope for these little guys???

The road ditches are glowing with Chokecherry blossoms....We L

VE that...

One bi-annual bearing apple tree is blooming...

But the neighbors Crabapple trees are loaded with flowers...so, there will be apple wine of one sort or another...There is always those jars of juice in the larder...

As well the Sandcherries and Juneberry bushes are loaded....

God willing...there will be fruit wines of this vintage....

 

[grapeman]

Still looking better all the time NW. Why wouldn't there be hope for those little guys. I hope the frost is over until at least July or August for you.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We just have to hope for a long hot summer and late fall for things to mature. So far it has been pretty cool around here....

Every now and them we get an average day and almost melt.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Quite cool here too, NW. I had posted on the other forum about trouble with a few of my vines. Appleman answered saying he was experiencing the same problem - the pruning cuts just wouldn't stop leaking and had become infected with a fungus probably. You said you have the same sort of continued leaking from your pruning cuts. Any sign of infections at the wounds?

 

[NorthernWinos]

I had the leaking on the oldest canes...the ones that were very woody and larger in caliber....Thought it was pretty early when I pruned....but they just kept dripping....you could hear the drops hitting the ground and there was a puddle in the dirt...Wondered about making some syrup...?

I haven't noticed any infection there...just kind of funky, maybe mold....will look tho. There are some shoots coming near the main trunk...so will have to train them into new 'arms' on the vine.

I went to a rose seminar once and a Rosarian had an unusual tip. She said when you prune your rose canes to prevent disease to dust them with Comet...[yes, the sink cleaning stuff]...She said it has bleach in it.

Wonder if there is a product for grape canes....?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Have been watching everyones Posts with fabulous vine photos....So, figured I should go out and tend my vines.

I
saw many suckers growing from the bases of some of the vines....This
was very painful....some had tiny clusters of flower buds on
them...recalling unripened grapes last year near ground level... I
pulled them...was that a good thing to do????? As well I rubbed off some buds along the trunk...Looked better for sure, more like the Big Guys vines.

Then
came the old vines with woody trunks and arms....I thought I might like
to make a whole new vine there and had to make a decision...keeping one
or two of the suckers to train as a new vine....I sorted through them
and tried to find ones starting closest to the ground level....Some
were large and boistrious ....having heard our Vine Guru Appleman
mention Bull Canes I wondered if these were them...or just a strong
vine...Others tho very small appeared to have tiny clusters along the
stems....hard decisions...so I left a couple...Which to choose????

I thought I would do a little tidying up...clipped some of the dead ends off of some of the half dead looking vines....

They started to drip again...That was obviously not the thing I should have done....???

So...some
vines look much better....Others have been abused...Others, the younger
[middle aged] vines are well on their way to bring forth nice
crops...they are loaded with flower buds and will be a joy to watch
through the summer.

The row of tender vines that are growing on
wire panels are alive...some with a few clusters...and my thoughts are
they are not worth the space and extra caring for, laying down in the
fall and lifting in the spring .....I think in time they will be
replaced...either with my old tried and true juice/wine grapes....or
with some of the new hardy vines I am trying to grow and let hang on
the wires over winter.ar is slow coming around, but is alive. Baltic Amber who had been touched with
So...just having fun
So...it's
just for fun that I am trying to grow these grapes in this hostile
environment...and...to try to grow something that others say can't be
grown here....and along the way and having fun doing it.</font></font>
</font></font></font></font>Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

It is a good thing to pull those suckers at the base of the vine unless you want to try some fan trained vines. If so let half a dozen of them grow if the main vine looks almost dead. This fall you can lay them on the ground and let the snow cover them protecting the buds. Then next spring tie them up to the trellis in a fan shape. They will get clusters all along the canes and give a good crop. You let some new canes form next year and those become the new fan the next year.


To get a new trunk going choose a cane of moderate growth. That will form a better more prolific trunk than the bull canes will.


Don't clip off dead looking canes this time of year. They may look dead, but will still bleed quite a bit. Often they will sprout new growth from basal buds- buds that were covered over from a year or so again and they will sprout- a type of adventitious bud.


Best of luck to you with this years' crop!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Is it too early to spray for fungus...or...too late????

I have some sprays with copper and some other ones...maybe a blend of some....Bordeaux..Bordo....?

 

[grapeman]

It isn't too early. I have put on two sprays alreay. Look through this link. It has good information, timing and sprays that can be used for each. It is for New York and Pennsylvania, but your location should use the same recommendations. Just check labels before getting any spray to make sure it is approved for the pest you intend to use it on. It is easier to prevent a disease than get rid of it.


http://ipmguidelines.org/grapes/content/CH05/default.asp

 

[NorthernWinos]

Appleman....Gee...that's a whole brain full of information on that site.

I have only noticed some bugs once last year, they were tiny worms. They made some holes in the leaves, then moved off to the raspberry leaves...didn't really seem to be a problem.

My main problems are mildews and some sort of bunch rot on one variety [Valiant, notorious for disease, but very hardy] ....I will look at the sprays I have and get on it soon.

The Juneberries are prone to a fungus and finally last year I got a few berries by spraying them at the same time as the grapes. They get an orange bumpy fungus on the fruit, with the spray they were pretty clean till some of the last berries when I quit spraying.

It finally has started to rain here....now we get a little everyday....No flooding like south of here...that is devastating....my heart goes out to you folks with too much of a good thing.

 

[NorthernWinos]

This the pest management guide that I have been using...from the U of Wisconsin....simple....but not as informative.

Perhaps over time we will be needing more sophisticated sprays up here...

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/A2129.pdf

 

[grapeman]

That guide you have is probably good for you and gives you some general control. The one I listed is much more in depth and is intended for commercial vineyards(but it has lots of useful information in it) I especially like the timing intervals it gives you and what to be spraying for at those times. The rot you have is probably black rot. Captan takes care of that and should be begun prior to bloom and continue until the grapes are larger than peas-more like marbles.


The mildews can be powdery or downey. Captan helps prevent downey mildew. Powdery you can use sulfur on or an unlisted preventative cure for it is simple baking soda. It isn't listed for it so you will need to apply it to make the vineyard smell "fresh".


Glad you are getting some nice rains. We have had some nasty weather today- lots of thunderstorms with wind. We didn't get the hail, but it was in the area the size of golf balls. The last cell to go through had rotation in it but no tornado. The tornado watches were up all day but hopefully have expired by now.Edited by: appleman

 

[NorthernWinos]

I was watching the Weather Channel and saw there was severe weather over Lake Champlain and wondered if you were safe....know that lightening is attracted to you and wondered about that....Take care.

 

[swillologist]

appleman is that baking powder or baking soda. I have never heard of using baking powder is all. I guess you can learn something new everyday.

 

[grapeman]

appleman is that baking powder or baking soda. I have never heard of using baking powder is all. I guess you can learn something new everyday.

I can never keep the two straight in my mind. It is Baking Soda- the stuff you put in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. I was a bit distracted when I wrote that the first time. We had storms on and off all afternoon and evening.


Baking Soda isn't listed as being useful, but it does seem to give some curative action for mildews. The evidence is all anecdotal but hey, it can't hurt anything and will make things smell fresh.


Here is a little reading for it.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/bakingsoda.htmlEdited by: appleman

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Also not listed probably is ... milk! Whole milk, skim or even powdered apparently has some effect on PM. I tried it last summer, and others have commented on other forums that it seems to give them some relief from PM infection. I believe the proper ratio is one part milk to nine parts water for one tenth mixture. It needs to be applied fairly often and for full coverage. Google it for more info.

 

[swillologist]

Thanks for the information appleman. I don't normally have a problem with fungus here. We unusually have some sun and good air movement. This year is a different story. It is wet all the time. Hopefully that will settle down before long. A couple of years ago we had a bad case of black rot on the apples. I guess that is where you look at a bad thing as a good thing. We didn't have any apples last year so there was nothing for it to carry over on. I haven't noticed any this year yet. I use an all purpose orchard spray. I seem to work on most of the problems we have here. Al though it didn't work on black rot. If I have trouble withI will have to ask you what I should be using.