Tom DeWitt, Missouri State Soils Instructor, analyzed this bermed vineyard site and determined that notches need to be cut into the berms (raised beds down the grape row) in order to let water drain out from between the rows. Tom and his student used the laser level to determine where to cut the notches. The two sites were flagged and then we dug notches in the berms. The areas … [Read more...] about Constructing drainage-ways in a bermed vineyard
Archives for November 2012
Our crew is putting wood chip mulch at the base of young grapevines in order to protect the graft union from winter cold temperature. The grafts must be protected for the first 4 to 5 years after planting. … [Read more...] about Mulching to protect grapevine graft unions
Now that the leaves have fallen, we begin to prune Catawba grapes. We begin with Catawba since they are more winter cold hardy than some of the others. The vines in this vineyard were somewhat overcropped this year so the reference vines averaged a little more than one pound of cane weight per plant. Using the 30 + 10 pruning formula recommended for Catwaba, that means we need … [Read more...] about Grape pruning begins
This year we had a very "early" spring with bud break on grapevines occurring in March. We usually begin counting GDD base 50 beginning on April 1 but this year we added the GDD accumulated in March for our year end total of 4370 GDD for 2012. Spring was hectic and we shoot thinned, cluster thinned, combed and removed leaves from the cooler side of the trellis on dense … [Read more...] about A look at the 2012 grape season