Black Spanish and Lomanto Grape updates
Lomanto (left) are looking nice. Brix of 15 so far. No color change on Black Spanish (right). Much smaller berries but large clusters.
Lomanto Grapes going through veraison (onset of ripening)
Lomanto grapes starting to ripen!
Removed the growth tubes today and trimmed all the suckers and random growth from vines. Most of the new vines have all reached the top wire and have been snipped just above the wire. Two laterals heading down each side of the wire.
Nobel Muscadines are doing well.
Lomanto grapes are filling out nicely!
These Lomanto grapes are getting huge and knock on wood, no rot yet. I must have started spraying early enough to prevent it. I can’t wait until next year when I can have a good crop. It will be two more years before we get a full crop. Now you know why it takes so long for wine to age. It actually starts from when you plant the vines. Three years for a partial crop and 4-5 for a full crop.
Fruit thinning and I might need stitches
Sad day in vineyard today! Not supposed to let the fruit set the first two years on you grapevines. I had to go through and pinch off all the small bunches of grapes.
Technically these are just the pre-bloom buds, and not grapes yet. First they flower then start making fruit. On the bright side the vines are producing hundreds of these little guys. I bet I just pinched off what would have been the equivalent of several hundred pounds of fruit if left to mature.
And while not paying attention in the tool shed, I slipped and fell on my bush axe. I had my gloves on so minimal damage. On the bright side, I didn’t lose an appendage and I learned how to superglue my cut shut. Of course I used some hydrogen peroxide first to clean it up. The glue really does work. I was able to get right back to work. No trip to the ER today!
Shoots are growing well. Time to start spraying.
The shoots are growing well and you can see small grape clusters forming. Time to start spraying. Below is the regiment I plan to follow. I didn’t spray enough last year as I thought I didn’t need to because it was first year and no fruit growth. Major mistake. The Black Spanish had several issues that I’ll be fighting to fix this year. Spray all your plants even the newly planted vines to help them get a great start.
Early spraying with fungicides and insecticides will keep disease and pests off your plants. Use a sprayer with a higher PSI pressure for better leaf penetration. The PSI should be greater than 60 PSI (80-90 PSI is better).
New shoot sprays: Begin when shoots are 4-6 inches long and repeat 7 – 10 days later.
- Use Captan at a rate of 2 tbsp per gallon or Mancozeb at a rate of 3-4 tsp per gallon of water in a sprayer
- Also add Malathion to the sprayer at 2-3 tsp per gallon for insects (don’t need much for mites and smaller pest) later in the year when the Japanese Beetles show up I bump up to 1 tbsp).
Pre-bloom: When first blossoms start to open. Most damage from black rot occurs from pre-bloom through 4 weeks after bloom.
- Use Mancozeb (better than Captan at this stage) at a rate of 3-4 tsp per gallon of water in a sprayer
- Also add Malathion to the sprayer at 2-3 tsp per gallon
Post-bloom: When most of the bloom caps have fallen off the vine.
- Use Captan at a rate of 2 tbsp per gallon of water in a sprayer
- Also add Malathion to the sprayer at 2-3 tsp per gallon
Cover sprays: 7 – 10 days later, then at 2 week intervals until harvest
- Use Captan at a rate of 2 tbsp per gallon of water in a sprayer
- Also add Carbaryl 4L (same as Sevin but 2x stronger) to the sprayer at 2 tsp per gallon
- NOTE: Must wait 7 days after last spraying before harvesting fruit when using Carbarl/Sevin!
- NOTE: Must wait 66 days after last spraying before harvesting fruit if using Mancozeb!
Fertilizing new and older plants
Much discussion out there about if/when to fertilize grapevines. Much easier to find info on Muscadine vines. Last year, I put more fertilizer on the muscadines than I did on the grapes. I only put one application on the Lomanto and they struggled later in the year. The Black Spanish did pretty good with one application. I also had some Muscadine die back this spring as I did not make all applications. So I decided to treat both grapes and muscadine the same this year. Below is what I plan to adhere to:
On April 1st, May 1st, June 1st, July 1st
1st year rate of 4 oz of 10-10-10 per plant 12 inches from plant in circle, work into soil
2nd year rate of 8 oz of 10-10-10 per plant 12 inches from plant in circle, work into soil
On
April 15th, May 15th, June 15th, and July 15th
1st Year rate of 4 oz of 34-0-0 (Calcium Nitrate) or 2oz (Ammonia Nitrate) per plant 12 inches from plant in circle, work into soil
2nd Year rate of 8 oz of 34-0-0 (Calcium Nitrate) or 4oz (Ammonia Nitrate) per plant 12 inches from plant in circle, work into soil
3rd Year Use 3 lbs of 10-10-10 on May 1st
4th Year Fertilize as needed depending on growth of your vines
Alabama soils can be low in magnesium, foliar magnesium deficiency frequently becomes noticeable in mid-summer. You can spot this deficiency by the yellowing between the leaf veins on the older grape leaves. If the soil pH is low enough to need lime, use dolomitic lime to help prevent magnesium deficiencies.
You can also use magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) to counter the magnesium deficiency. Young plants should get 2 ounces applied around each vine, keeping the salts 6 or more inches away from the trunk. Apply 4 to 8 ounces per mature, bearing vine. It may require 2 to 3 years of magnesium application to bring the level up for best plant performance.
Reference source: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0012/ANR-0012.pdf
Bud Break in the Vineyard
This is probably one of the most exciting dates in the vineyard especially after you just planted a few hundred dollars in new plants. This is the first sign that all that hard work will pay off with new growth.
These are second year Lomanto and Black Spanish vines.
and these are the new Blanc Dubois vines. So far it looks like all new plants are coming out of dormancy.
Pruning of the Vines
A little later than I had planned, but I finally pruned the older vines this weekend. Decided to go with top cordon spur pruning system for all the vines. I could get a little more production from the black spanish if I used a cane pruning system, but it’s a lot more maintenance. Both systems are used for these vine types.
Pruned Black Spanish grapevines above
Pruned Noble Muscadine vines above
Installed T-Post and pruning new vines today
Today was a great day in the vineyard. It was like a spring day, 60deg and not a cloud in the sky. Added the remaining 7 T-Post and tightened the wire. After lots of research I decided to use high cordon trellis system on the new Blanc Dubois vines. Plus that’s what I’m using on the other vines.
The wire is held in place with a clip. Pretty simple system that is easy to work with.
Decided to go ahead and prune the new vines I planted a couple of weeks ago. When you get new vines, they can have 1-3 years of growth that need to be trimmed to a single strong vine. I put the strongest of wood trimmed from vines in a bucket of water so they don’t dry out. I later planted these in potting soil after dipping in root hormone to promote rooting. I’ll keep them in the shop with no light so they don’t break bud too soon.
Here’s the same vine partially trimmed.
Done with all the cuts and nicked out all but the top three buds. After bud break I will select the strongest bud and pinch off the other two. I only need one to grow up to the top wire.
This is a Lomanto grapevine I planted last year. That is a huge vine from one year of growth. I planted 10 but after seeing the vigor of this vine, I decided to add more Black Spanish this winter as it’s not near as vigorous. This means I wont need to trim and train the vines near as much. I’m still searching for the right vines for the terroir of my farm.
I also planted several types of Muscadines. This is a Noble vine. They are very vigorous but still not near as much as the Lomanto.
Turned the garden over just before it got dark. Long good day on the farm.
Before and After
Lasterday Wines 
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