Pruning the oldest muscadine vines
That time of the year again when we start our pruning. These are the oldest vines of the farm. They were a mess when we purchased the farm with years of neglect. After cutting them way back and two years of training, they should do well this year. Here is a before and after shot of the vines.
Last year I had some dieback on some of the younger vines. After some research it appears I mades some mistakes last year with my pruning. First mistake, always dip the pruning sheers in 10:1 water/clorox solution (10 oz of water 1 oz of clorox) between each vine you prune. This will help prevent passing issues from one vine to the next. Second, spray or paint on Topsin after you prune the vines.
Installed an Electric Fence and Bird Netting
In a last ditch attempt to save some grapes this year, I’ve installed a solar powered electric fence, bird netting and some owls. If the birds and/or raccoons still take the muscadines, I don’t know what else to do. The fence charger is a bit overkill, granted, but if a raccoon touches the fence I want them to feel it :-0. This one can protect the vineyard, orchard, garden and about another 23+ miles of fence!
Two strings of wire. One at 5-6inches above ground and the other at 12inches. I could put another at 18-20 if they are jumping over. I put out a couple of deer infrared cameras as well with hopes I catch some of the action!
I also used some old conduit to keep the netting off the muscadines.
And the last attempt to keep the birds at bay. 3 owls placed in various locations.
Only time will tell if any of this works!
Took a walk to clear my head then google some help!
I’m sure some of the grapes may have been taken by birds, but after looking around on the ground I see evidence of who took the majority of the grapes. Raccoons! All I did by putting on the netting, was give them a great way to climb up the vines (nets) and reach through to grab the grapes. Now that all the grapes are gone, the only thing left to protect are the muscadines. They are just beginning veraison. Looks like I need to come up with a way to protect against them. Quick searches show electric fences are a good deterrent. Here are some pics of the Muscadine that I plan to protect!
These are Black Beauty muscadine.
Nobel muscadine below.
Muscadines are starting to fill out
Nobel Muscadine vines are finished blooming and starting to grow nicely.
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
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.
Adding Blanc Dubois grapevines and more Black Spanish
Decided to add a row of Blanc Dubois grapevines to the vineyard. 30 vines to be exact. Living in the South we are limited to types of vines we can grow due to pierce disease. After a lot of research I decided on this vine. Plus I needed some white grapes, I’ve only planted red to date. I hear some people don’t want or like a red wine. Don’t understand that, but okay, white will be added. The Black Spanish did pretty good last year so I decided to add another half row. I now have about 30 of those vines as well. They didn’t have issues like the Lomanto did last year. They also don’t grow near as fast. With the vigor less, should make it easier to work with.
My poor wet, tired feet.
Lime application
Put down about a 900lbs of lime today. PH was a little low. Trying to get it up to 6.5 from 5.9 – 6.0.
Japanese beetles are attacking
Well, I leaned a valuable lesson today. I found beetles on my grapevines last week, so I picked up some beetle bags with attractant. It works great, just don’t put near your grapevines. I had bags on each end of the rows and the vines closest to bag were covered with jap beetle and the vines in the middle had few. Note to self: put bags far away from vines next year. Checkout the bag of beetles. I mean what do you do with these things? Also, after a few days of decaying beetles, those bags stink it up pretty good.
Grapevine and Muscadine update
Every week they need to be trained to the wire. Purchased a great taping tool that makes the training quick. No issues with blackrot or other fungus yet, and no bugs yet.
Before and After
Lasterday Wines 
Recent Comments