Missoula Vinyard

All those photos of those members with new vinyards got me inspired! A visit to the Junior Partner's Godfather in B.C., and the one who inspired the wine-making, produced 6 shoots and a cutting!


Inspired by "Mutt and Jeff" these are Alphonse, Bert, Colby & Charlie, not sure about "D" yet -- maybe The Donald. Rounding them out are Elvis and Fox -- although the last may change too!





What kind? Wellll... we'll know later. The Godfather got them from a vinyard in British Columbia, and he's pretty sure they are white -- but doesn't know what vinafera.


His are two years old and have "baby grapes" this year and I guess we'll just have to be patient (as with all things wine, eh?) Edited by: OilnH2O

Looking good and nothing better than trying your hand at growing some of your own grapes!


The view in the background still blows my mind...I really need to get out west and see it for real!

That veiw is absolutely incredible......


And now the start of your own mini vineyard........


Good family, friends, a good glass of wine with the one you love.....


Could life possibly get any better!


Great start, and I like your naming..... I'd keep fox untill you find out what kind they are...

Nice beginnings to making some wine. Are you going to grow them in containers, or set them in the ground somewhere? There are ways to produce them in containers - just Google it up. You might want to put a stake in the pot if you are going to leave them in there a while so they will grow nice and straight - although Elvis may try to Rock around a while.

I think right now, we'll get them going in the containers this year. There 's a spot along our back fence we might just prepare this year (as has been suggested elsewhere on the forum) and plant next spring... Maybe by then we'll find out what kind they are as well!

UPDATE! Does anyone know just how long it might be before we see some "bud-break" or a leaf on these vines? They were cut one day, dipped in rooting solution and transported to Montana the next day, and in the ground the 3rd day... but I gotta admit we wonder if we're not just watering & tending sticks! It's been a day over 2 weeks -- or is my impatience just getting in the way???

Be patient !! My Blackberries were from cuttings and from the day I received the cuttings until I saw the first sign of a leaf was about 5 weeks. Not sure how grapes measure up with Blackberries but I would think they would be similiar.

Don't rush things. Remember this process is part of making wine!. Before the grapes form roots and leaves, they need to callous. Just pushing the cuttings in the soil will produce roots-eventually. The callouses need some heat and a couple weeks to a month to form. It's best if they form the callous before you see the buds expand into leaves. The callouses look like raised whitish areas at the cut part of the cutting. Don't overwater at this point either- wet soil makes cool soil. For best callous formation, you can put the cuttings in some potting soil upside down, burying them. Then put a soil heating pad on top. Best formation is at about 80 degrees. Once they callous, they may be planted rightside up(make sure they aren't planted upside down or they won't grow). All this sounds complicated , but they will eventually root on their own-but don't expect 100 percent sucess.


Instructions from Double A VIneyards


"
<BLOCKQUOTE>


1) When you receive your cuttings inspect them to make sure that they are still moist and properly labeled.


2) Small quantities of cuttings can be stored in a refrigerator in plastic with moist packing material around them. Avoid freezing them because this will dry them out. Avoid Storing vines with fruit as ethylene gas is released by ripe fruit and this can kill buds.


3) Larger quantities can be buried in the ground in a sand pit or a well drained soil. Dig a trench as deep as the cuttings and then cover them with 6-8 inches of soil. The cuttings should be placed bottom side up (flat end of the cutting) so that it will warm in the spring and form callous. This is the white tissue that roots originate from. If it is very dry in the spring you may need to water the cuttings.


4) Small quantities of cuttings can be calloused by placing them upside down in moist peat moss and placing a heat mat on the base of the cuttings. A temperature of 80° F is ideal for callous formation. The idea is to heat the base of the cutting to form callous and keep the buds cool so they do not begin to grow until the callous has formed.


5) Once cuttings have calloused they can be planted in the greenhouse or the nursery row. Make sure that the soil does not dry out, since the cuttings have no roots, but too wet is not good either. A wet soil is generally a cold soil and we want a warm rooting zone."


Don't rush the leaves- best to form roots first.


Keep watering sparingly and good luck! </BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow...I knew I'd get stopped by the Patience Police!


Okay -- I'll continue on with my procedure which has been to keep them watered but not wet -- let them warm in the sun -- and visit them each evening and sit and sip a glass of wine, watching the sun set and thinking kind thoughts!

Don't know if this is relevant to your situation, but I ordered nine vines from Millers just after Memorial Day and they were planted the first week of June.Only two have any signs of life at all. They all had really long roots that had been trimmed before shipment and I trimmed the upper parts to leave 2 buds for training later (with luck). After 2 weeks and no temperatures over 80, I have two vines with tiny leaves peeking out at the sun. I am attempting to grow grapes at 10,000 feet elevation in Colorado with a very short growing period. Being patient isn't easy but I'm hopeful they'll all have leaves by the Fourth of July and can grow before the snow starts in September. Cross your fingers!

I'm with you!(Fingers x'd)


Surprisingly, although we're so far north and at 2,900 feet elevation, we have (relatively speaking for Montana) mild winters. There are several local winerys with grapes -- Marechal Foch and some other cold-tolerant varieties. I'm still hopefull for these vines -- they are only on their 4th week and only 10 days or so with daytime temps above 75F. Nightime down into the 40's so they cool off although the sun hits them by 6am. But,stillwith no real indication of "bud break," leaf buds, or signs of life.


BUT, yesterday up to 89F, today is over 90, only a few pop-up cu's only one of which looks like it might develop into a T-storm, and it's past time to "sit in the vinyard" and have a glass of wine and encourage 'em on! Today is our anniversary -- I only add that because we have a Rodney Strong Chalk Hill (Sonoma) chard on ice for the celebration -- and the kind thoughts in the "vinyard!" Then a t-bone on the grill !


Send some pic's of yours -- and what kind are they?


Dave

Dave - I'm just speculating here, but perhaps lack of visible progress is
mainly due to lack of enough heat. Being in containers, the vines and the
soil they are in cool off a lot at night, and the soil must take quite awhile
during a sunny day to begin to warm. Do anything you can think of to
enhance a warm environment for them, i.e., south side of the house right
next to the wall with tar paper behind the pots, maybe even temporary
plastic "greenhouse" structures over them to maintain a more even heat
from day to night. Be careful not to overwater since they are in pots. Good
luck with your vines!
Bill

Thanks, Bill -- and Laurel too!


I may try the greenhouse "tents" over each pot. You are correct, of course, about trying to do this in these northern climes! Can cool off REAL quick!


In fact, here's this evening about 1 hour ago (9:30 MDT) as we sat in the "vinyard" encouraging them to GROW!





Then, a few minutes later it looked like this....





It may be tougher to grow stuff up here in Maine and Montana, but you sure can't beat these summer evenings, can you!


Dave

Awesome !! Hey, the sunset looks pretty cool too !

I'm depressed.


But it looks fantastic! Very beautiful!





M.

Dave,


Great sunset


Do you have a spot in the sun that is on the ground? Your pots are exposed to the air underneath, so when it cools down at night, the soil temp drops quickly. If you could place them on the ground, preferably a dark background, they will absorb and hold the heat better. I moved the last of my cuttings out of the greenhouse about a week ago. They were on benches and I don't heat the greenhouse anymore this time of year. They hadn't rooted yet(after 3 months) and I had about given up on those. The soil stays warmer than the air at night and that was all it took-now almost all of the rest of the cuttings have at least started rooting.


I know you like the vineyard up on the deck, but it can't look quite right with no vines yet. Let's get those babies growing so you can enjoy the whole experience.

I suppose I could get some sticks and just put them between the boards and have the same effect...


Ok, I'll move 'em! (By the way, they're tented up now as well....)

If you used plain solid poly to tent them, be cautious. Temps in a small area under clear poly in direct sun can reach up to about 135-40 degrees- too hot for the vines. If you are using regular grow tents it should be OK. If regular poly- cut some slits in the plastic going from near bottom to near top. This lets the superheated air escape in the sunlight but closes up at night to keep the heat in.


Dang I'm picky . Sorry, it came from growing veggies commercially for close to fourty years.

It's dry cleaner bags, with some holes, but with that caution I'll put larger slits in them -- but that may dry them out quicker (our humidity was around 28% today). They looked great with lots of condensation on the inside but they were warm! Sitting on the ground on black weed-block right now.... Was up to 91 today and low of 51 tonight -- high tomorrow even warmer. Sorry -- don't mean to sound like the wx man!

Sounds like you have it under control. Hopefully in about a week, they will start responding, especially if the weather stays nice like that. We actually had some pretty fair weather here last week, but now we are back to that same old rainy pattern- 100% humidity