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Most growing degree day references for grapes seem to use April though September or October as a standard. Here in Great Falls, MT we had our first frost/hard freeze on September 13th with a minimum temperature of 27F. My vines range from this years propagated and planted cuttings to mostly 2nd...

Looking forward to updates on the cutting/rooting project! I tried several last year and they failed for various reasons, but I just used a seedling heat mat with no temperature control and believe I probably had too much heat. Trying a different method this year to more closely monitor temps...

35 degrees with a rain/snow mix on this side of the continental divide in Great Falls MT this fine afternoon. We got down to 29 a few nights ago.

Yes they are tasty critters. Mostly whitetails that are the regulars with a rare Muley on occasion. I'm on a 5 acre lot and pop gophers all the time with the .22, but not sure if the .30-06 would fly with the neighbors. Time to get out and practice with the bow I haven't shot in 20 years I...

Thanks for the info. My fingers are crossed for the vines hardening off, but I don't think any new growth would have a chance. Any recommendations on type of deer fencing? I like the lower visibility look of the mesh types but was wondering if there were any drawbacks to those vs the metal...

Looks nice marctee. Am definitely planning a fence for next year now!

So, my 1st and 2nd year vines were doing pretty good here in central MT. I should've known better but was just using spray and some bags of hair clippings for deer deterrent, which seemed to be working, until last night. Many of my 1st year vines even made it up to the top wire with some going...

Actually, my interest in having closer spaced vines is for two reasons. I want to try as many varieties as possible to see which ones grow best. But also, I'm thinking it would be easier to sell the idea of more vines to my wife if they would not require new or extended rows. Probably not the...

For a backyard hobby grape row or two, is there really a detriment to tight spacing between vines, say around 3-4 ft? I was looking at this story on a small vineyard in winnipeg Manitoba...

Thanks Grapeman. I'm thinking that the buds bursted earlier than would be average this year here due to unusually warm temps in late winter/early spring. If not, this will be an issue for me every May. (fingers crossed)

Well, it got down to 25 this morning here (central MT) and appears to have fried the buds/leaves on my vines. My Valiant grape was the furthest along with lacrescent and frontenac grid having just burst from the bud in the last week. These plants are in their second year. So I guess I'm...

I was thinking of doing something similar under my vines here in central MT (zone 3b). My thinking was that extra heat retention from the rocks would be beneficial late in the season but this is just a guess.

Scary here in MT too. 60s forecast thought the weekend and there has been very little snow cover since late January.

Greg. Do you have any trouble ripening the frontenac's at your location. I have a few frontenac gris that will be in their second leaf this season here in north central Montana and am a little concerned that while they are hardy I may not get them to ripen with only around 2000 growing degree...

Thanks grapeman. I'll start callusing in couple weeks then root in pots with seedling soil mix once calluses form. I have a heat mat for starting seedlings and was planning on using that as the warm location to callus them wrapped in moist paper towels in plastic sacks(and dipped in rooting...

I have some cuttings that were ordered online and was wondering if it's too early to begin rooting them? This will be my first attempt at rooting and the varieties are Prairie Star and Louise Swenson. Last frost here in central MT is late May so the plants would need to be kept inside (garage...

Heard that UMN well be releasing a new white variety this year, but so far this is the only source I can dig up: http://midwestwinepress.com/2014/11/16/new-grape-coming-university-minnesota/ anybody heard anything else on this?

Logwerx, and Greg, do you have any problems ripening the frontenac grapes? Most of the sources I've read describe them as mid-late season harvest. Which would seem like a tricky situation in our areas with potential frost by late September and wanting to see the vines harden off during that time...

Adalmiina sounds interesting. I like the early ripening characteristic. Thinking the earlier they ripen and can be harvested the sooner they can build up hardiness. Logwerx,what variety(ies) are you growing in Highwood? Any tips for growing in this area? Thanks for the invite to compare notes. I...

Hi all, been reading this forum for a while but this is my first post. Love all information shared here. I started a few grapes grapes last year on my property near Great Falls, Montana and am looking at planting a few more this spring. Right now I have 3 Frontenac Gris, 2 La Crescent and a...