Chateau Michaelena Vineyard

[Runningwolf]

Mike, how much time did you spend on photo shop with those pictures? I didn't see a single weed in any of them.

They look awesome. What made me think of it is I just came back from a long ride through the PA/NY wine country and all of the rows are either tilled or just high weed sprayed with round up. I went up to Walkers and they're pressing cherries now.

 

[ibglowin]

It's June, hot and dry in these parts with no real rain since March or April. Wait until July and the monsoons come, then with the relief from the heat the weeds will spring up like, well weeds!

 

[ibglowin]

Thought I would post some updated pics of the vines so you could see how they have faired to date. Most look good to very good. A few seem to be struggling and not producing any new growth in spite of being hit with a shot of fertilizer every 3 weeks.

One vine has some type of eggs on the underside. Not sure what those are. The same vine has a few bad looking leaves.

We have been in Monsoon hell the last month now. Humidities are way up and we get rain about every other day on average. We should start to dry out towards the end of the month leaving all of September with warm days and cool nights/mornings.

Enjoy!

 

[AlFulchino]

what kind of eggs are those..they dont look like lady bug eggs..but there are so many varieties

vines look great..what does your wife say now that you admit the first thing you do is look at your vines each day?

keep that tie loose...especially next year when you are trying to keep what you train...tightness ...even remote tightness triggers the vine to grow elsewhere

love the grasses and perennials!

 

[ibglowin]

Hehehehe "wine garden" for sure!

I have no idea what kind of eggs those are, I'll keep an eye on them and see what they turn out to be I guess.

Until I wake up in the wine garden I still look at my wife first in the AM Al!

I have not used any spray of any kind so we are still (except for the Miracle Grow) sorta organic.....

My Dahlia's are finally coming on strong with all the rain and humidity. They likey the rain!

 

[Runningwolf]

Mike, I love the garden pictures. Plants look great! We also do a lot of grasses in our gardens along with a huge variety of day lilies, hostas and heath and heathers.

 

[Waldo]

Plants are looking great

 

[grapeman]

The garden all looks great. The vines look happy and healthy.


I think I would remove the leaf. Those kinds of eggs are almost certainly a chewing beetle or some sort. The problem with monitoring is that they will all hatch and scurry away before you see them and then they will be all over chewing the garden up.

 

[ibglowin]

Thanks for the input and encouragement guys!

I think I will "remote" them today into the arroyo about 100yds away. Can't do much damage there.

 

[ibglowin]

Kept the vines watered this Fall while we were having a nice warm dry spell. We have had 2 good snows in December with the last one about 7" on Thursday.

Today we have the coldest weather of the year and a real cold snap with this mornings low temp of -7 degrees. Its "warmed up to -3 ATM. The vines have a good layer of leaves at the base and about 5" of compacted snow.

We will test the cold hardiness for sure!

 

[AlFulchino]

and what are your vines rated for as far as low temps?

 

[ibglowin]

Marquette is rated to Zone 3, (-30)
Corot Noir is rated to Zone 4, (-20)
Noiret is Zone 4 (-20)

I am in Zone 5A

I should be good to go by the charts.

 

[Randoneur]

keep that tie loose...especially next year when you are trying to keep what you train...tightness ...even remote tightness triggers the vine to grow elsewhere

Mike, you will find you can use that to your advantage later. I've had vines that are unbalanced, all growth to one side. You can force growth to the other side to balance the vine on the trellis by nicking the cambrium or choking the cordon slightly with trellis tape.


I'm sure Father Al and Appelman arethe experts on this, ask them for advice if you have an unbalanced vine.

 

[ibglowin]

Good to know for next Spring which seems a loooooong way from now as I look out the window at my snow covered vines..........

 

[ibglowin]

We have had much warmer than normal weather the last week or so. We set records a few days. Unfortunately the wind has come to spoil the party.....

Its ~ 66 degrees outside ATM but the wind is howling like a freight train. We have a front moving through and we will cool down quite a bit over the next few days, closer to normal. Spring is our WORST season hands down.

Looks like some of the vines are showing some signs of life! Some slight swelling and perhaps a hint of sap starting to flow.

 

[grapeman]

They will be off and growing before you know it!


I actually got out for a while this AM to prune before opening hours for the Tasting Room. I racked wine between customers.

 

[ibglowin]

Man no rest for you my friend!

 

[OilnH2O]

You're still pretty lucky, Mike. Others comtemplate... "Red? Or, white?" YOU get to contemplate "Green? Or, Red? And what goes best with that? Red? Or white???"

 

[ibglowin]

Ha! I am a RED Chili addict hands down. I do love a Green Chili Cheeseburger however!

 

[mpt1123]

Hello:
I'm a little confused. I planted my first vines a week ago and everything I read says not to fertilize in the first year. Your vines look great and you're using Miracle Gro.
Mike