Preparing Vines for Winter

[BobR]

Anyone out there know what I can do to protect my young vines over the winter? With the April freeze and the continuing summer drought, I have young plants that are at different stages of growth. Some of the plants that were killed off by the April freeze came back late from the roots and my new clippings that were planted in May have not seen any rain, so for the past four months, I have been hauling water. This has kept them alive, but there has been very little growth this summer. If we have even a normal, cold winter, I'm afraid that these struggling plants would not make it. Can I do anything this fall to protect the plants and roots before winter arrives?

Bob

 

[grapeman]

Vines are resilient. They will overwinter without a lot of help. Assuming next spring is a normal one, they should resume growing at a decent rate. You could help them out by doing some deep waterings this fall as they go dormant.

 

[BobR]

Thanks for the advise Rich! After fighting this drought all summer, I'd hate to lose them to the winters cold.

 

[QuarryHillVineyard]

I have heard of people putting a bale of straw on each side of the vine and tying them together to help shield the vines from the cold.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

BobR, where are you located?

 

[BobR]

I am in central Illinois and I have 40 Concord plants.

 

[OilnH2O]

Bob, the hay might work, but if it's hay with "quakgrass" or other stuff you don't want, you might be introducing a lot of unwanted seeds that could invade your vineyard. If you can get a normal dormancy period in the fall, along with the suggestions Rich (Grapeman) had above, if the vines are hardy for your area they may just make it through without any "help." After all, they've gotta learn to live in Illinois sometime! (Try Pinot in Montana if you want a challenge!)

On the other hand, in Central Illinois you can join all the other farmers for coffee who check the weather everyday and worry about your "crops!"

(Oh. And prayer helps!)

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I was told to pile dirt up around each vine about 8 inches high, use fine dirt (kinda like dust) and for about a foot around the vine. In the spring after danger of freeze, remove the dirt. Don't know if it will help or not, but that's what I heard. I have also heard that up North in the Dakota's, they sometimes take the vines off the wire and lay em on the ground and cover them with dirt, then dig em in the spring and put em back on the wire. I have the same problem, I planted in April and don't know what I'm going to do, probably just tell in November to "Root Hog or Die"
Semper Fi

 

[BobR]

OilnH2o,

Ha, no crops to worry about. Everything around me is dead. It's just a question of do you waste the time and money picking this stuff, or do you waste the time and money cutting it down and plowing it under.

Yeah, I hear ya Ernest T!

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

BobR, don't think you'll have a problem, just leave them be. If you were farther north where it hits -20 it might be an issue, but in our climate they will handle it. A little extra water would help but don't droun them.
@Olin, what crops in Ill. the drought got them all.

 

[BobR]

If I was sure that they got some what deep rooted over the summer, I would not worry about them at all, but I have been hauling water to them for the past 4 months and with no other moisture in the ground, I don't think that they rooted too darn well. If they were JUST Concord plants, I wouldn't even bother, I'd just buy new ones in the spring, but these have a closeness to me.
Back 50 plus years ago when I was growing up, my small home town was an old Italian immigrant coal mining town back in the early 1900's, so when I was growing up these "old timers" were already retired and getting up in years. Everyone of these families had a nice sized Concord vineyard and they all made homemade wine. During my high school days, I cut grass for all of these families and can remember all of the grapes.
Back in 2007 it dawned on me one day, almost all of these old vines were gone and these were vines that were planted anywhere from 1902 to 1918. In 2009, I got my first clippings from one of the old 1902 vines and the next year, I found a couple of more old vines. I have these Concords planted in rows by family name, but if I don't get these things to grow, I might not be able to get more clippings before new families cut them out, so as you can see, it's save everything that I can right now. The last remaining siblings are now in their 90's and one guy just died this year at age 96 and another is now in a nursing home and he plans on selling his house soon. I just have an attachment to these grapes and it's not like I bought them at the local garden center.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Wow, great vine history. In that case, get quite a bit of water on them without drounding them, then mulch them in, but get the mulch off in the spring so it does not rot out the base. You can spred it around.
Good luck.!

 

[BobR]

Vines are resilient. They will overwinter without a lot of help. Assuming next spring is a normal one, they should resume growing at a decent rate. You could help them out by doing some deep waterings this fall as they go dormant.

Thank You Isaac! After hauling water to water the new grape clippings for the past four months, Isaac brought us 2 1/2 inches of rain last night and it looks like we might be getting more before the day is over. Oh my Gosh, what a relief it is to get some moisture in the ground! Even though it is late in the season, I hope that all of this tropical rain will help the plants get rooted before winter. Maybe I can now get a little of that deep watering that Grapeman was talking about. You can't imagine how nice it is to be sitting here watching it rain. Ok, next week I'll be complaining about having to cut the grass.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Does the advice about deep watering in the fall apply to muscadines also or do they need any special attention. I planted them in April of this year and most of them are on the wire now. We didn't get any rain either, but I kept them watered pretty good. I would break the crust for about 18 to 24 inches around the vine with a hoe so the water would soak in and watered them with a hose until they "wooden" take any more water. What do you think I should do, water them or just tell em "Root Hog or Die"
Semper Fi
Bud

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

@Bob, Isaac did us all a lot of good! Now some snow this winter to get the water real deep and we'll be set.

 

[BobR]

I hear ya Brew.....just a darn, normal winter would be fine with me!

 

[JohnT]

Bobr,

Nice to see that the grapes have meaning!

It is the connection with the past that make all the difference. I wish you luck!

 

[BobR]

Thanks John!

Ciao,
Bob