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  1. V

    Second attempt at wine from grapes

    I know it's a chunk of change, but in order to take the guess work out of free S02 it would be a good idea to invest in a Vinmetrica SC-300. I dropped $500 on one many years ago and I'm able to get exact readings on my sulphites which allows me to then make precise additions rather than...
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    Leaf hopper control advice

    That is pretty much my experience as well, they're just so annoying when I remove the nets and do other maintenance this time of year it seemed like a good idea to do something about them, but it sounds like the consensus here is I should just let em live. I suppose that's the right path to...
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    Leaf hopper control advice

    Thanks for this, hopefully I can carve out some time tomorrow to watch it.
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    Leaf hopper control advice

    It does appear they're really more of a nuisance pest than a destructive one, so I suppose I could continue to live and let live. Fortunately, no Japanese beetles here "yet", just Western Grape Leaf Skeletonizers and Horned worms for the most part, although I've maintained organic control with...
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    Leaf hopper control advice

    Hey all. Every year my vines start out nice and pristine all the way up to about August when veraison is well under way. Then the leaf hoppers descend upon it, tiny little bugs that jump all over my face when I get close to work on the vines and turn healthy clean leaves into speckled damaged...
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    Grape ripening time running out?

    It's a very conflicting feeling ripping off all those clusters early in the season, questioning "do I really need to do this? what if I leave them all, maybe they'll ripen and I'll get a huge crop?" One approach I've seen online and practiced is to drop clusters that are still solid green a...
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    Grape ripening time running out?

    Yeah that's looking pretty close in appearance. The varietal I'm having issues with is zinfandel, my merlot is totally fine. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into Eutypa.
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    Grape ripening time running out?

    Ha! Yeah sorry, it wasn't my intention to hijack your thread, I was trying to point out that your leaves look similar to mine so I was suggesting that "if" this is red blotch in both cases it may explain why my zin didn't ripen and neither are your grapes. It's possible in your case it's a...
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    Grape ripening time running out?

    Yup, I'm not totally sure if its red blotch either but it's pretty clear these particular vines will never get better and are just taking up space / time / nutrients at this point so they gotta go. I bought all 6 from Armstrong nursery in Temecula the same season, so its likely that they are...
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    Grape ripening time running out?

    Here in Murrieta, CA I cut my losses a few weeks ago after the 3rd consecutive week it dumped rain on my vines since the day tropical storm hillary dropped 2.5 inches in 24 hours. My Merlot came in at 24 brix and Cab at 22, but my Zinfandel was covered in scattered green berries. Rather than...
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    Eating grapes from birds, help me, how can i stop definitely?!

    Oh man, It'll be interesting to see how much bird pressure you'll get when the grapes start smelling sweet, I'm guessing you must be dropping all your clusters at this point? I consider myself lucky that I haven't really had a wasp problem yet, I saw a couple eating some of the ppat harvest...
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    Eating grapes from birds, help me, how can i stop definitely?!

    Possibly, there's only so many grapes a flock of local birds can eat I suppose. They'd certainly decimate my 30 vines... I actually just visited Hawk Watch winery today in Warner springs and they had the same side netting on their vines in that Plantra link I posted. They are much smaller...
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    Eating grapes from birds, help me, how can i stop definitely?!

    Installing and removing nets is the bane of my existence, but it has been the only way to keep this massive gang of sparrows from devouring my small backyard vineyard every summer. I've tried these side nets, which work well if you seal the top and bottom every 12 or so inches, but it takes...
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    Primary Fermentation

    Depends on the varietal and watering practices, but in most cases I've seen my merlot clusters weigh about 6 oz a piece on average, whereas my zin clusters weigh about 16 oz on average, so if you know the average weight of your clusters you can count them and get a decent rough estimate. I...
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    Zinfandel late season leaf discoloration

    Thanks for the reply. That actually makes the most sense given that it's typically only on the top of the leaves.
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