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This may be better in the commercial vineyard section, but most of my postings are here so..... Any recommendations on a size/type of tractor that would be best for a 10-12 acre vineyard. It is still VERY early, but I want to propose an idea and some numbers to my cousin with property. I...

So I hope I did not screw myself by not yet hilling up/covering my graft unions. The vines were planted this past April and after having our first baby in August I just have not had the time to be at the vineyard site (3 miles away on my grandmother's property). Anyhow it has been in the 30's...

I purchased a crusher/destemmer and bladder press last week and 110 lb each of Lodi Zin and Cab Franc. I have only done kits thus far and hoping I am doing things correctly. Crushed and stemmed both into large wide vats. Measured 25 and 22 brix. Added pectic enzyme, k meta and 1/4 oak powder...

So I know this type of thread probably comes up quite often, but I am thinking of getting a bladder press this weekend. I know they are not cheap at $1,080 but I am really intrigued by the speed of use, efficiency, and would seem easier to clean. I currently have only been doing kits for 3...

I have some friends with wild native grapes in their property but only 12 brix as of last week. Also a neighbor that has about 20 clusters that he is hoping I can make into a gallon? Also only about 15 brix. What should I be shooting for? I was assuming at least 20. Also target TA...

Here are some update pics and I am not liking the looks of things. Some leaves are brown to black around the edges, some look completely dry and curled. Some of the trunk itself even appears drier and less green. I thought I had read that using Roundup was ok as long as I had grow tubes and...

I am antsy and ready to bottle my blueberry wine (after aging a year), but have not added sorbate or backsweetened yet. I am wondering if I should add K meta to reach my target so2 before or after I back sweeten and should I go by the pH value after sweetening?

I started a 1 gallon experimental batch of mango wine. I am using a new Johnson Temp control with a deep freezer to keep fermentation at about 70°. I pitched the yeast about 12 hours ago but no activity, I checked the temp of the must and it is 68°. Did I screw up? Should I have started the...

I am starting my second batch of Blueberry Bliss. It is a 3 gallon batch and the recipe calls for 1.5 tsp per gallon, or 4.5 tsp total, but I ran out at 2 tsp. It has been 24 hours. Is it ok to pitch my yeast today? The LHBS will not have acid blend in until Wed. Can I just add it later?

Out of my 120 vines (10 different varietals), I have noticed 3-5 plants with some leaf damage from Japanese beetles. Should I start spraying Sevin or wait, and does it need to be reapplied after every rain? Seems like the grow tubes may get on the way and I hate to remove and replace each...

I have all the hardware I stalked on 6 of my 10 rows (the VSP rows) but planning on doing the 4 top wire cordon rows tomorrow. I was going by the picture below as a guideline and will probably set the top wire at 72" (same height as top pair on VSP rows) but what is the ideal height for the...

My neighbor has one single domestic vine for table grapes and noticed all the red bulbous swollen looking things on the ends if some of the leaves. Any ideas? And this has me wondering if I need to be spraying any kind of fungicide/disease co trip spray for my 120 vines this year or just let em be?

So I have my gripples and tool coming in mid-week and 6 out of my 10 rows will be VSP trained (the other 4 TWC), but I am a little concerned with if my three pairs of catch wires should be moveable on chains like half the local vineyards I've seen doing but still a little question about this...

So all 120 vines are in the ground as of last week and the buds are already starting to swell and pop. I'll have to update the Green Mist thread. Anyhow, I decided to do another soil test to see where my liming and soil amendments got me. All soil amendments were done in Oct, so it's only...

So I used to always use potassium metabisulphite for all my sanitizing and bottle sanitizing but the smell can be overwhelming and I found it was slightly raising my SO2 levels more than I preferred. I bought a jar of one step which I seem to like better already, but I am curious if there are...

I finally got to racking about 4 batches this weekend, but still haven't touched my blueberry which has been sitting for nearly 10 months (ouch). Smells fine and tastes ok, in fact deciding to keep 3 gallons dry and only backsweeten 1 gallon. Anyhow, what should be target SO2 be for this. It...

So, with planting only a few weeks away I really want to get a better understanding of what types of training and pruning should be used for each varietal that I am planting. I know they will only reach a bottom wire probably the end of the first year, but I still want to have a diagram set...

So my 120 vines are getting shipping on April 15. I live in CT and hoping the end of April will be a good time to plant. Anyhow. I REALLY want to get my trellising and deer fencing up asap. I know it can wait until later in the year, but expecting our first baby in August, so I want as much...

I started my blueberry bliss in August and I racked to secondary but never racked again or sulfited since then, due only to my own laziness. Is it most likely bad? I will check free SO2 tomorrow with my Vinmetrica.

So, I have a separate thread tracking the progress of my 120 vine plot that will be getting planted next month. I wanted to get some opinions on how time intensive the vineyard will be AFTER the initial trellising/planing/fencing? I spent probably 15-20 hours per week doing just the site...