And so I begin

[AmityFlatts]

I am not much of a wine person, but since I live in wine country, have a couple acres doing nothing, I am going to dabble in the wine grape growing as a hobby.

I dont know much of anything about growing grapes, but I do know when I have asked 5 grape growers how to do it, I have gotten 7 different opinions.

I am embarking on a journey I dont know much about, but I do have a few friends with vineyards in the area I can hopefully ask for advise as I go forward. An online forum such as this will also be my sounding board on how to get thru over and around the hurdles I am sure to encounter.

I started a few months ago talking to a vineyard management consultant. They made this sound like a formible task, and quite expensive. I have since talked to a couple vineyards, and I get enerything from the hoity toity my grapes are the best because..... to there is nothing to this, stick them in the ground they will grow.

I have decided to own root my plants, lets hope that decesion doesnt come back and bite me in a few years. I have collected about 250 pinot noir 115 cuttings from a 120 acre vineyard a couple miles away at the same elevation here in the Willamette valley. I also got about 150 pinot gris 146 cuttings from them. I was told to put them in a plastic bag upside down buried in wet sawdust for a couple months. So that is where I am currently.

I hope to get out and till up an area in the next month or so to plant the cuttings. I was told to put the cuttings in the ground on roughly 4 inch centers for the first year. This is easiest to water them and take care of them in the first year I was told. The second year I was told to dig them up and plant them in the vineyard on my desired spacing. I am thinking 8 feet between rows and 4 to 6 feet +/- between plants. Then build my supporting system after the plants are in place, as I dont want to tie a bunch of money up in fence and wire before I need them I was told.

If anybody has any suggestions or opinions of problems I will encounter before I get there I am all ears. I plan to do all the work myself, so I wont be encountering big labor cost doing work on the vineyard. Once the post are in the ground wire strung to support the grapes, the amount of work wont be to demanding for a few hundred plants, .....or least I keep telling my wife

 

[BobF]

Sounds like you're in for a heck of a ride. I can't help with grape growing, but congrats on getting started - enjoy the journey!

 

[pg55]

I am on a learning curve. I have 5 vines that I just planted so any advice I give won't be worth much. I see my mistakes in my first plantings.(Ithink I planted them too deep) If any survive and I learn from this I plan on having a very small vinyard 30 to 50 vines. I still have this idea of doing a fence line out front in grape vines which will add another 50 vines. This may be more than I can handle since I believe I will be faced with a lot of spraying.
My only advise is to take it slow and learn from your mistakes. Start small but I know it is hard since it takes 2 to 3 years to see the grapes of your labor. Good luck.

 

[mjrisenhoover]

Congratulations on your adventure, I have only 9 first year vines so I am not much help yet but I suggest the book From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox, some pretty good info in there and I can't wait to see photos of your vineyard!

 

[mikejapan]

Vines to Wines is a great book for getting started but if you have friends with vineyards there is nothing like hands on experience with the types of vines you want to grow.

 

[grapeman]

You are looking at growing vinifera grapes which I have little experience in so I can't advise much except to say a few hundred vines will be a lot of work- much more than you think. You say once the posts are in and the wires strung it will be a piece of cake.. WAKE UP FROM THE DREAM. That is the easy part! Once in and growing you need to train the vines to whatever training systems you choose. That requires bending and tucking and tying the vines almost constantly. Then as the vines age, you need to be sure (and you should start from the beginning) to use a good spray program to control insects and diseases. There are weeds to contend with and you will need to hoe and pull them, especially if you don't wat to use herbicides. Once the vines begin to bear, increase the spraying and canopy management where you open the vines up to air movement to decrease disease. And the list goes on.......................Expect 20 to 40 hours per week for those vines by year two.

 

[bigdrums2]

What wine contra do you live in?

 

[oldwhiskers]

Definitely sounds like an adventure, good luck.

 

[AmityFlatts]

Thanks for the comments, here is a pic of the place.

The big fields behind me and to the sides are all planted in grass seed now and not mine. The pic is from a few years ago. What looks like a big yard to the right of the house is what I plan to turn into a vineyard. The driveway runs North South and the pic is looking south.

My place is just outside of the Amity Eola Hills American Viticulture Area. I need to be about 35 higher in elevation and about 300 yards to the North, to be in the designated area Not that I care about the club I can never join.

http://http://eolaamityhills.com/content/index.php

It seems almost everybody grows Pinot Noir in the area. It is definately the premium grape in the area for the wineries, and demands the best prices.

10 miles away is the Dundee Hills winery/vineyard area

http://www.dundeehills.org/

I am concerned with planting the grapes in the ground on 4" centers as I was instructed by the vineyard that gave me the cuttings. Will I have problems getting the roots apart when I dig them up to plant them in the field? Do they need more spacing?

 

[flyfishun]

I have to agree with grapeman. I have about a quarter acre in Gig Harbor WA. My vineyard is a handful for me. It is important to get a spray program in place as well as posts and wire. Oregon Vineyard Supply is a great resource for you to look into. Just remember to have fun and enjoy the wine.

 

[AmityFlatts]

I was at Oregon Vineyard Supply yesterday. Picked up their Trellis Supply book, and a registration form for the Willamette Valley Winegrape Growers Meeting on March 9th in McMinnville. Gotta be something for me to learn there.

 

[AmityFlatts]

I layed out the ends of 6 rows of grapes today, the rows are staked at 9 feet apart, and 125 feet between row ends. With a 5 foot spacing between plants I should get about 150 plants in this area.

a couple questions.

The prevailing winds come from the building in the distance, would I gain much orienting the rows that direction to cut down on mold hopefully with better air flow down the rows? It would not line up with my property borders very well.

The arborvitae around the edge of my field, will they cause me issues, should I just plant to cut them down?

Will I have issues if I plant two species of grapes close to each other??

I checked my upside down cuttings in the damp sawdust as I was told to store them. They look and feel wet, I didnt find any comments on this forum about storing them that way???? I am just doing what the vineyard told me to do where I got the cuttings. They told me that is what they do when they take cuttings to plant new fields. I hope they dont start getting moldy in the plastic bags. Any suggestions or comments on that??

 

[flyfishun]

Planting more than one variety will not hurt at all. Just make sure you know where they are. I mark my posts with a number just to keep track and to help come harvest time when you have folks helping you. As for rooting I have always used a rooting hormone and put them in dirt in a plastic bag. With the number of vines your starting though I would go with what the winery suggested. If it works for them it should work for you. The row direction looks good and with a good spray program you shouldn't have to much trouble.

 

[ibglowin]

I believe its important to orient the rows N-S if possible for maximum sunlight on the vines E-W. North-South is generally preferable in North America. It may be different elsewhere, though. NS orientation allows the canopy to capture as much sunlight as possible for photosynthesis in both the morning and afternoon and also allows for the sun exposure necessary to dry out the clusters and help avoid mildew issues. If you plant EW, your vines will get heavy sun exposure on the south side during the growing season, possibly causing sunburn on your fruit, while the north side will get almost no sunlight and may not dry out adequately after periods of heavy dew/rain. Also, leaves on the north side will not get much sunlight in order to photosynthesize, and it is this photosynthesis which causes sugar production in your grapes.

You may want to let the cuttings get some air so they don't mold.

 

[blumentopferde]

I am also just a beginner so beware!

I layed out the ends of 6 rows of grapes today, the rows are staked at 9 feet apart, and 125 feet between row ends. With a 5 foot spacing between plants I should get about 150 plants in this area.

I would consider a shorter spacing between the plants. In Europe it has become quite popular to plant vines in very narrow distances, sometimes as low as two feet. This is supposed to enhance the quality of the wine as more "cables" down to the soil should improve the nutrient supply. I think 5 feet distance should be totally fine as long as you have two canes or cordon-arms but if you plan to have one-armed systems you should definitely reduce the distance.

The prevailing winds come from the building in the distance, would I gain much orienting the rows that direction to cut down on mold hopefully with better air flow down the rows? It would not line up with my property borders very well.

I've heard that orienting the rows parallel to the wind direction should reduce the risk of mold. A north-south orientation of wines should provide the best insolation.
I've been talking to an expert about this and he told me that he would rather orient the wines towards the east than towards the west, as the grapes should dry as early as possible during the day, as this would reduce fungal infections (He was talking about sloped terrain, but also if it comes to flat terrain, a slight SW/NE orientation should be better than the other way round). He also told me that he would always align the rows with one border of the property for practical reasons and that he would rather have the rows perpendicular to the street than parallel, also for practical reasons.

The arborvitae around the edge of my field, will they cause me issues, should I just plant to cut them down?

They will cast shadow on your grapes. The height of the trees will be roughly the distance in which you will experience less insolation. The closer you come to the trees, the less insolation you will have. I have the same issue on my wineyard. I left the trees as I didn't want to sacrifice beautiful and healthy trees for grapes. After all I do not only want a wineyard, I also want a pleasurable environment around my house. I will simply plant less demanding, early ripening varieties close to the trees and leave the demanding varieties (such as Pinot Noir) to the sunny places.

Btw: It's great to see somebody who's also planting Pinot Noir! I will also start with this variety this year!

EDIT: Looking at your pictures, I think that aligning the rows in North-South-Direction, parallel to the western border of your property should be totally fine. Apart from that: That's one beautiful property that you have!

 

[AmityFlatts]

Still trying to put in a vineyard on the cheap. I could buy pots to plant the cuttings in, but I am going to put them in the ground and then dig them back up for transplant to their final resting location, just sweat equity invested that way. I have a lead on some post from a berry farmer, they tore out their berries and stacked the post. Maybe I can cut a deal on them.

Yesterday I broke ground on my "vineyard nursery", soil was a little wet yet and didnt want to till the best. But getting it broke up now, it will till up better later before I plant.

I dont see any callusing on my cutting, but it has not been the warmest weather lately. Not sure I would know what callusing looked like if I saw it

 

[Rocky]

Amity, I hope those are shadow on your house of the plants along the side. If so, you have what appears to be a southern exposure for the vineyard. See what the experienced guys say but I believe it is best for you to plant the rows perpendicular to your house.

 

[saddlebronze]

Go for it, its like the Marine Corps, the toughest job you'll ever love! You are in the right part of the world to really enjoy it. Its a lot of work, but anything in life that is worth it is a lot of work. At least you get to drink the rewards!

 

[GEM]

This rootstock is pretty standard and should work with most grape varieties. Also, a No. so. Exposure of rows is usually best so vines get sun on both sides of vine during the day. Best of luck. Gary

 

[AmityFlatts]

I couldnt take it any longer, my grape consultant told me a few weeks ago to wait until the 2nd week of April to put them in the ground. Today is the 3rd, it seemed close enough The grass is growing like there is no tomorrow, it seemed like time to set the vines free.

I have a few over 300 pinot noir on the right and a little over 200 pinot gris on the left in the pic. Now I hope I put them in the ground right side up