Fulchino Vineyard

[NorthernWinos]

That's just too much rain.....

Seems the I-states in the mid-west got too much this spring...now it's your turn in the barrel.

We got 1.28" last night....Will help our poor crops fill out....
South of us they got up to 7 inches in 10-12 hours.....I envied their rain yesterday as the radar showed the storm just sitting in one spot.....

Yes....Mother Nature has the last word.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Al - I haven't seen any real signs of fungal disease in the vineyard this summer either...... and I have not sprayed much at all!
I commented to my wife this evening that I haven't seen the mildews on much of anything in the gardens yet. Usually the squash is taking it on the chin by now and the tomatoes also, but they aren't. I think it has to do with the crazy weather conditions we've had to endure, but I don't know just what it would be. She said it was probably the cool conditions.

 

[AlFulchino]

Bilbo..i had attributed it to one of two things...the rain was just washing the bad guys right to the soil and swamping them...OR manybe in combination w my heavy % of SO in my mix when i did use manzoceb early in the season and later elite and pristine (2x)..i am not sure which it is,,i just see NO pm or dm at all and very little berry damage....but i know the pm is around because i see it on some of our veggies and also in the woods nearby


NW...glad u got some rain...i have sort of resigned myself to being in a situation i cannot control...i feel a bit like they must have felt in the dustbowl days....i tried resenting it...that didnt work

 

[grapeman]

Al, these rains are certainly tough to endure. We WILL get through it! A few vines may languish, but they should eventually come back when the rain quits. It may be next year though.


I can tell you that after my visit to Cornell at Geneva the last two days, there are EXTREME measure to introduce new highly resistant varieties from Cornell. I had the most eye opening and pleasant stay there. More than I could have ever dreamed or expected. I am going to start a post in General Chit Chat a describe just a bit of it.

 

[AlFulchino]

looking FORWARD to the disease resistant varieties.....actually i am VERY suprised i did not have a catastrophe disease wise this last month


todays update...no rain...all sun and in the eighties..so i took the boots and socks of and waded////yes waded out to a deep area *just below my knees*in a row and ran a pipe///electricity and a pump and pumped all day....i dug a small trench from about10 - 12rows and ran the water down to something manageable..i may resume the same area tomorrow..or if the weather looks goodand dry i may move to another 14 row area and repeat what i did today...the rows very close to the greenhouse have some La Cross vines and are pretty light green...one thing i did to channel water was run the tractor up and down each row and any rows that have a lot of water were just mushy enough that the tire tracks left deep rust for the water to pool up in and this means the vine rows themselves and often much of the middle of the tractor row is exposed to air and not water this saving the trunks


if i can get a few more seriously warn sunny and dry days i will be able to get the vines nack to resuming lignification and other things



Edited by: Al Fulchino

 

[NorthernWinos]

I guess you've had a lot of rain...That's sounds devastating to have that much water sitting around in your vines...

Rain that doesn't stop must make you feel as vulnerable as when we sit here watching it rain all around us.

We might get showers again....but we usually miss out.....Must be living on a ridge...the clouds divide and leave.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Could you install a French Drain through that low area and keep it drained????

Or dig a tile pipe down there???

Or...is being too wet not usually an issue???

 

[AlFulchino]

i am going to raise the low area up....i found out from a farmer who has been around awhile that a previous owner removed topsoil from the place some 20-30 years ago....so the rain itself plus the runof that i received from other places (not my own) led to this....so over time I am going to restore the terrain little by little and slope it


the farmer also told me that in 50 plus years of farming he had never seen what we endured...aparently he has lost a lot of topsoil during this stretch and things like pumpkins were trying to set their fruit in standing water


its just an overall mess...i will just have to do the best i can and hope that the more yellow vines pull thru


Usually i can handle some pretty heavy storms....just one simple normal weather week of some sun clears things up

 

[AlFulchino]

i am hoping someone can assist me here...I have one out of 100 vines that has an issue that I have not diagnosed....it is a second year vine...it showed reasonable growth up until about a month ago...then i noticed the symptoms you see in the pictures attached......the growing tips seem ok...so my first thought was maybe i got too much SO on it or the temp was a bit too high for the SO...but it seems odd that it would be just the one vine...every one around it is just fine.....here are the pics...any hep is appreciated - al

 

[AlFulchino]

ugh..i will try again...loaded the pics twice and nothing to show for it

 

[AlFulchino]

 

[AlFulchino]

 

[grapeman]

It is hard to see from the pictures just what is going on. My guess is that the roots had been weakened somehow and then you got all the rains. It could be just too much for the poor vine. I woiuld mark it somehow and monitor next year. If it doesn't staighten out, replace it.

 

[AlFulchino]

thanks...i am leaning against the rain issue beacuse these vines sit in a good area...and the issue started about a month ago...too ealry for the rain to be an issue..i feel confident that water can be ruled out...esp since to the right..to the left..in front and in back the vines are about as good as they can be....the second picture is good when it is larger but i had to shrink the picture too much to get it to fit on here.....it seems odd that the new growth would seem the way it should






****
side note...i have been approached by a town and a landowner to inquire about my installing vineyards for them...pretty cool if it actually takes place

 

[grapeman]

Yeah that is cool Al. Hope they come through for you. Would you just plant and install the trellising or would they expect you to do ALL the work?


That vine may just be a bad one. Once in a while you just get a sickly one for no apparent reason. One thing you can check is to make sure no name tag was attached to the vine in the bundle. I had two almost die this year because the name tags had gotten buried up with soil, so I didn't see them and assumed they were gone. The vines grew, the tags didn't and it almost killed the vines. When I saw them wilting I dug down along the stem and there were the tags, streched tightly around the vines.


Have you checked any grape berries yet for brix. I got a surprise today. Frontenac is 16 brix, St. Pepin is a solid 16 brix and Canadice Seedless was almost 17 brix. I guess I will need to start monitoring them for progress!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Those name tags are deadly...I have seen fruit trees where people leave the tags on and they have grown into the trees....don't know how the trees have faired.

Out little town has lined the newly widened and tarred street with ornamental red leaved crabapple trees and all the tags are around the little trunks...When we go to town I make a point of going and loosening up a few tags...I should call around and see who's in charge and mention that the tags could do harm.

When spraying with a baking powder solution yesterday I saw a few grapes have some colored berries on some clusters....After having the pink berry/mold syndrome I am not sure if it is veraison or disease. I notice the green clusters have a blue/green hue to the color, like a blue glow....almost like a blue blurry halo...Installing the nets tomorrow so will check out all the loaded vines.

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[AlFulchino]

Hi Rich...on one...i have a chance to use the land myself long term...it is supposed to be available in about a year....i would be able to to as i see fit on a high profile site....on the second piece of land i would likely be taken in as an overseer and or operator for the landowner
****


Good idea on the tag..i will check that tomorrow!......
****


J
******


Hi Northern......what do you use the baking powder solution for? and what is the mixture? Any temp limitations? How often etc? Thanks!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Hi Northern......what do you use the baking powder solution for? and what is the mixture? Any temp limitations? How often etc? Thanks!

Appleman suggested baking soda for powdery mildew...I have also read about using it elsewhere but kind of forgot about it.

I have been spraying every week or 10 days and the disease seems to be n control...this was the 3rd time spraying...I did mix a fungicide with it the first time...but now with harvest in the future...or...perhaps in the future, if God's willing and we have a late fall.

I don't know about temperature limitations...Our temps have been running in the 80*F's by day and 50*s at night...lots of temp changes...Now we are in the low 90*s and 60*s. it had been dry but with heavy dew, had 1.31" of rain 8 days ago...might rain this Friday.

As for my mixing formula...like my cooking...A little is good...more might be better.

I started with a few tablespoons per gallon [as suggested]....Used a little more this time as I had another chemical on the spoon so just opened the box and dumped some in and shook it up real good....

Will get a good look at the grapes tomorrow, might clip off some of the diseased clusters or at least parts of them, then put up the nets...Hope I bought enough clothes pins to pin them up.

More later.
Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[AlFulchino]

ok thanks...have you ever used stylet oil?..if so how does it compare w the baking soda?

I have to spray later this week...probably using elite and jms s/o..i have a very dry stretch coming and that is glad to see because some of the vines need air to the roots real bad...but overall most have made it through the rain...hopefully now i can just get some good lignification before the season ends....i will be happier w that than getting *any* grapes this year....

 

[AlFulchino]

took my first readings on berries that are almost there taste wise anyways


without the temp adjustment Marquette came in at 17...with the adjustment it was 17.78....seeds are mid brown w the tips just starting to lose their green.....i also tested a white...Lacrosse and a vine under stress from too much water..it came in at 15.7...i forgot to test the Millot because it is also tasting pretty darn good.....


all in all not bad......i didnt test the rest because i know where they stand...not ready


is anyone still fertilizing???? is anyone planning to do a post harvest fertilization?