Maine vineyard

[bilbo-in-maine]

I was able to get the spraying done at the end of the day I bought the fungicide. Man, I didn't know just how bad a disease downy mildew is. The two affected varieties now have totally blasted looking leaves that look like some corrosive liquid was sprayed on them, and it wasn't the fungicide. That did a great job of knocking the fungus right out. The St. Pepin has so little green leaf material left that I'll be surprised if it can ripen clusters - Brix is at 12 - and I'm concerned that the vines themselves may be weakened going into winter. St. Croix is in much better shape with a lot of good leaf area left but Brix on it is only one point better. I've never seen downy here in four years and was bowled over by it. Powdery is tame in comparison.
It has been interesting to see which varieties are susceptible and which are resistant. The Saints Pepin and Croix are susceptible while Marquette, Foch, Landot Noir, Frontenac and Frontenac Gris are resistant and didn't exhibit the slightest symptom. Toward the end of the season the latter except for Marquette DO need to be sprayed for PM around here but that's been it historically. The lesson has been to anticipate and act prior to the expected arrival of a hurricane in addition to the regular maintenance work.
The raccoon that took several clusters of the Marquette before I lured him to the Have-a-Heart trap is an entirely different matter. Luckily I don't have the bird problem that Rich seems to have, but each year I trap a raccoon or two and suffer the yellow jackets and other wasps that can ruin quite a bit of fruit unless I don't mind using Sevin which I have resisted doing since we also keep bees. In a few weeks the work load in the vineyard will have crested and I can ease into autumn as the vines go dormant, but at the moment efforts are more concentrated as I try to get a decent harvest.

 

[grapeman]

Wow that is really low brix Bill! My St Pepins are at a solid 18 brix and the St Croix is about the same or a bit higher. I may need to pick some of the young St Pepin as they are starting to split with all the rains we had.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

And what a damp, rainy end of growing season it has been! Disease pressures have been non-stop since the end of August and hurricane Irene. I just completed harvesting this weekend, hand sorting good from bad. Even though everything needed more hang time, berry rot and splitting were getting out of hand. Rich, neither the St. Croix or St. Pepin got past Brix 14. These were the two varieties blasted by downy mildew and the vines stopped working. Many canes remain green, not browning up nicely in preparation for dormancy.

Thoughts at the end of the season:
1. The spray schedule is important, even if the vines look great and there is absolutely no trace of disease earlier in the growing season. Protect the berries right from the get go, it is impossible to guess what weather conditions will be at end of season that will exacerbate disease that sets in at berry set.
2. Spraying 60 vines by hand with a 3 gallon tank sprayer is insane. The labor and time it takes to do the whole vineyard makes one shy away from the chore.
3. It may make sense to cut out several varieties and plant some of the newly developed varieties, something with more disease resistance that offer very good characteristics for wine making.

Questions for forum members:
1. Can anyone recommend a good small power spray set-up? I've seen a product that mounts to an ATV with small gas engine blower on the rear and chemical tank mounted in front. An ATV is the only thing that will fit between my rows so it is attractive, but I have no idea how well it does the job. http://www.mistsprayers.com/sprayers/atv_sprayer.php
2. Any recommendations for alternate new varieties to replace those that are proving disappointing? Perhaps Petite Pearl? Maybe just add more Marquette to the 16 vines now planted? If U. Minnesota and Cornell have something new and exciting available I'd like to hear of them.

Best of luck to others now harvesting, I hope the season has been a good one.

 

[OilnH2O]

I really feel for you, Bill, with all the rain. I know people out here who use small 4-wheelers with spray rigs but it is for spraying down for weed control. But spraying out and up is different. I'll keep my eye out but at least I know there are 4-wheeler spray rigs -- just the distribution bars won't work for our purposes.

 

[grapeman]

I can help more in the off season, but for now I will say you can get an inexpensive powered spot sprayer that will handle seveal nozzles. Mount that on the ATV and you have an acceptable spray rig.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Rich, I imagine you are busier than a one armed paper hanger at the moment. Even with my tiny operation I just don't have the time to attend to all that should be done on a number of different fronts. You must feel overwhelmed. This weather doesn't help either. No problem waiting to see what you have in mind, also if you want to chime in regarding new varieties.

Hi Dave, yes, I've seen what you describe. I don't have an ATV actually. I know there are powered backpack spray rigs but what I've seen look like they don't generate a fine spray or mist, just a stream. I'll have to keep digging, plenty of time this winter. Today's goal is to get the Foch off gross lees and start MLF. Got Marquette started last night. I pressed Foch at Brix 16-17 both last year and this rather than let it ferment down to dry in order to get it off the skins early, and taste nibbles are good.