New guy from Ohio

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Jal5

Supporting Members
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
507
Reaction score
283
Looking forward to learning a lot here. Recently started making wine again after a 30 yr. hiatus. Made a batch of Valroza from the Expert Winemaking Kit and it turned out pretty good. Just bottled it today! Will probably make a Riesling type for the next batch as my wife prefers that wine.

Happy New Year,
Joe
 
Welcome to the forum!

Were you doing kits 30 years ago? My guess is that today's kits are a vast improvement over what kits were 30 years ago.
 
thanks for the welcome.
I didn't use kits when I first started winemaking years ago since I had access to a lot of free fruit. Used some book recipes for grape wines, cherry wine, and I think the best ones were from pears.
Joe
 
Welcome from Georgia! lots of good information here and a lot of very helpful people, great place to be!
 
Hi Dennis. Lots of good folks here. I have learned a lot already. I live near Steubenville, where are you in Ohio?
Joe
 
Probably several places in Cleveland to get supplies and fresh juice buckets in season. I did a kit as first wine last fall then this spring launched into juice buckets. I think I like those better. Joe
 
That's a respectable set of vines you have. I plan on more next year. I have been conquering all the issues of growing grapes where I live. The biggest issue I face is Japanese Beetles. They are very persistent here. For instance, I sprayed liquid Sevin yesterday and the are already back today (in reduced numbers of course). I alternate stuff, but whatever I use doesn't remain effective for the period they say. I also set traps around the outskirts and treat the soil with milky spore. Last year I was filling trash cans with dead beetles just from the traps. And I have to change the bags daily during peak season. I'm hoping their numbers decrease over time due to my efforts.
 
wow, that is a lot.
Japanese beetles tend to get bad around the last week of july for my area.
So I spray with sevin once at the end of march, april, and may. Then once in the middle in june, then starting in july to the middle of august I spray about every 7-10 days.
 
Well, the Sevin spray was only 4 days after the last Bonide Fruit Tree spray I did, which is twice a year early on. The beetles were so bad that I had to risk it. I'll try to wait the recommended week, but thought about using Neem in a couple of days. It is fairly harmless and will work as a repellent for a couple of days. I am playing it by ear and am hoping their numbers decline early this year. I also have an orchard and they love it as well. The traps are only filling half way each day, so it is as bad a last year. last year, at peak, I had a bag come off the trap after about 6 hours cause it was full to the top. Could explain why I have some many moles in the area.
 
I have a small orchard as well, what type of trees are you growing?

I have 12 dwarf apples and 3 figs.

How many acres do you live on? Are you surrounded by farms?

Man that is a lot of beetles, a whole lot.
 
Yes, it is a lot.

I have pears, apples, cherries, plums, blueberries, nectarines, a couple of peach, and a gooseberry. I had a fig, but it didn't make it through a winter. I also have some hops.

I have 30 acres and have farmland on 2 sides, but have land that is grow up on the other side (close to the vines). I also have woodland (20 acres tillable).

Up until I started growing grapes, plum trees were by far the favorite, but the grapes brought them in (for miles, I guess). They still like the plums, but as my vines have reached maturity, they have attracted beetles by the bus load. And I have noticed that they like some varieties over other. Buffalo is their favorite. BTW, dead beetles are by far the worst thing I have ever smelled.
 
what type of figs did you have?

I was curious if maybe the reason I have less beetles is because I am surrounded by farms, but I guess not. I know my zone is different than yours, so perhaps me being closer to lake erie helps keep the beetles down?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top