The number 1 rule I have learned from starting a vineyard!!!

[cosmyccowboy]

Don’t and I mean DON’T skimp on your corner posts!!! Not unless you want to have to be redoing them a few years in the future! Pressure treated lumber for everything (duh)! For Short runs 4X4’s seem to be ok, I’m kind of wishing I had went with 6”or even 8” posts. Also on your end posts put them in at a angle, if my memory serves me it would be about a 30 obtuse angle, don’t put them in straight, have them at a opposing angle! Remember if you run long stretches of trellis that you will very often (and I mean often) get to the other side which will mean a long walk or getting down on your knees and crawling!
whats #2?

 

[Neb Farmer]

Probably my biggest lesson learned in planting vinifera was that I HAVE TO spray sulphur in order to not have powdery mildew ruin my crop. I assumed the vinifera grapes would be as effortless to grow as my food-grapes ( concords and a few seedless varieities ) but I was wrong. Powdery mildew is a BIG problem for wine grapes , so I learned!
Once I adopted a sulphur spraying schedule and kept to it....no problems with mildew ! But that one year early on....it basically destroyed 50% of my fruit.

 

[VinesnBines]

Our number one was to dig holes for the trellis posts as we dig the holes for the vines. We didn't for the first vines and assumed we could go back later with the auger (tractor mounted) but we were wrong. I'm digging holes by hand.

A close second lesson is to net the fruit before veraison. I didn't this year and the racoons wiped out the first crop.

I could go on and on. I did get the spray schedule under control even though I have mostly hybrids.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

What does mildew look like? I just dug up some 5 year old Lamontoe’s because every year the shoots would start out nice and green and then they would develop black spots like a meth heads teeth!? I have ordered black Spanish to replace them with, I am 15 miles north of the Florida line!.

 

[VinesnBines]

Both Lamonto and Black Spanish are supposed to be fairly disease resistant. Google pictures of grape diseases. That will give you a better guide.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

In the beginning I ordered Black Munnakas, Lamontoe’s, Flame and a Blueberry grape, 10 of each 3 year old plants. The only one that ever produced was the black munnkas! They are maintenance free and very prolific! The Lamontoe’s survived but never produced. Black cavities would develop on the shoots every year. The flame and blueberry grapes didn’t survive.

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Our number one was to dig holes for the trellis posts as we dig the holes for the vines. We didn't for the first vines and assumed we could go back later with the auger (tractor mounted) but we were wrong. I'm digging holes by hand.

A close second lesson is to net the fruit before veraison. I didn't this year and the racoons wiped out the first crop.

I could go on and on. I did get the spray schedule under control even though I have mostly hybrids.

I have never netted and the birds ate me out of house and home this year.... I wonder if that is why we all got BB guns back in the day?

 

[cosmyccowboy]

Don’t and I mean DON’T skimp on your corner posts!!! Not unless you want to have to be redoing them a few years in the future! Pressure treated lumber for everything (duh)! For Short runs 4X4’s seem to be ok, I’m kind of wishing I had went with 6”or even 8” posts. Also on your end posts put them in at a angle, if my memory serves me it would be about a 30 obtuse angle, don’t put them in straight, have them at a opposing angle! Remember if you run long stretches of trellis that you will very often (and I mean often) get to the other side which will mean a long walk or getting down on your knees and crawling!
whats #2?

I looked, the angle on the end posts is more like 15 or 20 degrees off of perpendicular

 

[bearpaw8491]

Believe I read that commercial vineyards set the end post at 60 decrees, that way the trellis wires actually exert a downward rather than horizontal force on the posts.