Vineyard From the Beginning- Grapeman

[Mark64]

OK, a newbie question. How many years before you get any crop? I bookmarked this article because I think this is some of the BEST reading material for professional or hobbyist like me.

 

[GreginND]

Welcome, Mark. Generally you may be able to get some harvest in the third year but it will likely be a small harvest. Four to five years is a better bet on when you can expect to start reaping your rewards.

 

[grapeman]

The number of years to grow the vineyard until fruiting depends on a lot of facors but typically is 3 to 5 years as Greg said. On a low vigor site, figure 4-5 years. On a higher vigor site you can take at least a partial crop after 3 years.

I'm glad you find this useful. That's why I am putting it together.

 

[fivebk]

Rich,

I like this thread. I think it's going to give alot of people a serious insight into what it takes to start a vineyard!!! I didn't even know you were starting a second vineyard!!!

Did you get hit with any frost? We had some pretty cold days & some patchy frost, but luck was on my side and had no frost out at the farm. Sorry for being a little off the subject.

BOB

 

[mwestern]

I picked most of the grape clusters off our young grape plants until the third season,a large grower told me it made for stronger plants and larger yeilds.Just concentrated on pruning and training the plants to the wire trellis we built.Bob we got some burnt leaves on the plant tops from the frost last week here in Mo. but not too bad. Mike

 

[grapeman]

Hey Bob. This will actually be the third vineyard. The second one doesn't get much attention here because it is in a different part of the farms so doesn't get a lot of pictures. It is an extremely well drained site, so vigor is much less. Going into the fourth year and some aren't even to the top wire yet. I'm hoping for more concentrated flavors on that site. It is around an acre in size.

mwestern you did the right thing removing the clusters early on.

 

[grapeman]

Here are a couple pictures of the second vineyard site before planting

And here is a picture of it a couple months later without the trellis yet.

 

[TrapperPete]

I am beginning a new thread to sort of document planting a new vineyard from beginning forward. The methods I use here are not standard issue, but are using methods I have gleaned from my 45 years of farming, ag college and working in research trials, including my own. Don't expect it to begin all inclusive, but it will build upon itself as time goes on.

Grapeman, I live in northwest Michigan but inland just enough from Lake Michigan where it gets a little colder in the winter time (coldest I've seen in 12 years was -29f) but warmer in early spring and summer. I have several vines of Concord and Niagara that seem to thrive and produce good fruit although the surrounding trees are providing more and more shade. I have open fields though and have ordered Marquette vines from NE Vine Supply to really get a vineyard started. I've attended several classes now and the theme seems to be to plant the vines closer to each other (4-5ft appart). I'm struggling to decide how far appart to put the vines and how wide to make the rows? My property slopes to the south and west and is rectangular in shape so it would be best to allign the rows north-south or east west so I'm also wrestling with that! Last but not least is the size of hole to make for the vines to spread the roots. I'm not new to growing things but I really want to do the best job possible starting out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[grapeman]

Welcome TrapperPete!

Marquette is a good choice for you there. It should do great for you.
You don't mention your soil type or fertility so it is hard to tell you what spacing to plant. I can tell you Marquette is very vigorous. Around here if we planted it 4-5 feet apart it would be an overgrown jungle in no time. For Marquette, rows 8-10 feet apart work if you have to use a tractor, a bit closer if you use a lawnmower. In row spacing would be 6-7 feet minimum and and 8-10 feet apart better. Don't plant close just so you can brag about having twice as many vines- you will pay for it in a lot of extra work. Part of the spacing can be determined by the training system used for the trellis. You can help tame the vigor by using a split canopy system such as GDC or Scott Henry. Check out my other huge thread http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f25/champlain-valley-my-vineyard-19820/
for more information on all these things. It is about 200 pages of posts long, but has a ton of information in it.

As I develop this current thread, I am using information I have gathered through trial and error and studying to put in this current vineyard.

Slope and row orientation I believe in considering the size of the lot, shading and slope to choose the row orientation. In your latitude, it isn't extremely important. I would opt for fewer longer rows and go that way.

Hole should be large enough to be able to sprea the roots out at leas some. Obiously if you have 3 foot roots you don't want to dig 6 foot wide holes! Try for at least a foot wide and around 10-12 inches deep for rooted vines. Potted vines need smaller holes.

Good luck with it and be sure to start your own thread of posts.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Great thread, I love it. I think it would be good if this Thread had it's own
Heading or Title or what ever you call it, like the beginners forum or the chit-chat.
Semper Fi

 

[grapeman]

It has been a week since I posted the picture of the cutting progress. I have them from just stuck in the soil to callous to ones that have opened up small leaves and rooted a bit. Here are some pictures to show their progress. It may be hard for some to believe these will ever produce grapes.

 

[ibglowin]

Looks like lots of healthy little babies! Good job for sure.

 

[GreginND]

It may be hard for some to believe these will ever produce grapes.

Not hard at all. They look really healthy!

 

[saddlebronze]

The cuttings are looking good Grapeman. What temp are they at?

 

[TrapperPete]

Marquette

The cuttings are looking good Grapeman. What temp are they at?

Saddlebronze, I have Marquette's showing up in a few weeks and still trying to decide on vine spacing. They list the vine medium vigor and in northern Michigan I'm thinking that I might be better off putting them closer together say 6ft. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

TrapperPete

 

[grapeman]

saddlebronze the little cuttings are in a very small greenhouse shelter with just a small heater to keep it from freezing. Ideally I would keep it at 78-80 degrees, but some days it is 40 something and sunny days can get into the 90s.

TrapperPete that spacing will work alright for them and it could even go to 8 to 10 feet and fill the space fine. Here the vigor is closer to very vigorous and is comparable to Frontenac in vigor. This new planting will likely be spaced about 6 feet in row.

 

[Neviawen]

This thread is awesome! It makes me want to start my own vineyard in my backyard. Thanks for all the great information and taking the time out of your day to share it with all of us!

 

[saddlebronze]

Trapper, I went with 5 foot spacing since I have a small plot and it will all be hand tilled. If I had more space I would have spread them out, but I needed to get 7 varieties into a 35 by 45 plot.

 

[GreginND]

For your Mod-GDC, what are you using for your row spacing? Is 10 feet enough?

 

[grapeman]

10 feet is enough for the way I have the braces made. I am actually using it at 9 feet because that is what the other 3 systems use in the trial and I wanted them all spaced the same distance.