It's been about 10 weeks since the first vines were planted—six for the Merlot and two grafted Chambourcin vines—and the weather has been fiercely hot and dry. In spite of the difficult conditions, growth has been encouraging for everything but the Norton. The Zin, Baco Noir and Cab vines are as much as six feet high. All the reds are uniformly more vigorous than the whites, although the Viognier is keeping up with the reds. Only 3 of the 12 Norton vines have survived, and those are a third the size of the other varieties.
I am now able to compare the performance of different vines, cross-referenced against their rootstocks. The grafted vines on both 101-14 (vinifera) and 3309 (Chambourcin) are outperforming some of the own-rooted varieties (Chardonel, Seyval Blanc and Norton), but others on their own roots (St. Vincent, Chambourcin and Baco Noir) are right up there with the grafted vines. This is only an observation, as I have no way of knowing if the growth rates have anything to do with the rootstocks.
The vines are getting big enough that I'm now feeling pressure to get to work on the trellis system.
The lack of rain has been worrisome to the point I just ordered a drip irrigation vineyard kit from Drip Depot that arrived yesterday. They offer two vineyard kits, one for 10 rows and 130 vines, the other for five rows and 80 vines. I opted for the larger kit, which arrived a day earlier than promised in two large boxes.
I hope to get it installed and operational this weekend in preparation for the coming dog days of summer. I've dodged a bullet of lengthy dry spells so far by resorting to hand watering with a hose-end sprayer. I tried oscillating sprinklers , but found I lost too much to evaporation and got poor results, The clay soil's slow absorption rate made my hand watering less than ideal when I sprayed to the point of runoff, and I've never been comfortable that I got the kind of deep watering the vines need.
The drip system will provide water at the rate of .5 gal per hour, ensuring water goes deep and gets to the root zone. I will also allow me to put watering on a regular schedule.
I'll give a full report on the irrigation system construction project when I'm finished.
I am now able to compare the performance of different vines, cross-referenced against their rootstocks. The grafted vines on both 101-14 (vinifera) and 3309 (Chambourcin) are outperforming some of the own-rooted varieties (Chardonel, Seyval Blanc and Norton), but others on their own roots (St. Vincent, Chambourcin and Baco Noir) are right up there with the grafted vines. This is only an observation, as I have no way of knowing if the growth rates have anything to do with the rootstocks.
The vines are getting big enough that I'm now feeling pressure to get to work on the trellis system.
The lack of rain has been worrisome to the point I just ordered a drip irrigation vineyard kit from Drip Depot that arrived yesterday. They offer two vineyard kits, one for 10 rows and 130 vines, the other for five rows and 80 vines. I opted for the larger kit, which arrived a day earlier than promised in two large boxes.
I hope to get it installed and operational this weekend in preparation for the coming dog days of summer. I've dodged a bullet of lengthy dry spells so far by resorting to hand watering with a hose-end sprayer. I tried oscillating sprinklers , but found I lost too much to evaporation and got poor results, The clay soil's slow absorption rate made my hand watering less than ideal when I sprayed to the point of runoff, and I've never been comfortable that I got the kind of deep watering the vines need.
The drip system will provide water at the rate of .5 gal per hour, ensuring water goes deep and gets to the root zone. I will also allow me to put watering on a regular schedule.
I'll give a full report on the irrigation system construction project when I'm finished.
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