Thanks Bob!

SWMBO picked up "Vines to Wines" for me today. That'll keep me busy
for a while.

Take Care,
Steve - Noobie
Oregon



On 2 Feb 2005 04:50:54 -0800, wrote:

Spud,

No, According to Jeff Cox's "Vines to Wines" you actually live in the
PERFECT area for those varitals. What do the vineyards around you
grow??? It would seem to me that you can grow just about anything with
those numbers.I don't think you'll have to much of a problem.

Bob

Spud,

A couple of things I've learned over the years I want to share with
you.

1. Jeff Cox's book doesn't really go into spraying so you need to do
some research on that. I can recommend a spray program if you don't
know anything about it. I'm assuming your climate gets down mildew and
black rot which I hear California does not so your going to have to
spray for ALL diseases. Japanese Beetles are the other pest I have alot
of so see if you can visit a nearby winery and find out what they spray
for and what they use. If you can't find it , like I said I'll gladly
recommend something.

2. Jeff Cox's book recommends mulching with "gravel" as the best way to
grow grapes. I don't recommend that. I HIGHLY recommend mulching with
medium to large wood chips ( I get mine for free from a tree company,
also WOOD shavings from a horse crap pile are great too) . They keep
the water in the soil and they don't cause weeds to grow like hay does.
Grape vines NEED water contrary to what some old wives tale say,
especially when they are young. They need an INCH of water a WEEK after
you plant them ,(don't sweat the exact amount, just make sure they have
plenty of water if it doesn't rain HARD that week.) . Now you shouldn't
have to worry about over watering them because you should be growing
them in a well drained soil, right????. The more clay you have the
less water you need. If you have a soil like clay that holds water I
would keep grass in the row middles. Actually, I have VERY sandy soil
and I keep grass in the row middles and it works great! The vines roots
will go FAR deeper than the grass and there doesn't seem to be any
problems with competition for water. I mulch mow so all the grass is
returned to fertilize and keep the moisture in the soil. So if you
already have grass where you are going to plant them, round-up the
grass where the plants will be and mulch over the dead grass.You could
also put that "black" cloth mulch down underneath the wood chips to
really seal the grass from growing underneath the trellis system but
make sure you put AT LEAST 4 inches of mulch. The best time to mulch is
AFTER a hard rain so the ground is already soaked so you would be
sealing in the moisture. I almost guarantee that if you mulch you will
have few nutient deficencies and you;'ll get TONS of worms which is
what you want. I also keep the mulch about 6 inches away from the
plants on each side BUT the mulch goes inbetween the plants. Now,
there are people who will tell you to dig a trench and lossen up the
soil 36 inches down all down the row where the vines will be planted.
If you can do that go ahead but if your like most people and don't have
or can't afford the machinery to do that just dig a hole with a post
hole digger down about 2 feet and back fill to where the plants are
planted at the same depth they were in the nursery.If they're grafted,
plant them so there is about 3 inches from the graft to the soil line.
I fill the hole with water before planting then plant and fill with
water again.Obviously I use ALOT of water . BTW, soak the vines in
water overnight before you plant them and try and plant on a cloudy day
where the evaporation is low. Actually a light mist would be great.
Once planted prune back to 2 buds. Your probably going to get grafted
plants so just plant them, you won't have to prune them. The wax on the
plants doesn't need to be peeled off , so leave it on., it's there for
a reason. Once you plant, then they'll start growing . KEEP THEM
WATERED! THe first year you SHOULDN'T need fertilizer . When they bloom
the new growth will be shiny and sometimes has a reddish hue. Don't be
alarmed it isn't potassium deficiency . Like I said if you keep them
watered and mulched you will be fine. BUT after the buds break you'll
need to start spraying!


Bob

Hi:

Thanks for the great advice. I sure have alot to learn!

Thanks Again,
Steve - Noobie
Oregon







kindly wrote:
Spud,
A couple of things I've learned over the years I want to share with
you.

Bob

Any opinions of this book?

"The Grape Grower", Lon Rombough

Thanks
Steve - Noobie
Oregon

spud wrote:

Any opinions of this book?

"The Grape Grower", Lon Rombough

Thanks
Steve - Noobie
Oregon

I have the book. It has some good information about grafting. It is a good
book to have in your library.

"spud" wrote in message
...
Been doing some research on trellis systems for grapes.

Are there any references that anyone would recommend for
suitablility/fit and application of the different systems? And some
'how to' instruction?

I'm interested in one called a pendlebogen, evidently a German
technique, but can't find more than a dozen hits on it on the net.
The discusions are fairly light on these sites.

TIA

Steve - Noobie
Oregon
Pendlebogen is a good choice for valuable fruit that is prone to bunch rot
and the like especially in high disease pressure areas.
It is also known as Vertical Shoot Positioning with arched canes. This
newsgroup has listed a number of good viticulture books that describe this
technique in detail. i.e Vines to Wines by Cox, General Viticulture by
Winkler ...
Joe