Saturday, August 29, 2009

Water 4 hrs drip

Our first full measurement on the grapes!
They are:
* Brix: 19
* pH: 3.2
* TA: 9.5
Decided to give the vines 4 hrs drip on the top and bottom rows (1-3 and 7-9).

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Possible Potassium Problem

In the 'let's water a bit more' spirit, decided to give the grapes another dose of water (4 hrs drip) . In looking through the vines, I noticed a very unique leaf patter - not straight-up dry, but a weird coloration / drying pattern. Referring to my trusty UCD guide, it looks kinda like potassium deficiency. More investigating and soil ammendments to come post-harvest.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Vines in Mid-August

Starting to look dry and a bit tired; normal but thinking of upping the water a bit, so let the drip go for 6 hrs overnight after netting.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Desperate birds

Yikes! It looks like the birds have gotten a head start on sampling the grapes. Weird, I thought they waited until JUST before they're ripe. In any case, we figured we better put out some of the nets; were hoping to do that later in the month but I'd rather get a few out now and not loose the entire crop. On a side note, we haven't been putting out the hummingbird feeders, which are supposed to help keep other birds out (to some extent). Note for next year = attract hummingbirds! Even if it doesn't really make a difference, it's just plain neat-o anyway.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tight clusters

Finally, after years of half-munched, half-dried out, half-absent grapes, we have a few clusters that are nice and dense. I don't care so much how they look as how they taste, but it's good to see our grapes are starting to look fuller and healthier (we think!)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Vines around Veraison

If I remember correctly, this may be one of the last seasonal Stylet Oil Sprays, so I'm giving 'em a good spray - well, only 1% concentration but very thorough coverage. Note to myself: rows 9-4 top done; rest throughout the week.

Friday, August 7, 2009

70% Veraison


It's early August and suddenly we have purple grapes! Seemed sudden but that might simply be my perception this year. We're at about 70%, which means 70% of the grapes on the hill are purple, the other 30% are still green or green-ish. We decided to give the grapes some water again yesterday (deep soaking), and will probably start reducing the amount they get from here out.