Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Mini-heat snap

Finally, a mini heatwave that we hoped would bring the grapes closer to being ripe.  They're closer, but not ready to be picked anytime soon: ranged from 19 - 22 brix.  We did give the grapes a bit of water before the hottest days, 6 hrs drip on 9/27/2010.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Vague guidance

Remember the vines looking like they had burnt leaves, and the one on row 7 that's really nasty looking?  Well I took samples into the Master Gardners, who sent it off to UC Davis for testing. 

The feedback from the lab:
"Powdery mildew Not detected. Some secondary fungal sporulation seen, but no plant pathogens detected. Some insect webbing present but no insects to send to Entomology for I.D." 
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The Master Gardener's comments on the above::
Often we find that the lab tends to focus their testing on potential vectors for new invasive pathogens introduced into the state.  I suppose the good news is that whatever they found on the leaves, it was not a point of concern from their perspective. 


I'm pretty sure they tested for Pierce's disease since it's a real hot-button in our area, also to the extent they could probably want to see if there's evidence of European Grape Moth.  Sadly, I don't think we can't rule out esca, but for now I'm going to continue to correct for known deficiencies (Magnesium, Boron) and continue to be on the lookout for more tell-tale signs of other diseases.

On and look into gopher / vole control too.  They got to our tomatoes, lettuce, and even zucchini!  

Friday, September 17, 2010

17.5 Brix

We're still only at 17.5 brix, mostly green seeds.  Aarg!

Good news is that the grapes are tasting really good - great for juice, but terrible for wine.  The birds are getting in here and there; not nearly as bad as years past but enough that we need to keep an eye on the clothespins--more specifically, keeping them secured at the base.

One project to keep us busy while ripening is laying mulch under the rows.  We were planning on doing this after harvest, but we really want to remove the piles of mulch from our driveway sooner rather than later.

It's a combination of live oak & eucalyptus chipped materials, which should help to keep moisture in the soil.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Mild temperatures

Temperatures are STILL expected to be in the 70s - 80s, so even though in previous years we've abandoned our PM spray program at veraison, this year we'll continue until disease pressure decreases.  So, we sprayed a 10% milk solution; plus gave the vines 6 hrs drip.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Brix at 13.5

This morning we gave the vines a bit of water (4 hrs drip).

Before watering, while securing the nets I sampled some berries from rows 2 and 8, to measure where we are at sugar-wise. 

Not too surprising, we're just about where we should be given late veraison: 13 brix at row 2, 14 brix at row 8.  Plus or minus of course; as we sampled off of only 4 berries per row.