2019 Update
Well, another year has passed, and I learned a few more things to share about growing organic grapes in Connecticut.
There are many issues that need attention when growing grapes like disease, insects, animal and bird pests, nutrition, water, pruning, etc. The newest arrival that has proven to be the biggest issue of all is the Asian Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). Unlike the native fruit fly, this invasive species attacks good grapes, which then host larvae - ugh! The SWD are tiny, numerous, difficult to control, and ruin the grapes.
In 2020, my primary strategy, in attempting to mitigate this issue without sprays, is to bag the grapes. I plan on experimenting with several types of bags. There is further discussion of this below and in other sections of this website under the headings Disease and Insects and Fruit Trees> Overview.
Protection
I experimented with the use of plastic bags over the grape bunches to see if this would protect them against the Asian spotted wing drosophila (SWD), as well as diseases. Plastic bags work great on our apples and pears, so I wanted to see their effect on grapes.
Results varied on different cultivars. In most cases, plastic bags delayed ripening of the grapes by at least a month – not good!
On some varieties (Somerset Seedless, Concord Seedless), enclosing grape bunches in plastic bags quadrupled berry size - good!. This was an unexpected and joyous finding. The bagged Somerset Seedless grapes ripened nicely around Sept 15th, producing large berries; and the bagged Concord Seedless grapes ripened around Oct 1st.
There are many issues that need attention when growing grapes like disease, insects, animal and bird pests, nutrition, water, pruning, etc. The newest arrival that has proven to be the biggest issue of all is the Asian Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD). Unlike the native fruit fly, this invasive species attacks good grapes, which then host larvae - ugh! The SWD are tiny, numerous, difficult to control, and ruin the grapes.
In 2020, my primary strategy, in attempting to mitigate this issue without sprays, is to bag the grapes. I plan on experimenting with several types of bags. There is further discussion of this below and in other sections of this website under the headings Disease and Insects and Fruit Trees> Overview.
Protection
I experimented with the use of plastic bags over the grape bunches to see if this would protect them against the Asian spotted wing drosophila (SWD), as well as diseases. Plastic bags work great on our apples and pears, so I wanted to see their effect on grapes.
Results varied on different cultivars. In most cases, plastic bags delayed ripening of the grapes by at least a month – not good!
On some varieties (Somerset Seedless, Concord Seedless), enclosing grape bunches in plastic bags quadrupled berry size - good!. This was an unexpected and joyous finding. The bagged Somerset Seedless grapes ripened nicely around Sept 15th, producing large berries; and the bagged Concord Seedless grapes ripened around Oct 1st.
Concord Seedless: The effect of growing Concord Seedless grapes inside a plastic bag is obvious. The grape bunch on the left was grown inside a plastic bag, while the one on the right was exposed to the open air. Although the ripening period was delayed by a month, the ones that were bagged developed much larger berries.
Brix 16.7 on Oct 1, 2019 |
Somerset Seedless: As shown in the photo, these grapes also had much larger berries. Unfortunately, I do not have a size comparison because the berries exposed to open air ripened sooner and were eaten before these were ripe and ready for a photo. All in all, the bagged grape bunches were healthier, larger, and ripened Aug 27th through Sept 15th. This is not bad, since without a bag, they normally would have ripened in mid-August. Keep in mind, this does not hold true for most of the other varieties, which have a tendency to rot in the bags. In 2020, I will try other types of bags.
Brix 15.2 on Aug 27, 2019; Brix 15.5 on Sept 15, 2019 |
Some varieties of grapes did very well in plastic bags (Jubilee of Swenson, L’ Acadie Blanc, Marechal Foch, Oberlin Noir, Petite Pearl, Solaris, Somerset Seedless, Steuben, Wine King, Worden); while the plastic bag method rotted the grapes and/or caused botrytis on other varieties (Frontenac, Jukka, St Vincent).
The plastic bag method I used had two small slits on the bottom, in order to allow rainwater to escape. Wouldn’t you know, the SWD found their way into many of these bags through those slits, and unfortunately many of the bagged grape bunches incubated SWD larvae. In 2020, I will try other styles of bags to see if they stop the SWD.
2019-2020
Previously, I found that paper bags do stop bird ravaging in unnetted areas. However, paper bag do not stop raccoons, who have no trouble ripping open the paper bags. An electric fence is needed to stop the raccoon carnage.
In 2018-2019, I intentionally cut all vines down to 24" trunks to adapt them to caned-pruned VSP (Vertical Shoot Positioning) training. So, as expected, many vines produced no grapes in 2019.
In 2019-2020, there are now plenty of new canes, so 2020 production should be good.
During the 2019-2020 winter, I completed two organic dormant sprays to see if these will help with disease and insect control - one using horticultural oil and the other copper octanoate. These applications were implemented a month apart. Initially, I wanted to apply a third dormant spay but ran out of time because there was a very early spring in 2020. Three sprays are generally recommended during the dormant period.
In 2020, I will also test enclosing grape bunches in bags (paper, Organza, and fiber bags) to see if this eliminates SWD infestations, protects from disease, and/or affects ripening time. 2020 should be the year in which I can eliminate many grape varieties as rejects due to disease and under performance, and find out which varieties will shine. Thereafter, I will remove the rejects, and multiply those that do best, to take their place. The Fruit Trees> Overview section of this website discusses bags in more detail.
This year’s grapes 2019
Under no-spray conditions, these are the vines and berries that did the best in 2019. Each is quite tasty and they all have good sugar levels ("brix" = % sugar). As previously noted, in many cases, ripening was delayed by the plastic bags about one month due to the use of plastic bags. Productivity is uncertain, as of yet, for some of these varieties.
The plastic bag method I used had two small slits on the bottom, in order to allow rainwater to escape. Wouldn’t you know, the SWD found their way into many of these bags through those slits, and unfortunately many of the bagged grape bunches incubated SWD larvae. In 2020, I will try other styles of bags to see if they stop the SWD.
2019-2020
Previously, I found that paper bags do stop bird ravaging in unnetted areas. However, paper bag do not stop raccoons, who have no trouble ripping open the paper bags. An electric fence is needed to stop the raccoon carnage.
In 2018-2019, I intentionally cut all vines down to 24" trunks to adapt them to caned-pruned VSP (Vertical Shoot Positioning) training. So, as expected, many vines produced no grapes in 2019.
In 2019-2020, there are now plenty of new canes, so 2020 production should be good.
During the 2019-2020 winter, I completed two organic dormant sprays to see if these will help with disease and insect control - one using horticultural oil and the other copper octanoate. These applications were implemented a month apart. Initially, I wanted to apply a third dormant spay but ran out of time because there was a very early spring in 2020. Three sprays are generally recommended during the dormant period.
In 2020, I will also test enclosing grape bunches in bags (paper, Organza, and fiber bags) to see if this eliminates SWD infestations, protects from disease, and/or affects ripening time. 2020 should be the year in which I can eliminate many grape varieties as rejects due to disease and under performance, and find out which varieties will shine. Thereafter, I will remove the rejects, and multiply those that do best, to take their place. The Fruit Trees> Overview section of this website discusses bags in more detail.
This year’s grapes 2019
Under no-spray conditions, these are the vines and berries that did the best in 2019. Each is quite tasty and they all have good sugar levels ("brix" = % sugar). As previously noted, in many cases, ripening was delayed by the plastic bags about one month due to the use of plastic bags. Productivity is uncertain, as of yet, for some of these varieties.
Cultivar (Variety) |
Berry Color, Usage |
Sugar Levels |
Productivity |
Hardiness |
Baltica |
blue, red wine |
15.2 brix, Aug 27 |
too early to tell |
zone 3a |
Concord Seedless |
blue, table |
16.7 brix, Oct 1 |
productive |
zone 4 |
ES-10-18-14/15? |
white wine |
20.5 brix, Oct 1 |
too early to tell |
zone 4a |
ES-10-18-20 |
blue, red wine |
21.7 brix, Oct 1 |
too early to tell |
zone 4a |
ES-10-18-30 |
white wine |
19.4 brix, Aug 27 |
too early to tell |
zone 3a |
Jubilee of Swenson |
white wine |
19.8 brix Oct 1 |
too early to tell |
zone 4 |
Leon Millot |
blue, red wine |
19.0 brix, Aug 27 |
very productive |
zone 5 |
Marechal Foch |
blue, red wine |
19.3 brix, Oct 1 |
very productive |
zone 5a |
Oberlin Noir |
blue, red wine |
19.1 brix, Sep 15 |
very productive |
zone 5 |
Skandia |
blue, red wine |
18.5 brix, Sep 15 |
too early to tell |
zone 4a |
Solaris |
white wine |
17.5 brix, Aug 27 |
too early to tell |
zone 5 |
Somerset Seedless |
pink, table |
15.2 brix, Aug 27 |
productive |
zone 4 |
Spartan Seedless |
white, table |
18.3 brix, Oct 1 |
productive |
zone 5b |
Steuben |
blue |
18.3 brix, Oct 1 |
very productive |
zone 5a |
Wine King |
blue, red wine |
19.5 brix, Sept 15 |
very productive |
zone 5 |
While half of the Jubilee of Swenson rotted in the plastic bags, half the grapes in ES-10-18-30 and Skandia cluster were cracked as well.
Due to the intentional severe pruning to accommodate VSP training, many of the varieties had no grapes this year; so that is why the above list is so short. Also, I am only listing the best grapes, leaving out those that are not as tasty or whose vines are not as healthy.
The Itasca cultivar (zone 4, white wine grape) I planted June 2018 is quite healthy compared to many of the other vines. Of course, there are no grapes as of yet, but I am hopeful on this one. Harvest is expected mid to late Sept 2020. So far, the leaves are healthy; but only time will tell if the berries stay healthy, and how well they will ripen once it is producing grapes.
Below is a table of the evaluation of leaf and vine health on Oct 1, 2019 for all the vines currently in our vineyard.
A poor rating (rated E or F) in the table below does not mean as much for the varieties that are harvested well before Oct 1st. After harvesting, leaves normally begin to die and prepare the vine for overwintering. However, for the grapes not yet ripened by Oct 1st, it becomes crucial. Diseased, non-functioning leaves can no longer support the further ripening of the grapes, ruining the crop.
Now, let's switch to the overall picture. This year, the trials have shown these to be some of the healthiest, most productive, and tastiest grape varieties:
|
For making red wine and jam, and as blue table grapes:
Leon Millot Marechal Foch Oberlin Noir Wine King For making white wine, and as white table grapes: L’Acadie Blanc Petite Amie For making white and rose' wines, and as blue table grapes: Steuben For pink-red table grapes and jam: Somerset Seedless For blue table grapes (small berries) and jam: Concord Seedless For white table grapes: Spartan Seedless |
In the next two years, as grape vines I have already planted start producing grapes, more varieties will likely be added to this list. Since the health of the berries and vines vary from year to year, these variables make evaluation more difficult.
Since our vines are located on a northern slope, rather than the preferred southern exposure, some varieties do not ripen sufficiently on our site. Since I must work with the land we have, it appears I must shoot for the earlier ripening varieties. In the fall, the afternoon sun has significantly shifted in the sky and begins to be shaded by the trees on the slope, depriving the grape leaves of the energy they need to further ripen the late ripening grapes. This is the same reason I had to reject and pull out the Goldrush apple trees which ripen in November. There just isn't enough sun on our site in the fall to ripen this variety.
Since our vines are located on a northern slope, rather than the preferred southern exposure, some varieties do not ripen sufficiently on our site. Since I must work with the land we have, it appears I must shoot for the earlier ripening varieties. In the fall, the afternoon sun has significantly shifted in the sky and begins to be shaded by the trees on the slope, depriving the grape leaves of the energy they need to further ripen the late ripening grapes. This is the same reason I had to reject and pull out the Goldrush apple trees which ripen in November. There just isn't enough sun on our site in the fall to ripen this variety.