Overview
Trials of disease-resistant, cold-hardy grape cultivars grown under no-spray conditions are currently in progress in Eastern Connecticut to determine which cultivars are best suited for no-spray, or organic cultivation in this part of the Northeast.
122 cultivars have been selected for these trials for the harvest seasons 2013-2023, and the evaluated results will be shared on this website. Since space was available for 137 vines, more than one vine, of some cultivars, were planted, allowing for additional observations.
As of this date, 56 of the 122 cultivars have been rejected and dug out of the ground due to excessive disease, lack of appealing flavor, or failure to ripen on our site. This leaves 66 under current evaluation.
The difference between a "Good" or a "Rejected" variety can be quite dramatic. Please refer to "The Grapes" menu for photographic illustrations. Under no-spray conditions some varieties produce great berries, while the berries of other varieties will rot away and/or produce no yield at all.
Results vary from year to year as well. Harvest time for each individual variety can vary by several weeks. Also, variant weather conditions can result in higher disease and insect pressure from one year to another.
In the past two years, an invasive insect species from Asia, the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), attacked the grapes. Unlike the native fruit fly, which attacks only damaged grapes, this invasive species attacks good grapes by laying eggs in the grapes, which then hosts the larvae - ugh! I am investigating organic methods to protect the grapes from these nasty invaders. I have noticed that the SWD seem to prefer some grape varieties more than others.
The grape cultivars of interest were chosen to be eaten fresh, or for making jam, juice, and wine. Grapes (and berries) can also be frozen for later use, without the need of blanching. When eaten directly out of the freezer, they surprisingly have the texture of sorbet rather than a jawbreaker. At zero degrees Fahrenheit, frozen grapes retain their flavor for almost a year.
This website was expanded to include tips on organic gardening: fruit trees, veggies, micro-greens, and wine making. Also included is a listing of the nurseries where the grape cultivars, selected for this study, were obtained.
For more information on your topic of interest, you may choose from the drop-down options in the menus listed at the top of each page.
During these trials, grapes are grown organically without pesticide or fungicide spraying (except for dormant organic spraying during the winter) to determine which cultivars do the best under natural, local conditions. If varieties can be successfully grown organically, in addition to the money that could be saved by reduced or total elimination of spraying, there are the added health benefits of a less toxic environment and end-product.
Furthermore, demand for organic grapes or wines made from organic grapes is increasing as consumers become aware of the adverse health effects of toxins.
As a part of the study, grapevines will be evaluated for disease and pest resistance, vigor, harvest date, taste, and productivity. However, the primary evaluation factors will be the production of healthy grapes and their taste.
Although most fresh grapes do not store well on the table or in a refrigerator, I have found 10 table grape cultivars that reportedly can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 6 months. As of 2019, due to excessive disease, eight of these selections were rejected in this study, leaving only Steuben and Trollhaugen for further review. Steuben was the clear winner - healthy, productive, and tasty. Trollhaugen is still under evaluation since production, so far, has been very low and the berries might have disease issues.
Keep in mind that all grapes store well frozen for almost one year - a wonderful way to preserve your harvest. Frozen grapes have a texture similar to sorbet and are delicious when popped into your mouth without thawing.
Information will be added to this website as time allows. Most photos are my own unless credited otherwise. My photos are not the idealized photos you see hyped in magazines and catalogs because I try to realistically depict what grape bunches actually look like, per variety, under the no spray conditions of our vineyard.
We have a small piece of property, with 1/4 of an acre under cultivation. The site is crowded, located on a northern slope, with about half-a-day's sun, so conditions are not ideal. However, I believe whatever produces well under these trying conditions should do even better with an environment more suitable for grape growing.
Ideally, grapes should be grown in full sun, on a trellis, spaced 6-8' apart (depending on the cultivar) and in rows far enough apart to fit a tractor. We only have room to space the vines 4' apart, with rows 8' apart in most cases. Most of our vines are trained "cane-pruned, vertical shoot positioned." A few of the grapes are grown on a grape arbor.
Trials should ideally have a "statistically significant" number of grape vines for each variety tested. However, since we do not have the room, only one grapevine of each variety was planted, with a few exceptions. Some vines have been in the ground since 2010. Most of the vines included in this study were planted in 2015-2018. Those that were planted at a later date are not producing grapes as yet.
It is important to note that it is possible a "rejected" variety, grown on a more ideal site, may do better under improved conditions. Also, when a vine dies, it may possibly be a fluke since only one vine was tested. I replanted some of the vines that became sick or had died, but the same negative result was obtained. However, when one apple tree died, I replaced it with the same variety and the second planting did well. So, sometimes a plant just dies for unknown reasons. If you replant, it may die again, or it may do well.
Protection from wildlife is also needed - netting and fences - to protect from birds, deer, raccoons, ground hogs, etc. We use electric fences and it works very well for us. Chipmunks and wasps also eat grapes, but they do not eat much, so I take no protective measures against them. Gophers and other underground critters can eat grapevine roots, but I have not experienced much loss in this regard - except for one healthy-appearing vine that suddenly died overnight after two years of healthy growth ('Sheridan').
2016 and 2017 were particularly bad years with a deluge of chipmunks and gypsy moth caterpillars.
Fortunately, the gypsy moth caterpillars do not like grape vines and have been no problem at all.
In contrast, the gypsy moth caterpillar seems to prefer the leaves of oak trees, blueberries, strawberries, chestnuts, hazelnuts, apples, and plums. We spent a lot of time in 2016 and 2017 handpicking caterpillars off our bushes and trees.
At that time, many oak trees were stripped completely bare of their leaves. About one dozen oak trees died along our driveway and had to be removed so falling limbs would not become a personal hazard.
Gypsy moth caterpillars thrive during dry springs. During wet springs, a virus spreads that kills most of them. NPV is a nucleopolyhedrosis virus that affects only Gypsy moths. Typically, 1 to 2 years after an outbreak begins, the NPV disease causes a major die-off of the caterpillars. This virus is the most important factor in controlling the Gypsy moth population. In fact, this virus causes the caterpillars to run for the treetops where they die. The virus fiercely multiplies in almost every cell of the caterpillar's body. Their bodies liquefy and send virus particles onto healthy siblings below, infecting them as well. Birds that feast upon the caterpillars also help spread the virus, as do chipmunks and mice. Fortunately, there are many beneficial insects that kill gypsy moths as well, like beetles, stink bugs, wasps, and flies.
In 2015, the oak trees dropped a huge number of acorns - which probably explained the 2016-2017 abundance of chipmunks. The chipmunks tunneled everywhere throughout the garden area in those years. One of our cats, caught one or more daily, and there were more snakes than usual to help control the over-abundant chipmunk population. Since the garden area is fenced in, predators, like fox, cannot get in to eat the chipmunks - which may also contribute to their large numbers. In comparison, the Gypsy moth caterpillar devastation of the oak trees in 2018-2019, which resulted in the production of fewer acorns, yielded a positive reduction in the chipmunk population as well.
Grapes grown in the Northeastern USA tend to have lower sugar levels with higher acid levels, as compared to those grown in California which produce the reverse - high sugar, low acid grapes. This is important in wine making and wine blending. It is interesting to note that as a result of the growing conditions in the Northeast, winemakers need to raise the sugar concentration and reduce the acid content; whereas the opposite is true in California, where the sugar content needs to be reduced and the acid levels risen.
Due to higher rainfall rates, grapes grown in the Northeast tend to be susceptible to various fungal diseases (Anthracnose, Botrytis Bunch Rot, Black Rot, Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew). Some grape cultivars, especially European vinifera, cannot be grown without heavy spraying or they are destroyed by these fungi. American and hybrid varieties are, however, more resistant. All of those being tested in this study are American and hybrid varieties - vinifera are too disease prone and, therefore, have been avoided.
Also, animals, birds and insects take a large toll on local production rates.
Fencing and netting to exclude animals and birds are crucial to good yields.
Phylloxera, a microscopic louse or aphid that eats grape roots and mutilates grape leaves, affects certain cultivars and not others. Some American and hybrid grapes will show grape leave disfigurement but yields will not be adversely affected, while vinifera grape vines (Vitis vinifera) can be killed. Phylloxera was inadvertently imported to France via grapevines from America. It nearly wiped out their wine industry during the period 1860 - 1875, since the vast majority of their grapevines are vinifera. Their salvation was grafting susceptible vinifera onto resistant American rootstocks.
The Japanese beetles voraciously eats away grape leaves on all cultivars. As a pest control method, I apply Milky spore, a soil-borne bacterium that kills the white grubs of Japanese beetles. Proper soil application, per packaging instructions, gives very effective organic control that is harmless to humans and animals. Application of Milky spore for two years gives 10 years of protection.
The newly invasive Asian fruit fly is the severest challenge we have faced, not only to grapes but to fruits and berries as well. Currently, I am experimenting with methods of organic control. Netting and bagging hold the highest promise of success.
Diseases are also an issue. The disease-resistances of specific cultivars are published in incomplete charts, so they are only a rough guide and do not tell the whole story. For example, 'Neptune' seedless grapes, according to the charts, are moderately disease resistant. From my experience, 'Neptune' takes four years to finally produce; and when it does, every grape rots away. However, other grapes that are less "disease-resistant", have done better in our vineyard.
Additionally, I have come to realize that a specific grape cultivar can do well in one spot, but not in another, even if it is planted just 50' away on the same property. This is referred to as "micro-climates," which is a variation in conditions, such as elevations, wind flows, soil temperature fluctuations, sunlight.
The overall special combination of geography, geology, and climate on the grapes grown on a particular location is call "terroir" by the French (pronounced tier-wha'). Changing the terroir, changes the taste and health of the grapes and grapevines.
Finally, pruning is essential to grape production. Fruiting occurs on new shoots emanating from one-year-old canes. Each year about 90% of old growth is pruned out during the winter season to prepare for the next year's crop. After much experimentation the method of training I now use is "Cane-Pruned Vertical-Shoot-Positioning" whereby all two-year-old canes (and older, if present) are removed leaving just the trunk and one-year-old canes.
122 cultivars have been selected for these trials for the harvest seasons 2013-2023, and the evaluated results will be shared on this website. Since space was available for 137 vines, more than one vine, of some cultivars, were planted, allowing for additional observations.
As of this date, 56 of the 122 cultivars have been rejected and dug out of the ground due to excessive disease, lack of appealing flavor, or failure to ripen on our site. This leaves 66 under current evaluation.
The difference between a "Good" or a "Rejected" variety can be quite dramatic. Please refer to "The Grapes" menu for photographic illustrations. Under no-spray conditions some varieties produce great berries, while the berries of other varieties will rot away and/or produce no yield at all.
Results vary from year to year as well. Harvest time for each individual variety can vary by several weeks. Also, variant weather conditions can result in higher disease and insect pressure from one year to another.
In the past two years, an invasive insect species from Asia, the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD), attacked the grapes. Unlike the native fruit fly, which attacks only damaged grapes, this invasive species attacks good grapes by laying eggs in the grapes, which then hosts the larvae - ugh! I am investigating organic methods to protect the grapes from these nasty invaders. I have noticed that the SWD seem to prefer some grape varieties more than others.
The grape cultivars of interest were chosen to be eaten fresh, or for making jam, juice, and wine. Grapes (and berries) can also be frozen for later use, without the need of blanching. When eaten directly out of the freezer, they surprisingly have the texture of sorbet rather than a jawbreaker. At zero degrees Fahrenheit, frozen grapes retain their flavor for almost a year.
This website was expanded to include tips on organic gardening: fruit trees, veggies, micro-greens, and wine making. Also included is a listing of the nurseries where the grape cultivars, selected for this study, were obtained.
For more information on your topic of interest, you may choose from the drop-down options in the menus listed at the top of each page.
During these trials, grapes are grown organically without pesticide or fungicide spraying (except for dormant organic spraying during the winter) to determine which cultivars do the best under natural, local conditions. If varieties can be successfully grown organically, in addition to the money that could be saved by reduced or total elimination of spraying, there are the added health benefits of a less toxic environment and end-product.
Furthermore, demand for organic grapes or wines made from organic grapes is increasing as consumers become aware of the adverse health effects of toxins.
As a part of the study, grapevines will be evaluated for disease and pest resistance, vigor, harvest date, taste, and productivity. However, the primary evaluation factors will be the production of healthy grapes and their taste.
Although most fresh grapes do not store well on the table or in a refrigerator, I have found 10 table grape cultivars that reportedly can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 6 months. As of 2019, due to excessive disease, eight of these selections were rejected in this study, leaving only Steuben and Trollhaugen for further review. Steuben was the clear winner - healthy, productive, and tasty. Trollhaugen is still under evaluation since production, so far, has been very low and the berries might have disease issues.
Keep in mind that all grapes store well frozen for almost one year - a wonderful way to preserve your harvest. Frozen grapes have a texture similar to sorbet and are delicious when popped into your mouth without thawing.
Information will be added to this website as time allows. Most photos are my own unless credited otherwise. My photos are not the idealized photos you see hyped in magazines and catalogs because I try to realistically depict what grape bunches actually look like, per variety, under the no spray conditions of our vineyard.
We have a small piece of property, with 1/4 of an acre under cultivation. The site is crowded, located on a northern slope, with about half-a-day's sun, so conditions are not ideal. However, I believe whatever produces well under these trying conditions should do even better with an environment more suitable for grape growing.
Ideally, grapes should be grown in full sun, on a trellis, spaced 6-8' apart (depending on the cultivar) and in rows far enough apart to fit a tractor. We only have room to space the vines 4' apart, with rows 8' apart in most cases. Most of our vines are trained "cane-pruned, vertical shoot positioned." A few of the grapes are grown on a grape arbor.
Trials should ideally have a "statistically significant" number of grape vines for each variety tested. However, since we do not have the room, only one grapevine of each variety was planted, with a few exceptions. Some vines have been in the ground since 2010. Most of the vines included in this study were planted in 2015-2018. Those that were planted at a later date are not producing grapes as yet.
It is important to note that it is possible a "rejected" variety, grown on a more ideal site, may do better under improved conditions. Also, when a vine dies, it may possibly be a fluke since only one vine was tested. I replanted some of the vines that became sick or had died, but the same negative result was obtained. However, when one apple tree died, I replaced it with the same variety and the second planting did well. So, sometimes a plant just dies for unknown reasons. If you replant, it may die again, or it may do well.
Protection from wildlife is also needed - netting and fences - to protect from birds, deer, raccoons, ground hogs, etc. We use electric fences and it works very well for us. Chipmunks and wasps also eat grapes, but they do not eat much, so I take no protective measures against them. Gophers and other underground critters can eat grapevine roots, but I have not experienced much loss in this regard - except for one healthy-appearing vine that suddenly died overnight after two years of healthy growth ('Sheridan').
2016 and 2017 were particularly bad years with a deluge of chipmunks and gypsy moth caterpillars.
Fortunately, the gypsy moth caterpillars do not like grape vines and have been no problem at all.
In contrast, the gypsy moth caterpillar seems to prefer the leaves of oak trees, blueberries, strawberries, chestnuts, hazelnuts, apples, and plums. We spent a lot of time in 2016 and 2017 handpicking caterpillars off our bushes and trees.
At that time, many oak trees were stripped completely bare of their leaves. About one dozen oak trees died along our driveway and had to be removed so falling limbs would not become a personal hazard.
Gypsy moth caterpillars thrive during dry springs. During wet springs, a virus spreads that kills most of them. NPV is a nucleopolyhedrosis virus that affects only Gypsy moths. Typically, 1 to 2 years after an outbreak begins, the NPV disease causes a major die-off of the caterpillars. This virus is the most important factor in controlling the Gypsy moth population. In fact, this virus causes the caterpillars to run for the treetops where they die. The virus fiercely multiplies in almost every cell of the caterpillar's body. Their bodies liquefy and send virus particles onto healthy siblings below, infecting them as well. Birds that feast upon the caterpillars also help spread the virus, as do chipmunks and mice. Fortunately, there are many beneficial insects that kill gypsy moths as well, like beetles, stink bugs, wasps, and flies.
In 2015, the oak trees dropped a huge number of acorns - which probably explained the 2016-2017 abundance of chipmunks. The chipmunks tunneled everywhere throughout the garden area in those years. One of our cats, caught one or more daily, and there were more snakes than usual to help control the over-abundant chipmunk population. Since the garden area is fenced in, predators, like fox, cannot get in to eat the chipmunks - which may also contribute to their large numbers. In comparison, the Gypsy moth caterpillar devastation of the oak trees in 2018-2019, which resulted in the production of fewer acorns, yielded a positive reduction in the chipmunk population as well.
Grapes grown in the Northeastern USA tend to have lower sugar levels with higher acid levels, as compared to those grown in California which produce the reverse - high sugar, low acid grapes. This is important in wine making and wine blending. It is interesting to note that as a result of the growing conditions in the Northeast, winemakers need to raise the sugar concentration and reduce the acid content; whereas the opposite is true in California, where the sugar content needs to be reduced and the acid levels risen.
Due to higher rainfall rates, grapes grown in the Northeast tend to be susceptible to various fungal diseases (Anthracnose, Botrytis Bunch Rot, Black Rot, Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew). Some grape cultivars, especially European vinifera, cannot be grown without heavy spraying or they are destroyed by these fungi. American and hybrid varieties are, however, more resistant. All of those being tested in this study are American and hybrid varieties - vinifera are too disease prone and, therefore, have been avoided.
Also, animals, birds and insects take a large toll on local production rates.
Fencing and netting to exclude animals and birds are crucial to good yields.
Phylloxera, a microscopic louse or aphid that eats grape roots and mutilates grape leaves, affects certain cultivars and not others. Some American and hybrid grapes will show grape leave disfigurement but yields will not be adversely affected, while vinifera grape vines (Vitis vinifera) can be killed. Phylloxera was inadvertently imported to France via grapevines from America. It nearly wiped out their wine industry during the period 1860 - 1875, since the vast majority of their grapevines are vinifera. Their salvation was grafting susceptible vinifera onto resistant American rootstocks.
The Japanese beetles voraciously eats away grape leaves on all cultivars. As a pest control method, I apply Milky spore, a soil-borne bacterium that kills the white grubs of Japanese beetles. Proper soil application, per packaging instructions, gives very effective organic control that is harmless to humans and animals. Application of Milky spore for two years gives 10 years of protection.
The newly invasive Asian fruit fly is the severest challenge we have faced, not only to grapes but to fruits and berries as well. Currently, I am experimenting with methods of organic control. Netting and bagging hold the highest promise of success.
Diseases are also an issue. The disease-resistances of specific cultivars are published in incomplete charts, so they are only a rough guide and do not tell the whole story. For example, 'Neptune' seedless grapes, according to the charts, are moderately disease resistant. From my experience, 'Neptune' takes four years to finally produce; and when it does, every grape rots away. However, other grapes that are less "disease-resistant", have done better in our vineyard.
Additionally, I have come to realize that a specific grape cultivar can do well in one spot, but not in another, even if it is planted just 50' away on the same property. This is referred to as "micro-climates," which is a variation in conditions, such as elevations, wind flows, soil temperature fluctuations, sunlight.
The overall special combination of geography, geology, and climate on the grapes grown on a particular location is call "terroir" by the French (pronounced tier-wha'). Changing the terroir, changes the taste and health of the grapes and grapevines.
Finally, pruning is essential to grape production. Fruiting occurs on new shoots emanating from one-year-old canes. Each year about 90% of old growth is pruned out during the winter season to prepare for the next year's crop. After much experimentation the method of training I now use is "Cane-Pruned Vertical-Shoot-Positioning" whereby all two-year-old canes (and older, if present) are removed leaving just the trunk and one-year-old canes.