Good Looking Crop.

Phoenix has set a really good crop this year. Just look at all those bunches.

I may still remove a small number of bunches more to adjust crop load, something that will have minimal effect on yield as the remaining grapes will grow slightly larger to compensate.

While I'm in admiring mood these Interlaken cuttings in the polytunnel are heading for the roof. It certainly makes a difference raising them under cover.

As long as I can extract them without breaking their roots when transplanting them in the autumn they should have gained a year over outdoor cuttings to produce fruiting wood next year.

Summer Leaf Pulling.

After shoot and cluster thinning  the other main summer manipulation is leaf pulling. This is removing leaves around the grape cluster opening up the canopy, exposing the forming grape clusters to the light.

Doing this helps with even ripening as well as increasing the sugar content of the grapes once they colour up. It can also help increase grape size in some varieties (Dornfelder is one that responds well to leaf pulling by increased berry size) as well helping against botrytis near to harvest.

Here is the Brant vine before leaf pulling.

And this after leaf pulling. Leaves shading the clusters have been removed opening us the dense canopy exposing the developing grape clusters.

Here is a closer view of part of the canopy before.......

And the same part after.

As with cluster thinning leaf pulling for size needs to be completed before the grapes begin to colour up.

Crop Evaluation - Cluster Thinning.

Despite the cool wet weather the Phoenix has set a pretty decent crop. So now it is time to evaluate the potential crop load and reduce the number of clusters. There are three reasons for doing this.

1. To prevent the vine overbearing as well as allowing the remaining grapes to ripen better.

2 To increase berry size. Many, though not all, varieties will produce larger grapes if the number of clusters are reduced but only if this is done before the grapes begin to colour up.

3. To increase air flow around the bunches helping to prevent botrytis (grey mould) near harvest.

Of course the question is which clusters do you remove and which ones do you keep.

This stem has produced three clusters so the top one will be removed. If you are growing for eating then leave only one, the best, cluster on each stem.

Late forming clusters can also be removed so you get a more even harvest, something particularly important if the grapes are for winemaking.

More clusters will be removed gradually over the next three weeks until the planned number remain. Malformed or poorly formed clusters will be given priority for culling.

As you can see Phoenix is a variety that reliably produces large, attractive clusters with medium sized grapes that are good for wine as well as tasty when eaten fresh. This is why I often suggest it as a dual purpose trouble free variety.

Mixed Fruit Set.

After flowering comes fruit set. This is the time to begin evaluating how well the bunches have set in order to estimate yield.

Each individual immature grape has up to four seeds contained within it. Depending on how many of those seeds are pollinated will determine the eventual size of the berry. The more seeds that are pollinated the larger the grape will be.

This is the reason most seedless grapes naturally carry small berries within the bunch and commercial manipulations to increase berry size need to be performed for retail sales.

When the weather is cool and showery, as they have been this year, often grape clusters will set many different berry sizes with the smallest ones never ripening at all. The french call this "millerandage" while in english uneven fruit set is sometimes called "hen and chickens".

Here is a grape cluster showing typical signs of uneven fruit set.

Compared to this one which is much more evenly set. It should produce a decent bunch eventually.

Likewise this Chardonnay bunch looks reasonably well set. Chardonnay naturally grows a large amount of small bunches.

Brant The Ornamental Grape.

Brant is a variety often sold as an ornamental vine because it can cover an area quickly with spectacular autumn foliage. What's more the colouring up process begins long before autumn begins.

Yet the grapes make excellent rose or light red wine. They are also pleasant enough to eat although somewhat on the small side.

The main drawbacks are uneven and somewhat late ripening. Of course this is not a problem when it is grown as an ornamental.

Brant Aerial Roots.

The Brant grape vine is producing aerial roots. The vine is well over ten years old and I have never seen it produce adventitious, or aerial roots before. They are appearing all over the vine.

An online search hints at the answer. A number of opinions suggest that late spring frost followed by wet weather  can cause certain varieties of grape vines to produce aerial roots. Apparently it has no affect of fruiting so that's a relief.

However the vine was well protected from the late frosts and came through them pretty much unscathed.

Then of course we have had a phenomal amount of rain in the last three months so I'm pretty sure that has played a large part towards this phenomenon. Another contributing factor is that the vine top growth has been drastically reduced over the last two years meaning that there is now a huge imbalance between root mass and top growth.

More sap is going to fewer buds in other words.

Perhaps it has a premonition of its impending execution at the end of the year and is making a bid for freedom!

Late But Trying.

Madeleine Angevine are often the last to begin flowering yet usually the first to ripen. So I'm not overly concerned that the vine I have has waited until now to begin flowering.

Even if the grapes ripen a  few weeks later than their normal late september they should still ripen in time.

Being a young vine the Dornfelder vine is only carrying four small flower clusters this year. They too are beginning flowering.

Dornfelder grapes are relatively late to mature, mid october most years, so there is a distinct possibility they won't ripen in time. I'm not too concerned by this as strong growth is still more important than fruit for these vines this year.

Topping Out.

Once grapevines reach the limits of their allotted space they need to be pinched or topped out otherwise they will just grow more unruly diverting energy into shoots rather than fruit.

Topping out will encourage side shoots to grow further down the shoot. These need to be stopped at one leaf or removed completely.

Summer Care - Canopy Management.

Grapevines left to their own devices soon become a tangled mass of stems leaves and tendrils growing in every direction. So like unruly children they need to be properly trained if they are to give their best.

This need not be complicated but if carried out properly will make life for you and your grapevine a whole lot easier.

Firstly the growing shoots need to be trained upright. It doesnt matter whether you use catch wires as happens in open vineyards or as I do tying the shoots in, or some other method, as long as somehow they are kept growing upwards.

This needs to begin early in the season and carry on right through the season.

Secondly removing the side shoots or laterals greatly help keeping the canopy open. It's the same principle as growing cordon tomatoes in that removing the laterals make both types of plants grow better.

Some grape growers remove the whole lateral, I pinch to one leaf as I think the extra foliage is an advantage once leaf removal around the fruit clusters begins. More on that later.

Here is a lateral before pinching

And the same lateral after pinching.

Since the shoots are being tied in I remove the tendrils as they grow. While this is not strictly necessary it stops the tendrils twining around anything they can.

The other summer management is leaf removal, as mentioned above, and surplus cluster removal. More on these in a later post.

Taking Stock Midseason.

It is about the midway point in the season so time to take stock of what the rest of the season is likely to hold.

The first thing to note is how late the season is this year. This is because since april it has been so wet, dull and cool, all the things grapevines really hate.

Flowering generally has been late, although Brant flowered right on time with Phoenix and Chardonnay only a little behind their usual flowering time. Regent is about three weeks late and the Madeleine Angevine hasn't begun flowering yet although it is not far off.

All this means it will most likely be a late harvest season. I expect to see Phoenix ripen as well as Madeleine Angevine since once they have set fruit the bunches begin swelling quickly. Chardonnay should be ok with a bit of luck.

The Brant at home should ripen too, but the ones on the allotment are only flowering now.

Regent should ripen late, however Dornfelder, whose flowering is still some way off, probably won't ripen in time. This is not a big problem as it is their first year of cropping so it is better for them to concentrate on growing stronger this year.

So a late season but I'm still hopeful just about sums it up.