Grapes drying up

[veggiechicken]

Maybe you need a few more posts, Linden. New members often can't post images until they've shown themselves to be legitimate members!!
Keep posting and I'm sure it will soon be possible...............and Welcome to to the Forum .

[Linden]

Oh ok thank veggie chicken

[Linden]

oh great, just worked. Here are some photos I took today

[Jay-ell]

Well, the big ones are better than mine.
Actually, the small shrivelled ones are better than mine

[Deltawhiskey]

Hi Linden,

Thanks for the pictures. It looks to me and I am no expert, that it is a germination problem rather than dry roots. Did you have rain during the flowering period? I have just had a look at the books and there are four possibilities. One, a Boron deficiency which interferes with pollen tube growth. Seaweed spray is a source of Boron. Two, SO4 rootstock can be bad at taking up Magnesium which interferes with pollination. Epsom salts in the spray is a source of Magnesium. Three, coulure which is usually a problem with certain varieties but could also be a lack of Molybdenum also in seaweed spray I believe. Four, Millerandage (hen and chickens) caused by cold or wet weather during flowering but may also be a Molybdenum deficiency. Looking on the bright side, the grapes you have look really good and some growers will, believe it or not, welcome less grapes to produce a better wine. It is too late now to solve the problem but next year when you spray add seaweed and Epsom salts. Let us know how the harvest goes.

David

[Linden]

Great , thanks for that. Seaweeds definitely on the menu then next year. Do you spray from bud burst or when flowering? And yes I agree that the thinned bunches hopefully should produce better quality grapes

[Deltawhiskey]

Hi Linden,
I spray from the time leaves are 50p size up to the time just before the flowers open and start again when flowering has ended.

David

[Linden]

Here’s some pictures of my grapes at home, these have no issues and they are 6or7 years old

[Deltawhiskey]

Very nice, what variety?

[Linden]

These are rondo, I also have dornfelder and Bacchus. I started spraying to prevent powdery mildew on the dornfelder and because they were looking good I haven’t sprayed for 4 weeks now some look like they are getting it

[Linden]

These are rondo, I also have dornfelder and Bacchus. I started spraying to prevent powdery mildew on the dornfelder and because they were looking good I haven’t sprayed for 4 weeks now some look like they are getting it

[Deltawhiskey]

Hi Linden,
All three of your chosen vines are disease resistant but unless you are growing for organic wine you will still need to spray. Apart from Maxicrop seaweed and Epsom salts I spray fortnightly with Dithane and wettable sulphur both of which I had to get from overseas. I have a 20L backpack sprayer to cope with my 60 vines and my back is so glad when I am half way through. Spraying should end based on the particular fungicide, with mine it is about three weeks before harvest. A good web site for information is winegrowers supplies.

David

[Linden]

Thanks for your advice deltawhisky, I was spraying with topas 10ec which i had to buy in Italy. I should have kept spraying fortnightly but they looked so good I stopped.
Winegrowers supplies website has a wealth of info. That’s who I purchased my vines from. Which variety do you grow?

[Jungle Jane]

How much water have you given the home vines,whereas the plot vines have had none? It looks like the plot vines have rejected some grapes because of what little water the vine has. Vineyards have suffered yield loss due to drought,a lot of vineyards have irrigation,some with soil & heat sensors etc to give what little water the vines need. We’ve had no rain compared to every other year so I watered mine once last month or it would suffer drought conditions. Ive never sprayed my vine with anything,its about nine years old,they’re easy maintenance free plants,it’s wrong to say they need to be sprayed,I’ve never even seen people with vine problems on here,except this year because we’ve had no rain,they do need a little bit of water.

[Linden]

Hi jungle Jane, the vines in my garden have just had occasional water maybe once a fortnight, where as the 100 vines I have in the allotment had 150 litres (6 x25 drums)last week. Other than that they haven’t had any rain for weeks. As regards to spraying the dornfelder are very susceptible to powdery mildew and do need spraying or will loose their crop. Do you know what variety you have?