Give 'em a fighting chance

Bunch of pictures from the vineyard this weekend. Here is a picture of the vineyard from Sunday afternoon.


The vines are getting hit from the weather, bugs, and more bugs. Well, I decided it's time I give the vines a fighting chance.

The Rose Chafers are back, and back in force. This is the forth year in a row they hit my vines. Last year they showed up on about June 15, this year it was maybe June 10 or a day or two earlier. My notes only note them showing up in June the previous years, and were not detailed enough to know the exact date. Interestingly, the last two years appearances coincided within a day or so of the cutting of the hay field that the vineyard borders. Related? Possibly.
Here they are attacking the LaCrescent vines
The vines that hadn't been attacked yet were covered with floating row covers. Unfortunately, the row covers really could only be used on the newly planted vines. And the jury is still out on whether they will even work.Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying that the definition of insanity is to do the exact same thing over and over and expect a different outcome. I haven't really sprayed or done anything significant to eradicate them. Well this year was different. I really didn't want to lose another year on the Concords, and lose a year on the LaCrescent. So after surveying the extent of the infestation ... significant, and since bloom hadn't really started, I decided to spray Sevin. I thought it was either use it or lose some vines. The LaCrosse were hit every year by them, and they are in their forth year and will still not bear a crop! The Sevin looks like they did a number on the Rose Chafers... at least the ones that were part of the current infestation. Check out the picture....


I am also seeing a lot of damage from the grape flea beetle and its larvae. Several of the laCrosse got hit the hardest, and it looks like no or very little crop off them again this year. The LaCrosse definitely have had it the hardest. It's hard to believe I haven't lost one of those vines completely yet.

You can see the grape flea beetle larvae on the left ( a bit blurry) You can also see the damage to the canopy of the foch on the right.

The LaCrosse showed the most damage. I read that the Larvae damage from the grape flea beetle was typically "minor" ... ha! minor?... look at the picture!

The Sevin should also knock them back too. I'll evaluate status next weekend, but the next spray of Sevin may have to wait until after bloom, which I expect to start in force in the next week or so.

And to top it off. I had a frost Sunday morning!!! It's June 11th!!! A FROST?!! It only hit the lowest corner where the air drainage is poor, and only the foliage closest to the ground, but come on.... here is a picture of the a vine that got it pretty good.Not all is lost . Some of the foch was looking quite good. See below