Too Warm?

Weather Underground Forecast for March 18- March 21 (observation from Sat. night 11:40 pm)

This is crazy weather.  The forecast high for tomorrow (Sunday, March 18) is 81 F.   If I wasn't a grape farmer, this would be awesome, but this could be really devastating for grapes.   If we have bud break in the next few weeks, the chance of a hard frost between bud break and mid-May is quite likely.   This could mean a severe hit to yields this year.   On the other hand, if we do have an early bud break, and no frost, we may have one of the best grape years in memory.  Unfortunately the former is more likely than the latter.

I spent a few hours pruning Prairie star today.   I saw some bud swell compared to last weekend.   Pruning cuts from last weekend were actively dripping.   The vines look great, but the a few frosty nights would be great to slow things down.  

If I didn't have such limited opportunities to prune, I would delay pruning as long as possible.   Delayed pruning is beneficial for delaying bud break since buds towards the ends of canes break first.    Based on the extended forecast, I may not have all of my vines pruned before bud break.  Hopefully slightly cooler temperatures forecast for next weekend will slow things down just enough.