Week of May 12 - Thinning Vines

Progress this week included thinning vines. Last weekend, I understand that Tim completed row 1. Jennifer and I worked in rows 2, 3, & 4. 3 & 4 are complete and row 2 is approximately 1/2 complete. As a guestimate of time required, we took approximately 2.5 hours to work through 1/2 of a row per person. Since the growth was so heavy in these rows, I tended to work at the vine sitting on the ground and working from underneath the vines. From the top of the vines, I could not see what to remove without doing damage. Attempting to speed up work also caused mistakes so we kept at a fairly manageable pace which means lots more to get done.

I have not sprayed at all this week. Last spray of sulphur and PencoZeb was on May 5.

Monday May 5, 2008 3rd Spray

On Monday May 5, I mixed the equivalent of a 1 acre application of liquid sulphur and Pencozeb with 30 gallons of water in the blast sprayer. (1 gallon of liquid suphur, 4 lbs of PencoZeb) The weather was perfect for spraying with only a slight breeze (1-2 mph) out of the south southwest. This allowed me to spray while running the rows in both directions. This mix was applied with the sprayer set at 30 psi. I ran the tractor in 3rd gear at approximately 1500 rpm's. At this rate I was able to cover both sides of the rows. After discussion with Caroline, we determined that another equal spraying was due to obtain the recommended application for our 2 1/2 + acres. I re-installed the "Deer Tape" at both ends of the rows.