The key isnt just the sunlight it is a good frost which changes the make up of the sugars in the grape. So equater facing vines in a warm climate at altitude makes quality wines. That is why mountain side or in hill valeys is often used. I wish you luck hopefully the desert nights get some useful chills for these grapes. I'm looking forward to seeing how this gets on as you are experienced in making your own wine so two things worth seeing the vines and the wines.
G M, we're taking notes as you speak. We know the basics of wine making, but growing quality wine grapes is completely foreign to us here. I get the feeling we have a steep learning curve before we can say we're growing quality wine grapes for sure!
G'day guys. Have been looking forward to you getting the grapes in. Those ones look like they are in great shape and you are off to a great start. Looking forward to seeing them fill out the space you have for them.
We were happy with how these looked. Our grower had some issues with many of the bare root starts he brought in this spring, but these Cabernet starts ended up doing well.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks. I was sorry I had to miss your last tour. My husband and I are destined to meet you at some point. Thanks for all your contributions of knowledge.
Those were some healthy looking grape vines. I just got done today tilling a fourth of an acre or so I'm trying to get the soil in better shape if you've never used a walk along tractor for tilling it will kick your butt and take you for a ride. I soon will be planting fall/winter veg. garden picking up fruit trees in the morning. I don't drink wine but I use it for cooking and lots of deserts and everybody else drinks it I do Mulberry Blackberry pineapple and strawberry usually
Whew, a quarter acre of tilling is a bit! It's definitely prime time for planting, so you'll want to get those in soon. If it gets down into the 40's like they're saying we may it will halt that fall flush on the trees.
Hoping to plant some table grapes (thinking of Thompson seedless variety) next year. Great job, can’t wait to see their progress and thank you for sharing.
It's hard to go wrong with Thompsons. Flame is another great eating variety and they are a little earlier to set and ripen fruit than the Thompson, so with those 2 you'll get an extended grape harvest.
Hi Duane and Lori, thanks again for the farm day. I realize this is an old video but I was wondering how deep you dig the hole for the vines. ASU Extension recommends 24 inches but in hard soil it is very difficult. Are you more interested in root growth horizontally rather than vertically? I will be planting some Cabernet next week. The soil on my property is very hard and full of rocks. Thanks!
Hey there George! It was great to spend some time with you today and finally meet face to face. Always good to put a face with the names we see here! We focus on horizontal root growth because of the hard pan/caliche we all have to deal with. With that, we only dig the hole large enough to plant and then irrigate on both sides of the planting. If you're planting potted vines just dig the hole the size of the pot. For bare root we typically mix about 30-40% potting soil with the native soil, so you get plenty of contact on the small bare roots. From there it's all the same. I'll link to a planting video we did with some bare root vines a couple of years ago; ua-cam.com/video/nn2bNpabrrE/v-deo.html The only potted vines we have are the Thompson, Cab and Monukka. The rest were bare root to start.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks Duane. I have two very pretty holes two feet deep, but the third seems to be solid ledge. My method is to soak the hole repeatedly and look for places to pry up rocks. I think I will stop trying to injure my 73 year old body and go prospecting for better spots in my “walled garden”. Or get some big pots! Thanks to you both!
Looks great. I live in wine country in California and know a guy who raises cabernet grapes. He gave me a bundle of cuttings a few years ago and I cut them up and ended up rooting over 200 of them, lol. Now I have all these vines producing grapes, I guess I should learn how to make wine...lol
@@CraftEccentricity it's funny with that, we've been growing deciduous fruit trees for going on 9 years now and every spring we're surprised when they "come back to life".
Great video. Looking to start planting grapevines soon. How did these turn out? Tried finding the update video to this but no luck on my end. Thanks in advance. Love the videos.
Glad you enjoyed this one Trev. The grapevines are doing fantastic this summer. We did a bit of an update on some of the other grapevines in the August tour we posted yesterday and I think there's a shot of the Cabernet grapes in some of the drone footage. I'll link that for you here; ua-cam.com/video/Cz2z9vDfjzg/v-deo.html
Nice work. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular wine in the world. In Arizona you should easily get BRIX of 26 (26% sugar). If you want to plant more wine grapes try Petite Sirah, real good tasting wine and well adapted to dry climate and you can get BRIX up to 28. Ah in Tucson the temperature got up to 115 F on July 28, 1995, the hottest so far.
Great notes on this Mark. We did put 6 Sirah vines in last year as well. Ended up with about 2 gallons of wine from them with their first year of fruiting this Summer. Looking forward to the next few years as they really start producing!
Looks like you know your grapes. Syrah is my favorite wine. You can blend Syrah and Cab Sauv for. people that prefer lighter wine. Petite Sirah is related to Syrah from cross pollination but it is a smaller berries with higher sugar than Syrah and it has a different flavor characteristic.
@@markspc1 The Syrah were actually bare root and I believe we bought those online from groworganic.com. That's also where we bought the Zin as bare root. The Cab was from our local grower who bought them from somebody in Cali for us. Not really sure where on that one.
I was speaking with the owner of the Saunders winery in Parhump, NV. Chardonnay does well in the desert. Pinot Noir, not so well. I want to try this on the north side of Las Vegas, elev. around 2200 ft. How much water do these need, though, until the tap root is established? Wine grapes typically need night temps at the low 60s, to maintain acidity. I'm curious on how this goes for you. This is exciting. Third, what sort of trellis type. A munson may be best as the canopy will shield the grapes from the scorching summer sun, and prevent bruising. Is the orientation east west, or north south for the rows. I'm assuming east west. I've been studying this wine grape project I want to do.
We have not attempted Chardonnay, but have kicked around the idea. Our rows face both N/S and E/W and I don't see any difference in production from one or the other. I imagine it's because of the intense, all around sunlight they get year round. We water via drip irrigation with anywhere from 12 gal/week to 36 gal/week based on the season. Winter is much less consistent when they're dormant and we only water if we go an extended period of time without any rainfall. We get 300-500 chill ours every Winter which is plenty for the vines. I'll link to our trellis system for you here; ua-cam.com/video/16lLEIlOXeE/v-deo.html One change to that is we've added 3 additional wires between the 3' and 6' wires to help train the vines. One last note, we're going to put in several Blanc Du Bois vines this Winter. After doing some research, it looks as though that may be a better option than Chardonnay for a good all around white. I suppose we'll see! Cheers.
@EdgeofNowhereFarm ty, very, very informative. I'll have to look up Blanc du Bois. The Mojave is a drier desert than the Sonoran, but that is a mere technicality. But, we're a higher desert, therefore a bit cooler. However, this summer was a beater.
Great video as always Duane and Lori! Im thinking of trying pots for some things this time around. Large pots! Just curious how the Dorsett Golden did in the pot and if it produced any fruit in the pot? Thanks!!!
Hey Eric. We still have the Dorsette in the pot and it's doing well. We had our first harvest this year and it was small, but they tasted good. You can tell it would really prefer to be in the ground, so I think we're going to try some root pruning this winter if we can find the time to do it.
@@ericbowers1620 that's a great question and we have no idea! This is the only potted tree we've ever had make it past a year or so. I understand the premise, being very similar to how a bare root fruit tree is cut back during the dormant season, so we're going with that.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I watched a few videos about huge grow bags and even bottomless pots which was quite fascinating. I might give those ideas a try as well.
Glad you enjoyed this one. We don't spray them with anything. It's one of the advantages to growing in the extremely hot, dry climate we're in. Not much can survive that weather! The key to that is using drip irrigation and not having much moisture around the vines otherwise.
Very much enjoyed your cabernet sauvignon grape video. My question is we live in North Scottsdale and want to plant a small vineyard for wine making too as well as table grapes - where can we buy the root stock that will do well here in AZ? Was not very clear in your video. Appreciate your assistance. Ron
Hey Ron. That sounds like a fantastic plan for those grapes. Wouldn't it be something to have a few vintages right out of the desert? It would be worth reaching out to Reid at RSI Growers to ask his opinion. We have our Cabernet on a Paulsen root stock that he suggested, but we also have Syrah, Zinfandel and soon to arrive Flame grapes on their own stock (from cuttings). In addition we have our Thompson's on Freedom this time around to see how they do. Our experience with Flame, Thompson and Monukka has been good with no separate root stock. I imagine it will be different for the wine grapes.
Greetings from north Phoenix! I’m about to plant two Crimson Vine bare root grape plants. I have two slightly raised block planters about 2-1/2’ wide and long 15 - 20 ft long. I was going to plant these in the planters. Do you thing they would be too restrictive and perhaps I should plant three (or so) feet in front of the planters to give the roots more room? Hate to make a mistake on my first attempt!😉 Thanks for your excellent channel! Hope I’m not too late at getting these in the ground at April 15…
You should be good to still plant, but you won't want to delay. As for root space, the more the better as the larger the root mass the better the vines will perform for you. We always grow grapevines in native soil, so a raised bed is not necessary for these guys.
Duane forgive me if this is covered elsewhere but did you do anything special with the soil besides what you explained here before putting the thick mulch layer over it? I wonder if you have a personal favorite table grape that is great for beginners and tastes great. Thanks for your excellent teaching style and super videos.
Great question and we get that frequently. The only time we amend the soil is if we're planting bare root trees (or vines). It's common to find grapes bare root for planting in the Winter, so if you wind up doing that you'll want to amend the soil, but only slightly. We usually mix some Kellogg's garden soil with the native soil when planting our bare root trees. The mix is about 30% Kellogg's and 70% native soil. That gives the soil a better texture when placing it back around the bare roots. I'll link a video we did planting some bare root grapevines for you here; ua-cam.com/video/nn2bNpabrrE/v-deo.html Oh and our favorite table grape is the Flame...followed closely by the Thompson.
How to get rid of grubs ? My avocado plant which has grass mulch has grubs underneath. Also the plant has leaves with brown tips. It’s not growing as well as it was in the beginning. Once again thanks for responding quickly.
Hey there Usha. We don't grow avocados here on the farm, so I can't speak to that directly, but overall we don't worry too much about grubs in the soil here on the farm. We have them here, but they don't effect the growth of our fruit trees, vines and shrubs. As long as you have the correct variety for your growing area the trees should be able to outgrow any damage that grubs can do. Where are you located?
Nice work! Now, I understand these specific vines were grown on rootstock. Do table grapes like your Thompson need that rootstock as well or are they fine just growing up from a cutting?
Hey Kylan. Most grapes do just fine without a root stock here in Arizona. Reid at RSI Growers insisted on trying this root stock for these particular grapes and so far they're performing well, but I can't say they're doing better than the rest of our vines that are all grown from cuttings.
Hi Duane and Lori and thanks again for a great video. I am finding all my needs watching your videos. I have a question about the trellis you landed on. Why did you use this kniffen system instead of the other system (Geneva) that has 3 wires on top with T posts. Does it have to do with AZ sun or are there other considerations. Also, I am planning to put my grape vines next to the east side of the house in my side yard in a north south orientation. Would that be ok in terms of amount of sun they will get. Thanks again
Hey Ahmad, glad you found this one useful. The trellis design was really a matter of simplicity. The vines grow very aggressively and the hard ground makes for a very solid post with very little movement even in heavy wind with a solid fruit set. A third wire would help with that initial branching in the Spring, but we haven't had an issue getting them to the top wire very quickly. If that becomes an issue, we may add another wire later on. As for your vine placement, it's hard to say for sure. We've found the best growth comes when a vine has full sun exposure at all times of day. On the old farm the first vines on either side of the vineyard garden were up against a Western facing wall. They still grew ok and produced fruit, but significantly less than the other vines that did not have that block to exposure. Now you're facing East, so if they're getting that early morning exposure and afternoon sun I think that's a better scenario that what we had. Space is an issue with smaller backyards, so if there's not an open area to place them in I would vote for East vs West sun exposure.
Loving the progress all around. I have missed quite a few videos, so I'm just curious if you have any plans for water catchment? Do you have any water rights / irrigation there? Just curious about the overall water situation as I don't recall seeing any information about that part of the farm.
There is an aquifer on the farm which follows Arizona regulations. There are runnoff points from the roof which divert into dug out ditches with pebbles over them to allow soakage into key parts of the farm. There are micro swales around the plants with woodchips covering them and irrigation controlled by wifi. The vine area is broken down to a little ditch under the trellace structure covered over with woodchips and has drip irrigation from the frame.
It looks like G M pretty much answered this for you guys. In addition to those we do have plans for additional water catchment for the livestock that we haven't implemented just yet.
Hey there! We have never had issues with ground squirrels disturbing the roots of the trees (and we have a LOT of ground squirrels around here). Shy of eliminating the ground squirrels, I'm not sure there is an effective solution for that if you're seeing damage.
Hey there Sheen. I think you'll be just fine up your way with putting these in the ground right now. The extreme dry heat is our problem down here when it comes to planting during the summer time.
We tested when we first arrived (before any plantings) and we tested at 8.4, so a bit more alkaline than you're seeing. We're going to give this a few years before we go back and test again.
Hey guys! Chicken wire should do the trick. We use the rabbit fencing because it's a more stable base than chicken wire and it helps keep coyotes from digging around the vines in addition to the rabbit protection. With the exception of the grapevines we've switched almost exclusively to hardware cloth. It's a bit pricey, but it keeps pretty much everything out.
Hey there Usha. The best time to plant grapes is during the dormant season and you can usually find the common varieties (Flame and Thompson are our top picks) as bare root cuttings at Home Depot in December/January. There are online retailers as well and Grow Organic is where we bought ours from a couple of years ago.
Once you’ve harvested the grapes off the vines, do you still need to water them weekly? In other words, do you cut back the water once the harvest is over?
Great question. We continue to irrigate them well after harvest, so they put on plenty of new growth and continue to send those roots down deep. In theory we will eventually be able to cut that back a bit post-harvest once the vines are fully mature.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you I really enjoy your UA-cam channel. We had a really nice harvest on the grapevine. This year is my first try at grapes. We really enjoyed them a lot. Keep up the good work.
Hey Allan. We fertilize them along with the rest of the fruit trees here, so in February, May and September. They don't need a tremendous amount of fertility, but we have found it really does wonders for their growth and production.
Great question Jonny. They really don't need as much as most people think. Our new vines are typically irrigated once/week (in the peak of summer) with about 8 gallons of water applied through drip irrigation on either side of the vine. Last year on our 2 year vines that were producing fruit we doubled that at the peak of summer.
you have me sold on going to RSI Growers for fruit trees, where would you recommend I go for vines and berries? I actually live in the Tucson area. Do you recommend anyone down here a little closer to me?
You can't go wrong with picking up your trees from Reid at RSI Growers. Vines and berries are a bit tougher and we've purchased them from a few places. The Flame and Thompson vines you can usually pick up at Home Depot or Lowes this time of year as bare root and they do fine. We've purchased berries from Stark Bros and Raintree which are both online nurseries. They are good sources as well. I really couldn't say otherwise for a local spot in Tucson, but if you check out Dave Wilson's website and search for retailers in Tucson you may find an option there. I'll link that website for you here; www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/where-to-buy-dwn-trees
Hey Chet, yes! We actually had Reid grow some out for us as we were getting the rest of the infrastructure in place this year. He was able to root out cuttings from our Thompson and AZ Canyon Grapes. We didn't show the planting here, but we'll have to show that to you guys on one of the Vlogs.
The plan right now is to cane prune the Cabernet which is typically how it's pruned. We're leaning towards cane pruning all of the grapes, except the flame which will face the house. We prefer the look of spur pruned vines, but we want production more than anything. Plus it's easy to grow cordons from cane pruned vines, so we can always change it up once the trunk is established.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I think so. They grow really fast, and are good for the land. You can use them as a cover crop or to eat. They grow fast without being watered in Arizona. I am not sure how it compares to mulch for soil health. I can't find any comparisons online. However, they are nitrogen fixers that reach maturity within two months.
Our favorite variety for a sweet table grape is the Flame Seedless. It's very prolific and the grapes are extremely sweet. Second would be the Thompson seedless, but not quite as sweet as the Flame in our experience.
That's a great question and we're trying to figure that out as well. I'm assuming it's just the effect of the water drying out the wood chips after watering. The chips almost look like they're turning to ash under those. No issues with the emitters thus far.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I already have test kits for my talapia, but go to a fish shop and ask to do a water test . It is so simple, never understood why ppl send off to LABS.
@@slamboy66 now that is a FANTASTIC idea. Never thought of that. Trying to deal with sending water in the mail was something we were just not wanting to do!
The key isnt just the sunlight it is a good frost which changes the make up of the sugars in the grape. So equater facing vines in a warm climate at altitude makes quality wines. That is why mountain side or in hill valeys is often used. I wish you luck hopefully the desert nights get some useful chills for these grapes. I'm looking forward to seeing how this gets on as you are experienced in making your own wine so two things worth seeing the vines and the wines.
G M, we're taking notes as you speak. We know the basics of wine making, but growing quality wine grapes is completely foreign to us here. I get the feeling we have a steep learning curve before we can say we're growing quality wine grapes for sure!
G'day guys.
Have been looking forward to you getting the grapes in.
Those ones look like they are in great shape and you are off to a great start.
Looking forward to seeing them fill out the space you have for them.
We were happy with how these looked. Our grower had some issues with many of the bare root starts he brought in this spring, but these Cabernet starts ended up doing well.
Thank you!!
Looks like you're making the rounds with some of our startup content. Any questions, ask away!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks. I was sorry I had to miss your last tour. My husband and I are destined to meet you at some point. Thanks for all your contributions of knowledge.
I live in AZ and if it wasn't already getting dark , I would be heading for the tool shed ...
Project time?
Beautiful, just wonderful! Excellent progress!
Hey Vera! Glad you enjoyed this one. Now we'll see if we can get these vines to produce something worth turning into wine!
Planted 2 additional grape varieties today while listening to the video. Funny timing. We can race to see who gets the better yield. : )
So now you have to share what you're putting in the ground! Flame, Thompson, or something else??
Good luck with the grapes! I love them and would love to start growing them too!
It's amazing how well they do here. Definitely need to add these to your garden!
Those were some healthy looking grape vines. I just got done today tilling a fourth of an acre or so I'm trying to get
the soil in better shape if you've never used a walk along tractor for tilling it will kick your butt and take you for a ride. I soon will be planting fall/winter veg. garden picking up fruit trees in the morning. I don't drink wine but I use it for cooking and lots of deserts and everybody else drinks it I do Mulberry Blackberry pineapple and strawberry usually
Whew, a quarter acre of tilling is a bit! It's definitely prime time for planting, so you'll want to get those in soon. If it gets down into the 40's like they're saying we may it will halt that fall flush on the trees.
Thanks for the video.
Glad you enjoyed this one!
Hoping to plant some table grapes (thinking of Thompson seedless variety) next year. Great job, can’t wait to see their progress and thank you for sharing.
It's hard to go wrong with Thompsons. Flame is another great eating variety and they are a little earlier to set and ripen fruit than the Thompson, so with those 2 you'll get an extended grape harvest.
Hi Duane and Lori, thanks again for the farm day. I realize this is an old video but I was wondering how deep you dig the hole for the vines. ASU Extension recommends 24 inches but in hard soil it is very difficult. Are you more interested in root growth horizontally rather than vertically? I will be planting some Cabernet next week. The soil on my property is very hard and full of rocks. Thanks!
Hey there George! It was great to spend some time with you today and finally meet face to face. Always good to put a face with the names we see here!
We focus on horizontal root growth because of the hard pan/caliche we all have to deal with. With that, we only dig the hole large enough to plant and then irrigate on both sides of the planting. If you're planting potted vines just dig the hole the size of the pot. For bare root we typically mix about 30-40% potting soil with the native soil, so you get plenty of contact on the small bare roots. From there it's all the same. I'll link to a planting video we did with some bare root vines a couple of years ago;
ua-cam.com/video/nn2bNpabrrE/v-deo.html
The only potted vines we have are the Thompson, Cab and Monukka. The rest were bare root to start.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks Duane. I have two very pretty holes two feet deep, but the third seems to be solid ledge. My method is to soak the hole repeatedly and look for places to pry up rocks. I think I will stop trying to injure my 73 year old body and go prospecting for better spots in my “walled garden”. Or get some big pots! Thanks to you both!
Good work
Thanks Kariire!
Looking good.
Thanks M H. It's coming along!
Looks great. I live in wine country in California and know a guy who raises cabernet grapes. He gave me a bundle of cuttings a few years ago and I cut them up and ended up rooting over 200 of them, lol. Now I have all these vines producing grapes, I guess I should learn how to make wine...lol
Jared, that sounds AMAZING! Given you're in the premier spot for growing grapes here in the US it's time to add some yeast to that grape juice!!
Awesome vid. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed this one. So far, they're still doing well.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Mine have lost their leaves now. Thought they were dying lol
@@CraftEccentricity it's funny with that, we've been growing deciduous fruit trees for going on 9 years now and every spring we're surprised when they "come back to life".
Great video. Looking to start planting grapevines soon. How did these turn out? Tried finding the update video to this but no luck on my end. Thanks in advance. Love the videos.
Glad you enjoyed this one Trev. The grapevines are doing fantastic this summer. We did a bit of an update on some of the other grapevines in the August tour we posted yesterday and I think there's a shot of the Cabernet grapes in some of the drone footage. I'll link that for you here;
ua-cam.com/video/Cz2z9vDfjzg/v-deo.html
Thank you. For this video. I will be asking queztions nin the future. Please n thank you in advance.
Ask away anytime Stephanie. Hopefully we'll have an answer for you!
Nice work. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular wine in the world. In Arizona you should easily get BRIX of 26 (26% sugar).
If you want to plant more wine grapes try Petite Sirah, real good tasting wine and well adapted to dry climate and you can get BRIX up to 28.
Ah in Tucson the temperature got up to 115 F on July 28, 1995, the hottest so far.
Great notes on this Mark. We did put 6 Sirah vines in last year as well. Ended up with about 2 gallons of wine from them with their first year of fruiting this Summer. Looking forward to the next few years as they really start producing!
Looks like you know your grapes. Syrah is my favorite wine.
You can blend Syrah and Cab Sauv for. people that prefer lighter wine.
Petite Sirah is related to Syrah from cross pollination but it is a smaller berries with higher sugar than Syrah and it has a different flavor characteristic.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Ah, where did you get the potted Syrah grapes ? Thank you.
@@markspc1 The Syrah were actually bare root and I believe we bought those online from groworganic.com. That's also where we bought the Zin as bare root. The Cab was from our local grower who bought them from somebody in Cali for us. Not really sure where on that one.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you.
I was speaking with the owner of the Saunders winery in Parhump, NV. Chardonnay does well in the desert. Pinot Noir, not so well. I want to try this on the north side of Las Vegas, elev. around 2200 ft.
How much water do these need, though, until the tap root is established?
Wine grapes typically need night temps at the low 60s, to maintain acidity. I'm curious on how this goes for you. This is exciting.
Third, what sort of trellis type. A munson may be best as the canopy will shield the grapes from the scorching summer sun, and prevent bruising.
Is the orientation east west, or north south for the rows. I'm assuming east west.
I've been studying this wine grape project I want to do.
We have not attempted Chardonnay, but have kicked around the idea. Our rows face both N/S and E/W and I don't see any difference in production from one or the other. I imagine it's because of the intense, all around sunlight they get year round. We water via drip irrigation with anywhere from 12 gal/week to 36 gal/week based on the season. Winter is much less consistent when they're dormant and we only water if we go an extended period of time without any rainfall. We get 300-500 chill ours every Winter which is plenty for the vines. I'll link to our trellis system for you here;
ua-cam.com/video/16lLEIlOXeE/v-deo.html
One change to that is we've added 3 additional wires between the 3' and 6' wires to help train the vines. One last note, we're going to put in several Blanc Du Bois vines this Winter. After doing some research, it looks as though that may be a better option than Chardonnay for a good all around white. I suppose we'll see! Cheers.
@EdgeofNowhereFarm ty, very, very informative. I'll have to look up Blanc du Bois.
The Mojave is a drier desert than the Sonoran, but that is a mere technicality. But, we're a higher desert, therefore a bit cooler. However, this summer was a beater.
Great video as always Duane and Lori! Im thinking of trying pots for some things this time around. Large pots! Just curious how the Dorsett Golden did in the pot and if it produced any fruit in the pot? Thanks!!!
Hey Eric. We still have the Dorsette in the pot and it's doing well. We had our first harvest this year and it was small, but they tasted good. You can tell it would really prefer to be in the ground, so I think we're going to try some root pruning this winter if we can find the time to do it.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yes I thought I saw it in the video you most recently posted. Looked pretty good still. Is root pruning hard to do?
@@ericbowers1620 that's a great question and we have no idea! This is the only potted tree we've ever had make it past a year or so. I understand the premise, being very similar to how a bare root fruit tree is cut back during the dormant season, so we're going with that.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I watched a few videos about huge grow bags and even bottomless pots which was quite fascinating. I might give those ideas a try as well.
@@ericbowers1620 hmm, bottomless pots is an interesting prospect. I haven't seen one, so is it something like a whiskey barrel without the bottom?
Great video. Do you ever have to spray leaves to avoid fungus disease or bugs
Glad you enjoyed this one. We don't spray them with anything. It's one of the advantages to growing in the extremely hot, dry climate we're in. Not much can survive that weather! The key to that is using drip irrigation and not having much moisture around the vines otherwise.
Very much enjoyed your cabernet sauvignon grape video. My question is we live in North Scottsdale and want to plant a small vineyard for wine making too as well as table grapes - where can we buy the root stock that will do well here in AZ? Was not very clear in your video. Appreciate your assistance. Ron
Hey Ron. That sounds like a fantastic plan for those grapes. Wouldn't it be something to have a few vintages right out of the desert? It would be worth reaching out to Reid at RSI Growers to ask his opinion. We have our Cabernet on a Paulsen root stock that he suggested, but we also have Syrah, Zinfandel and soon to arrive Flame grapes on their own stock (from cuttings). In addition we have our Thompson's on Freedom this time around to see how they do. Our experience with Flame, Thompson and Monukka has been good with no separate root stock. I imagine it will be different for the wine grapes.
Greetings from north Phoenix! I’m about to plant two Crimson Vine bare root grape plants. I have two slightly raised block planters about 2-1/2’ wide and long 15 - 20 ft long. I was going to plant these in the planters. Do you thing they would be too restrictive and perhaps I should plant three (or so) feet in front of the planters to give the roots more room? Hate to make a mistake on my first attempt!😉
Thanks for your excellent channel!
Hope I’m not too late at getting these in the ground at April 15…
You should be good to still plant, but you won't want to delay. As for root space, the more the better as the larger the root mass the better the vines will perform for you. We always grow grapevines in native soil, so a raised bed is not necessary for these guys.
Thanks so much! I appreciate your comments and advice!
Duane forgive me if this is covered elsewhere but did you do anything special with the soil besides what you explained here before putting the thick mulch layer over it? I wonder if you have a personal favorite table grape that is great for beginners and tastes great. Thanks for your excellent teaching style and super videos.
Great question and we get that frequently. The only time we amend the soil is if we're planting bare root trees (or vines). It's common to find grapes bare root for planting in the Winter, so if you wind up doing that you'll want to amend the soil, but only slightly. We usually mix some Kellogg's garden soil with the native soil when planting our bare root trees. The mix is about 30% Kellogg's and 70% native soil. That gives the soil a better texture when placing it back around the bare roots. I'll link a video we did planting some bare root grapevines for you here;
ua-cam.com/video/nn2bNpabrrE/v-deo.html
Oh and our favorite table grape is the Flame...followed closely by the Thompson.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Super helpful! Many thanks!
How to get rid of grubs ? My avocado plant which has grass mulch has grubs underneath. Also the plant has leaves with brown tips. It’s not growing as well as it was in the beginning. Once again thanks for responding quickly.
Hey there Usha. We don't grow avocados here on the farm, so I can't speak to that directly, but overall we don't worry too much about grubs in the soil here on the farm. We have them here, but they don't effect the growth of our fruit trees, vines and shrubs. As long as you have the correct variety for your growing area the trees should be able to outgrow any damage that grubs can do. Where are you located?
Nice work! Now, I understand these specific vines were grown on rootstock. Do table grapes like your Thompson need that rootstock as well or are they fine just growing up from a cutting?
Hey Kylan. Most grapes do just fine without a root stock here in Arizona. Reid at RSI Growers insisted on trying this root stock for these particular grapes and so far they're performing well, but I can't say they're doing better than the rest of our vines that are all grown from cuttings.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok that's great news for me and my Thompson then lol
Hi Duane and Lori and thanks again for a great video. I am finding all my needs watching your videos.
I have a question about the trellis you landed on. Why did you use this kniffen system instead of the other system (Geneva) that has 3 wires on top with T posts. Does it have to do with AZ sun or are there other considerations.
Also, I am planning to put my grape vines next to the east side of the house in my side yard in a north south orientation. Would that be ok in terms of amount of sun they will get. Thanks again
Hey Ahmad, glad you found this one useful. The trellis design was really a matter of simplicity. The vines grow very aggressively and the hard ground makes for a very solid post with very little movement even in heavy wind with a solid fruit set. A third wire would help with that initial branching in the Spring, but we haven't had an issue getting them to the top wire very quickly. If that becomes an issue, we may add another wire later on. As for your vine placement, it's hard to say for sure. We've found the best growth comes when a vine has full sun exposure at all times of day. On the old farm the first vines on either side of the vineyard garden were up against a Western facing wall. They still grew ok and produced fruit, but significantly less than the other vines that did not have that block to exposure. Now you're facing East, so if they're getting that early morning exposure and afternoon sun I think that's a better scenario that what we had. Space is an issue with smaller backyards, so if there's not an open area to place them in I would vote for East vs West sun exposure.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you very much.
Loving the progress all around. I have missed quite a few videos, so I'm just curious if you have any plans for water catchment? Do you have any water rights / irrigation there? Just curious about the overall water situation as I don't recall seeing any information about that part of the farm.
There is an aquifer on the farm which follows Arizona regulations. There are runnoff points from the roof which divert into dug out ditches with pebbles over them to allow soakage into key parts of the farm. There are micro swales around the plants with woodchips covering them and irrigation controlled by wifi. The vine area is broken down to a little ditch under the trellace structure covered over with woodchips and has drip irrigation from the frame.
It looks like G M pretty much answered this for you guys. In addition to those we do have plans for additional water catchment for the livestock that we haven't implemented just yet.
@@gm2407 thanks for catching this one for us G M. You explained this perfectly!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm No problem. Someone said pay attention there is a test at the end and we will be graded on contour.
@@gm2407 Ha! Berms and swales will be on the test for sure....
Hello I’m in AZ as well. What do you recommend for gopher, prairie dog and or ground squirrel root protection?
Hey there! We have never had issues with ground squirrels disturbing the roots of the trees (and we have a LOT of ground squirrels around here). Shy of eliminating the ground squirrels, I'm not sure there is an effective solution for that if you're seeing damage.
If I watched correctly Duane/Laurie you planted pot and all in the ground as opposed to removing the plant from the pot. Did I get that correct?
These pots are plastic, so we remove the tree (vine) from the pot before planting it.
On a whim I stuck a couple grapevines in the ground (up in the Verde Valley). Will they still grow off I took them out of the plastic pots?
Hey there Sheen. I think you'll be just fine up your way with putting these in the ground right now. The extreme dry heat is our problem down here when it comes to planting during the summer time.
What was the ph of your soil before any improvements. I’m east of McNeal and have a ph around 7.9 at my property.
We tested when we first arrived (before any plantings) and we tested at 8.4, so a bit more alkaline than you're seeing. We're going to give this a few years before we go back and test again.
We are in Yuma, and getting ready to start planting our property. The chicken wire isn't enough to keep the rabbits away?
Hey guys! Chicken wire should do the trick. We use the rabbit fencing because it's a more stable base than chicken wire and it helps keep coyotes from digging around the vines in addition to the rabbit protection. With the exception of the grapevines we've switched almost exclusively to hardware cloth. It's a bit pricey, but it keeps pretty much everything out.
When is the right time to plant a table grape plant in Tucson?And which is the best online grape plant supplier?
Hey there Usha. The best time to plant grapes is during the dormant season and you can usually find the common varieties (Flame and Thompson are our top picks) as bare root cuttings at Home Depot in December/January. There are online retailers as well and Grow Organic is where we bought ours from a couple of years ago.
Once you’ve harvested the grapes off the vines, do you still need to water them weekly? In other words, do you cut back the water once the harvest is over?
Great question. We continue to irrigate them well after harvest, so they put on plenty of new growth and continue to send those roots down deep. In theory we will eventually be able to cut that back a bit post-harvest once the vines are fully mature.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you I really enjoy your UA-cam channel. We had a really nice harvest on the grapevine. This year is my first try at grapes. We really enjoyed them a lot. Keep up the good work.
Nice... how often do you fertilize grapes here in the desert?
Hey Allan. We fertilize them along with the rest of the fruit trees here, so in February, May and September. They don't need a tremendous amount of fertility, but we have found it really does wonders for their growth and production.
How much water do baby vines need ?
Great question Jonny. They really don't need as much as most people think. Our new vines are typically irrigated once/week (in the peak of summer) with about 8 gallons of water applied through drip irrigation on either side of the vine. Last year on our 2 year vines that were producing fruit we doubled that at the peak of summer.
you have me sold on going to RSI Growers for fruit trees, where would you recommend I go for vines and berries? I actually live in the Tucson area. Do you recommend anyone down here a little closer to me?
You can't go wrong with picking up your trees from Reid at RSI Growers. Vines and berries are a bit tougher and we've purchased them from a few places. The Flame and Thompson vines you can usually pick up at Home Depot or Lowes this time of year as bare root and they do fine. We've purchased berries from Stark Bros and Raintree which are both online nurseries. They are good sources as well. I really couldn't say otherwise for a local spot in Tucson, but if you check out Dave Wilson's website and search for retailers in Tucson you may find an option there. I'll link that website for you here;
www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/where-to-buy-dwn-trees
Did you use any cuttings from your previous vines?
Hey Chet, yes! We actually had Reid grow some out for us as we were getting the rest of the infrastructure in place this year. He was able to root out cuttings from our Thompson and AZ Canyon Grapes. We didn't show the planting here, but we'll have to show that to you guys on one of the Vlogs.
Whats the spacing between the T posts?
Hey Dasan, great question. We use 6' spacing between the posts. You can go a bit wider if you want, but I wouldn't go further than about 8'.
So how many acres do you guys have total?
Hey Scott. We have a total of 6 acres, but we're only working with about 2.5 of that right now.
Do you water them in the winter when they are dormant?
Hey Addie! Yes, we still water them during the winter, but it's sparingly and no more than once per week. If we get any rain at all we skip watering.
Will these be spur pruned or can pruned? I cant remember if you mentioned it or not.
The plan right now is to cane prune the Cabernet which is typically how it's pruned. We're leaning towards cane pruning all of the grapes, except the flame which will face the house. We prefer the look of spur pruned vines, but we want production more than anything. Plus it's easy to grow cordons from cane pruned vines, so we can always change it up once the trunk is established.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm All of it sounds awesome. Any plans to propagate and continue to expand upon the grape orchard.
@@ayatti26 we definitely have the space and I think it really depends on how the wine grapes wind up doing. If they do well, we may need to!
do you have any tepary beans?
Hey Gladimir. No we don't have any Tepary Beans. Is that something we should consider?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I think so. They grow really fast, and are good for the land. You can use them as a cover crop or to eat. They grow fast without being watered in Arizona. I am not sure how it compares to mulch for soil health. I can't find any comparisons online. However, they are nitrogen fixers that reach maturity within two months.
@@gladimirsavinon104 ok, I pulled these up and found them online. That would be really cool to have an AZ native plant growing here on the farm.
Dawain whats a good sweet grapes in are area thank you
Our favorite variety for a sweet table grape is the Flame Seedless. It's very prolific and the grapes are extremely sweet. Second would be the Thompson seedless, but not quite as sweet as the Flame in our experience.
What are the mineral deposits under the emitters ? And do they clog ?
That's a great question and we're trying to figure that out as well. I'm assuming it's just the effect of the water drying out the wood chips after watering. The chips almost look like they're turning to ash under those. No issues with the emitters thus far.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I already have test kits for my talapia, but go to a fish shop and ask to do a water test . It is so simple, never understood why ppl send off to LABS.
@@slamboy66 now that is a FANTASTIC idea. Never thought of that. Trying to deal with sending water in the mail was something we were just not wanting to do!
Hi
Hey Angel, what's up!
Sucks about the Wineries and fires .
Oh man, my heart was breaking for those farmers. That's decades of growth and care literally going up in flames. Generations of work really.
Hey
Hey Allan, what's up man?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm- just acknowledging your presence and tripping the algorithm.
@@allanturpin2023 gotcha...and thanks!