This is only my second season so I'm still learning. This is what I've learned this year and the things I still can't figure out.
Unsolved problems:
The continuous rains did not help at all, but for me the BIGGEST problem was that it washed off the sprays leaving the Japanese beetles free to wreck havoc. Last year I sprayed twice, the beetles died and that was the end of it, they were only active for a week or two and didn't do too much damage. This year it was a steady munch fest, (you could hear them eating) for at least four weeks.
I attribute the low sugar and slow ripenning to the fact this unwanted vlounteer labor managed my canopy to near non-existence, about the only leaves I had left were those in the fruit zone. No leaves no photosynthesis, no sugar.
I have no idea what I could have done differently. I've got limited time to do the spraying ( mostly weekends) and if it's raining I can't spray at all, and this year even if it stopped raining long enough to spray, the rains resumed almost as soon as I finished. Apart from Carbyl-80 & Imidian (sp?) is there anything I can do about Japanese beatles? I asked the Co AG agent about Milky spore for next year and he actually advised against it based on "the manufacturer's quality control problems" that he said rendered it ineffectual.
My other learning problem is that at this point harvest time is a random event - I have no feel for when to expect it so I'm left with last minute surprises like this. Last Saturday the number looked like harvest was still long off, yet last year I had harvested everything by the end of this week. Today the numbers still say that it might be worthwhile to delay another week, but the local insect life (flies and wasps) are saying harvest now or we will. I suppose I could spray again but even if I could hold off the bugs I'd be pushing harvest restrictions with the insecticides I have available.
I still don't have pruning down. Part of the problem is "too many experts" I have four reference books that talk about pruning, and if they are describing the same method they've used far too much creativity in describing it. It appears to me as if there is zero agreement on the 'right' way to prune. Even so I've figured out pruning is like chess. It is not about what to cut this year, it is about what did you cut last year, and what will you cut next year. Now that I know to be looking ahead two moves pruning will go better next year, but I still think I'm going to have to risk a fifth expert and try to get to the MGGA pruning clinic next year. I couldn't go this year because of the weather, I could either learn about pruning or get it done by guessing there wasn't a spare non-raining/snowing weekend to do both. I probably over pruned this year, I have fewer bunches, but they did not end up significantly bigger (either bunch or berry size) than last year. I had about 400 pounds of Cab last year, and eyeball comparison/estimate I suspect no more than 300 # this year, probably closer to 200# (asuming it ripens, see beetle problem).
At least I've figured out the fungus spraying schedule, in spite of the rains very little fungus problem this year whereas last year I lost at least half the chardonney, and a good portion of the Cabernet. Although it does mystify me, why didn't that just "wash away" as well?
I think that part of the problem was last year because of the long harvest restriction I ended up not using the manzoceb at all. This year knowing I couldn't use it "later" I used it first, and then switched to the ferbam. [Last year I used the ferbam first because I had more of it, and only later found out about the 66day harvest on the M, and the four dose limit on the ferbam, leaving me with nothing usable and only halfway through the season. I would have lost everything but I found 1 little half packet of NOVA tucked away in a cabinet, which was just enough for 1 application, which stopped all the fungus dead in it's tracks] This year I joined the maryland Grape Growers Associaiton, so was able to use they're co-op chemical buying service, and was able to get fresh supplies of chemicals and so was able to do a proper rotation rather than spraying the same stuff repeatedly until I hit application limits (mostly manzocab, ferbam, captan and NOVA, with an interlude of the botryis specific compounds elevate & abound I think, don't have the list at hand).
The bird netting went up way too early last year, I now know I can wait a bit longer before putting it up, and will have less problem with vines tangling in the nets, with no additional bird problems.
Putting nets across the ends of the rows does keep the deer out, and while they munch on the mature vines on the two outermost rows some, they don't devestate them as bad as they do the young vines that had been replanted in the inner rows, keeping them out of the inner rows has let the young vines grow enough to reach the cordon wires & I'll be able to start training armes next year.
Having the nets on the end rows also gave me a use for AOL cd's. Dangling them from the nets keeps the tractor from getting tangled up in the nets when you forget to roll them up before mowing between rows. ____________________________________________________________________ "and they lived happily ever after" is an euphemism for "and they sat around and waited to die."