Year 2 - Cabernet Cantor SO 4

Early January

The snowiest winter in Drenthe since years.

Snowy vines

Snowy piggie

Mid April

First buds appear on the vines.

April dormancy

First buds in mid april

Late May

Clusters of baby grapes are everywhere. I’m removing most of them this year, though, so the vines can spend their energy on their trunk and roots.

I’m looking to train the vines into VSP Single Guyot. We’ll see if I’m competent enough to pull that off.

Late May 1

First clusters in May 1

First clusters in May 2

Late May 2

Early June

It looks like 24 out of 25 cuttings have survived the first year. The one that isn’t budding at all this year may already have perished in November last year.

Early June 1

Early June 2

Late June

The vines are growing vigorously. A new mulch layer of hemp, wood chips, and cacao shells was applied.

Late June

Late June Mulching

Mid July

Some of the vines, especially those in the right row, seem to be developing a magnesium deficiency. A foliar spray was applied after taking the below picture. Last year, there were some differences in the exact ratios of the terraforming mix between the rows. I wonder if that is the cause of this disbalance. Or perhaps there are local differences in how the lime was applied?

In any case, I think I will do another liming round in autumn with dolomite chalk, which should increase the pH (increasing nutrient availability) and add more magnesium to the soil.

Mid July

Examples of magnesium deficiencies

Mid July Magnesium Deficiency 1

Mid July Magnesium Deficiency 2

Mid July Magnesium Deficiency 3

Late July

I finally installed a permanent dripping hose which I connected to the groundwater pump. This should enable deeper, less superficial soaking during summer, hopefully encouraging the roots to dig deeper.