Netting the Grapes

With the grapes already ripening up we have to net the grapes as it wont be long before the birds and wasps would take a liking to them.  The Evangeline is already at 13 brix and will begin to entice the wasps in a week or two as the sugars continue to build. 

We have two types of nets - one is a drape net that is white and we are using that on the white grapes that ripen the earliest.  So the Evangeline for instance.  This net is great , super strong, doesnt let the wasps in but it is quite dense so it shades alot of the vine and as it is white it also reflects the light.  It definitely slows the ripening so we'll put it on those that ripen early.

The dark nets are lighter and let more light in and do not reflect the light but would absorb it - possibly increasing the temperature ever so slightly at the micro-climate area right at the net.  Haven't actually measures the temperature differences etc.. this is just an assumption.  But as it lets more light through we have this netting on the later ripening varieties that need more light and heat such as Foch.