Solar Power Drip Irrigation

I constructed a simple solar powered drip irrigation system to water the vines this year.  The system has two segments; the solar power generation/circuit and the water distribution system.

So the water distribution system works like this.
There are 150 vines on each leg of the distribution system.  The water pump is hooked up to a series of tanks (1500 gallons total) and pushes up to 180 gallons of water per hour and each of the 150 vines has a 1 gallon per hour drip emitter (so distribution for each leg is 150 gallons per hour).  So when the pump is running there is enough pressure at 180 gallons per hour flow to ensure the 150 gallons gets to the vines at approximately 30lbs per square inch of pressure.

The 12v pump is activated by a simple water pressure switch.  The switch activates when the pressure drops below 20 lbs per sq inch and shuts off when the pressure get up to 40 lbs per sq inch.

Each leg is on a timer.  I set the timer to go on for 1 hour every 3 days.  When the timer activates it opens up and the pressure in the line drops in the line below 20 lb per sq inch which activates the switch to turn on the pump.  The pump does its thing pumping up to 180 gallons per hour and because there is 150 drip emitters releasing water at 1 gallon per hour (so 150 gallons) on the leg it pushes the water out fast enough through the emitters so the pressure does not exceed 40lb per sq inch(so the switch doesn't turn off).  But after 1 hour the timer closes and the pressure behind it builds up to 40 lb per sq inch and the switch shuts off the pump.

I have added a pressure gauge in-line between the pressure switch and the timer to see how much pressure is in the line when it is running. When the pump is running it is usually at about 28 lb per sq inch. 

One thing to remember is that I have just enough drip emitters to keep the pressure at around 30 lb per sq inch otherwise if there were not as many the pressure may be too high in the line and the switch would turn off the pump. I had anticipated this and hooked up a hose at the end of the leg of the drip emitter line that could be partially closed off manually and thus set to regulate the pressure. The line loops back tot the water tank putting the excess water back into the tank.  Fortunately I did not need to use this.

I can run this 4-5 weeks without having to refill the water tank.

The solar generation/circuit works like this;
The solar panel is 125 watt 12volt panel that charges a 12 volt battery though a 7.7amp charge controller.  The pump is wired to the battery through the pressure switch.  The pressure switch is the 120 volt model used on a pressure tank in a house but you can run 12v though it as it is just a switch.

Here is some pictures;

Mildew Pressure - This is new!

So what would the nearly perfect year so far be without something coming up to rain on the party.  For the past 7 years we've barely had a stich of mildew and really no rot to speak of.  This is a function of a few factors that I can think of the main one being that we have utilized mildew resistant varieties.  The other reason is we have cool nights which slows mildew development and dry summers with low humidity.

This year is an exception in several respects.  First off the vinifera varieties of Pinot Noir and Zweigelt have fruit this year. Again they are responding to the soil amendments.  These varieties are prone to developing powdery mildew and downey mildew as well as bunch rot.  Next it has not been cool in the nights it has been very warm with high humidity.  The rain has been a bit above normal also. 

As such the Pinot Noir is showing fungus mold on the bunches - not being too familiar with this I'm thinking its downey mildew based on how the vine bunches and leaves have been affected.  I clipped these clusters away.

I've noticed slight mildew on one bunch of the Marechal Foch and one Evangeline also.

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.

Veraison in July (Grapes are Ripening)

The heat has brought the grapes along so fast and early this year and as of the end of July we are seeing the grapes starting to turn in the ripening stage - a good 2 weeks early foresure.  The clear sign is the red grapes start to change colour - the Marechal Foch is turning, so is the Lucy Kuhlman, Castel, and Joffre. Leon Millot is unusually behind but again it was stunted due to the cane die back.  Its a bit harder to tell with the white grapes except that they begin to soften up.  Also the grapes will start to accumulate sugar so you can get out the refractometer and test some of them.  We tested those that were softening which was the Evangeline and surprisingly the Seyval.  Both were showing 13 Brix.  The Petite Milo, Ravat, L'Acadie Blanc were still quite hard.  Very surprising with the Seyval as it should be the latest ripening of all the white grape varieties we have - but we only started to get production from this vine last year and this year so are just starting to get to know it.
Here are the photos for July 31st.
Leon Millot

Ravat 34

L'Acadie Blanc

Evangeline

Marechal Foch

Arrow Lakes Vineyard Grape Update mid-July 2015

Just a quick update to show where things are this year. Again, its been a hot year so far, and dry, we are way ahead of normal (2 weeks forsure) and the Ravat 34 and Marechal Foch look excellent and should average about 1-1.5 lb per trellis foot.  Evangeline and L'Acadie Blanc looks good also, but we will have to net in early August this year, usually we do this at the end of August - early September.
Here is a few Pictures

Ravat 34

 Ravat 34 canopy (4 arm kniffen with good light exposure)

 Marechal Foch (approaching bunch closure)

Grapes Way Ahead in 2015

We have had way more heat this year than normal in both May and June this year.  Normal average for May and June is 12.5c and 15.5 respectively.  This year we have had 14c and 18.5c respectively.  As such the grapes as of July 4th are way ahead and already pea size (compare the pictures below to last year at July 1st  link here .  Hear are some pictures from this year;
Marechal Foch

Petite Milo

Evangeline

Really Early Bloom for 2015

More indications that bloom is going to be early.  Here is a Lucy Kuhlman cluster  that is already into bloom as of June 6th - this is 3 weeks early.  Not too surprising as May was about 14c average and normal is usually about 12.5c. 

Now this flower cluster is close to the soil level and receives more heat that the usual ones at the 3-4 foot level but still this is really early.  Overall the Lucy Kuhlman looks good this year and came through the winter quite well. 

Fast Growth for Spring 2015

In April I wrote about how warm the winter had been and later how early the vines had budded out this year.  Well that trend continues and I'd say we are forsure a week ahead of normal and could even see flowering in a few weeks perhaps as early as June 20-25th for some varieties.

We had hardly any precipitation since the end of April and the soil had been really dry but we just got about 4 inches of rain this past week and that has helped.  The addition of the drip irrigation system is helping alot and if this year ends up being the hot and dry year its predicted to be then it should help alot.

The Marechal Foch looks fantastic with 2-3 clusters on each shoot and virtually no die back on the canes.  Marquette is the same and is really impressing me this year - I think as it goes into its third year and giveen the soil ammendments provided in past 2 years, this vine is really responding well.  Like the Foch pretty much 2 clusters per shoot.  Both these are stand outs this year after the winter we had.  Lucy Kuhlman surprised me as well and like Marquette is responding to the soil ammendment and survived the winter well (given the harsh freeze/thaw cycles we had). All the whites look great and the Vandal Cliche is impressive for 3 year vines.
See the Marechal Foch photo

 

See the Marquette Photo

The Ravat 34 is looking excellent AGAIN - can not say enough about this grape. photo below

Huge Evangeline clusters

L'Acadie Blanc is also looking well; 2-3 clusters per shoot

Vineyard Expansion 2015

So we have been experimenting with about 25 different varieties of grapes since 2008 and some have shown to do quite well in our climate and conditions and others not.  Some of the red varieites that have done well are Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Triompe D'Alsace, Lucy Kuhlman, Marquette, and the Castel is improving every year.  Whites that have done well are Ravat 34, Petite Milo, Vandal Cliche, and Evangeline, and L'Acadie Blance.

Red or Whites that have not done well include Regent, Cabernet-Foch, Cabernet-Libre, Agria, and Ortega.  Zwegelt and Pinot Noir have not been doing well but in the last year have shown strong improvements - we have only started adding soil amendments in the past few years.

So we are now expanding the vineyard and are adding new rows of Leon Millot and Marechal Foch.We have also added drip irrigation system and will evaluate the same row comparison of vines irrigated and unirrigated for the next few years. 

Bud Break - 2015

So spring is a bit early for the vines and this is reflected in the bud break this year which is about 3-5 days early.  This is pretty dramatic as until now bud break has usually occurred between May 18 and 21st but this year its started around the 15th and most varieties are now out as of the 21st.

The winter was hard on a few varieties and this was not evident until bud break as the canes showed decent winter survival but no live buds or few week buds emerged.  Particularly hard hit was the Leon Millot and Triompe - both these vines are quite similar and have some similar pedigree.  With the freeze thaw temperature swings we had in late winter the vines got hammered.  They have experienced this before but not as severe and some show cane and trunk damage.  It is noteworthy here that at our location you need to be growing renual trunks on millot and triompe every few years.  Interesting was that the sister vine to Leon Millot is Marechal Foch and while the millot was really hard hit, the foch looks great.  See Leon Millot pictured below, followed by Marechal Foch

Again the Ravat 34 is excellent and there are some monster flower clusters poking out. See below

Another stand out is the Vandal Cliche and for three year old vines they are producing very well - see below.

The L'Acadie Blanc is doing well also with dual clusters visible on every bud. - see below.

The Castel is also doing alright and is slowly improving each year.  Same for the Evangeline, Petite Milo and Marquette. The Regent died back to the ground again.  Castel Pictured Below