It's been a while since the last time I was on the blog. My apologies.
Anyway, the first two thirds of the summer where I live was absolutely wonderful for the grapes. There was just enough rain to keep the soil moist at all times and tons of sunshine for photosynthesis. The vine grew massive and I hope to post some pictures up here soon. It is as tall as me and much taller than me wide as the vine is growing across the trellis. The last third of the summer was a bit chilly and dry, but the first part of the summer more than makes up for it.
I left one cordon to grow to the left first and then another cordon to grow to the right after a while. The right one is just a single cane extending for about five feet. It doesn't seem to have any more other canes growing out of it except for some smaller leaves growing near each node. The left cordon I am allowing to grow is full of vigor. I never knew a second year growth would be so pronounced. The cordon has canes growing out of nearly every node, and the canes are up to fifteen nodes long! The cordon is about five or six feet long and there are more leaves than I would have expected. It looks like a jungle. :)
The grapevine I planted this year is still about a foot tall as it ended up getting eaten by rabbits and deer twice! However, it was an excellent summer for a young vine and I'm sure the root system is developing quite nicely for next summer.
My neighbor's grapevine already has grapes that are showing verasion. I tasted them about two days ago and they are already sweet. It's been kind of chilly and dry lately so I feel like are ripening early this year.
