Beginning Grape Growers can Avoid Common Mistakes
Pennsylvania Correspondent
“Most of these calls are about wine grapes, but there are also great opportunities for growers in table grapes,” says Fiola. “Eastern table grape varieties have incredibly good flavor. I would say that table grapes are the most underutilized crop in the East.”
There’s both good news and bad news out there for the potential grape grower. “Everyone has this wonderful, romantic idea,” said Fiola, “of California hillsides with grapes growing – no rain from mid-May to late September, hot dry weather, low humidity, no diseases, no problems with cold hardiness, make wonderful wine and sell it for a lot of money.
“Back to reality. There is a romantic aspect to growing grapes. But remember – we live on the East Coast. We have rain. We have high humidity. We have cold winters. We have all the things that tend to make grape growing a little more difficult than in California.”
A major consideration for new growers is site selection. “This is a high investment, perennial crop, and you really need to do your homework from a site selection standpoint, and from a marketing standpoint,” said Fiola.
Look at your area’s minimum winter temperatures. If you’re consistently below –5&Mac251; F, don’t consider growing wine grapes. There will be trouble getting a crop year in and year out. American grape varieties will survive –5&Mac251; pretty well. That’s kind of the limit for grape production.
Also check the number of frost-free days in your area. Make sure there are enough days to ripen the grape varieties you choose, from bud break to harvest. Sizeable bodies of water can help here, by moderating the climate. So can a slope. Cold air is heavier than warm air. So if you put cold-sensitive grapes on the higher elevation on a slope, the cold temperatures will be down in the valley.
“Some places we can actually get a 7&Mac251; to 10&Mac251; difference between the top of the slope and the bottom,” said Fiola. “This can make the difference between getting a full crop, or no crop at all.”
A slope also helps with water movement. Grapes do not like standing water. The direction the slope faces can also make a difference with particular varieties. For example, if a variety has bud break early, and is therefore vulnerable to frost, an eastern slope would be good. If a variety needs a lot of radiant heat to ripen, a southwestern slope would be good.
A wide range of soil types will do for grapes. It’s better not to have a hard pan. If you do, break it up with a subsoiler before you plant.
Grapes are deeply rooted from six to 20 feet deep. Good aeration is important.
But good, fertile soil isn’t always necessarily the best. “Some of the finest wines,” said Fiola, “are grown on gravelly, stony soils that actually stress the plants.”
“And it’s not really worth planting a high value crop like grapes without irrigation. New Jersey has some new programs that share the cost of putting in trickle irrigation.”
“Grapes need 20 to 25 inches of rain a year. The problem is that in the East, we don’t get it at the optimal times. But with trickle irrigation, you can control this.”
If your location is near a woods, you can have more problems with deer, rodent, birds and some insects. A lot of grape growers in the Cape May, N.J. area have their plantings fully netted to keep out birds.
Know the agricultural history of your location – of previous crops grown that could leave soil-borne disease. Take car of perennial weed problems before you plant.
In the humid East, you will have diseases, but “the good news is,” said Fiola, “that there are some nice, new chemistries coming out – compounds that are multi-faceted that actually take care of some aspect of these diseases all at once. And they are nice, ‘soft’ chemicals.
“Usually, first year costs in grapes are between $4,500 and $6,000 a acre, If you’re growing vinifera or fine wine grapes, they need to be grafted, and they usually cost significantly more than other varieties.”
Buy high quality plants. Deal with a reputable nursery. Buy the rootstocks you want. “If we say ‘get a 3309 rootstock,’ don’t settle for anything else, or you’ll have long-term problems,” said Fiola.
For labor, a lot of vineyards and small wineries in New Jersey work with volunteer labor, Fiola reported. “People love to come out on a weekend and help with the grape harvest in exchange for, maybe, a free lunch and a bottle of wine.”
Income will vary according to the type of grapes you grow and your method of marketing. “There’s a high demand for grapes, both for wineries and for the fresh market,” said Fiola, “and I don’t see that demand going down for quite awhile.”
Tons per acre can run between two and five, “but usually two to three is more realistic,” added Fiola. If you’re in an area that has a lot of home winemakers, $2,000 a ton is quite possible.
And if you’re into table grapes, selling from a roadside stand, if you charge $1 a pound, a fairly conservative price, that’s $2,000 a ton.
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