Cloning Takes Time
As the growing season is winding down, I hope to post some of the lessons I’ve learned this year.
2010 is my second year for cloning grapes, also known as “propagating”. This year, I’ve made it a point to take exacting notes about when and how I’ve cloned these plants, as well as cloning multiple varieties of grape plants. In the photo above, you can see 49 days of growth. The left most picture was taken February 7th, the center on March 6th, and the right photo taken March 28th. I’ve documented the whole process here: Propagating Grapes Revisited. What I didn’t stress much at the time was just how cold it was that day:
A Very Cold Day
In order to prune grapes without harming the plant, it needs to be very cold, or the vine will “bleed”. If you cut a grape vine in the summer months, the life giving sap of the plant will ooze out, and the damage may even kill the plant. The day I picked for pruning was particularly cold, around 10 F, with bone chilling winds. When I was finished cutting the vines, I took them to the greenhouse, where it was much warmer, about 60 F.
So you see, Patients really is a virtue, and good things require effort, no matter how cold it is.
