Grape Growing – The Climate
It seems like I’ve touched a nerve with yesterday’s post about Global Warming. Got some really aggressive replies! Anyway, let’s look at what the ideal climate for growing grapes is – with or without global warming 😉 ….he he
The ideal climate for growing grapes can be devided into three components:
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The messo climate
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The micro climate
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The macro climate
In this article I will mostly focus on the macro climate; the one that will determine if your climate is suitable for growing grapes or not.
The messo climate:
The mesoclimate describes the climate within smaller areas such as a region or valley. The climate conditions of a mesoclimate is normally calculated over shorter periods of time (using hourly data) and is influenced by the topographic factors of elevation or altitude, slope inclination and aspect, and proximity to bodies of water. Within a grape-producing region, the mesoclimate of a specific vineyard site has a profound influence on susceptibility to spring freezes and the ripening of your grapes.
The micro climate:
In short, the ideal microclimate is the climate immediately within or surrounding your grape vine canopy and differences occur within a few meters / centimeters and minutes or seconds. It is influenced by the vigor of the grapevine, irrigation, soil management, how you manage the canopy of your grape vine, the row orientation you use, the row spacing etc.
The ideal micro climate influence how successful you will grow grapes, as this will determine the vine’s health and productivity, but will also improve grape quality. Unlike the messo and macro climate, the micro climate is something we have 95% control of and this is where the importance of using the correct viticultural practices comes in (the one’s I teach in the Complete Grape Growing System).
The macro climate:
The macro climate describes the climate of a region, extending over hundreds of kilometers (e.g. the South Western Cape where I live) and is studied over a long time-period (usually 30 years or more), using annual, seasonal or monthly data. The macro climate is influenced by the geographic location (latitude) and proximity to large, climate-moderating bodies of water. The weather may differ from year to year, but the climatic situation over a long period of time is relatively stable in terms of temperature and rainfall patterns.
Various factors, combining various climatic components like minimum temperature, maximum temperature, rainfall, humidity, sunshine duration etc., may be used to describe the viticultural potential of a macro-region. Some use monthly data or daily data only, while others are a combination of different scales (daily with monthly data). They are usually summed for different periods of time (growth season or whole year), but can also use a single month. They are established for a specific country or region, and then may be adapted to other regions or used for a systematic global classification of the climate.
The length of the growing season of grapes differ from variety to variety and studies shows that at least 170 days of active, frost-free, growing is needed for grape vines to ripen a crop (remember, this figure will not be same for all varieties). But not only the length of the growing season is important; the heat accumulated during the growing season will determine if your grape vine will successfully ripen the grapes or not.
You will have to find out how many days of full sunlight with a temperate above 10°C or 50°F is measured where you live. This is called the GDD or “growing degree days”. Studies made on the physiology of the grape vine, determined that the grape vine is not very active below these temperatures.
The GDD is measured by using the following formula:
(HT + LT) / 2 – 50°F or -10°C=GDD *
HT = highest temp; LT= lowest temp
By adding up all the GDD points, you can measure your regions suitability for growing grapes and should be more than 2000 GDD (Fahrenheit) or 1200 GDD (Celsius) points. The closer your macro climate is to these numbers, the more suitable it will be for growing grapes.
As said earlier, the macro and messo climate cannot be changed, but the micro climate is the one you have control of. Use this advantage to grow your own grape vines more succesfully, even if your messo and macro climate isn’t 100% ideal.
For help with creating the perfect micro climate, get the Complete Grape Growing System for only $29!
Tagged with: how to grow grapes
Filed under: growing grapes • how to grow grapes
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The replies seem to be “a bit polarized” My take on it is that in my 60 years on this planet, the first winters seem to have been much colder & longer. Growing up on a farm in Southern Minnesota, I can remember winter days so cold (-40F/C or colder) that the #2 diesel fuel gelled in the tractor tanks. We were limited to one small gasoline tractor for winter chores on those days!
If global warming is true & we work aggressively, we might slow it down. If we do nothing we may speed it up.
If global warming is not true and we work aggressively, we will not change it.
BUT – either way we will conserve our planet’s resources to last longer.
Remember, we do not won this planet, we are just renting it!
Lets make wine!
Hi All from sunny Botswana, where I have just started seeing how vines will do in this region.This is my first season and I have followed Danie’s advice. I am growing prime variety and have found them to be prolific growers, most of the vines are on the trelis systems spreading out onto the canopy, next year being their second year should be interesting…to say the least.
I do have a question, the area I am in had=s a nemitode problem does anyone have tips for me to carry out before I get one?
Have a super day.
Thanks for the course Danie
Greetings from South Carolina and I hope everyone had a Blessing at Thanksgiving. We are very sad and shocked to see what happened in Mumbai.
Does anyone have experience growing Muscadine grapes using Danies very fine canopy frame trellis system.?? The single wire 5 foot high wire system is what most growers use. In our climate Muscadines can have explosive, rampant growth after good rains. This makes it difficult to keep the vine within the right size . I would rather try Danies system, but does it work well with Muscadines.?? Also how do Concords and Mars seedless perform with the canopy Frame system? Are their any special wire spacing distances that work better,???
The Messo climate Here in the upper western piedmont of South Carolina is very important because it varies so much in elevation over a short distance. The property bottom end is at 865 feet above sea level and 600 feet up the hill it is about 970 feet elevation where most of my small orchard is located. The 100 feet difference in elevation makes a 25 day difference in the Spring last frost date, and a 30 day difference in the fall first frost date. We are on the 35th parallel north and in the center of USDA zone 7 with 50-60 inches of rain per year, We are in a drought now with only 40-45 inches per year.
The fruit that grows best here are figs, Muskadine Grapes, Rabbiteye Blueberries, Oriental Persimmons, Pears, raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries Sour cherries, Apples, filberts and Pecan nuts. I am expanding my orchard again this year.
Thanks to all of you and to Danie and Family
I have to chuckle at Jim Davis’ comments about growers and non growers. Having lived around farms and ‘grown’ crops myself but I wouldn’t make the blanket statements he threw out especially looking at just the last 5 years. Especially since most of the temperature increase occurred during the 90’s. My growing season peeked about 3 years ago after two corn killing droughts, and has begun shrinking giving me 11 ft tall corn again; which coincidentally coincides with climate data that the earth temperature has not been increasing.
Just 30 years ago global cooling and the next ice age were almost upon us according to the media, and thirty years before that we were in another global warming mode and the ice caps were shrinking according to the media, again. This cycle has been documented four times in the last 120 years. When oh when are we going to get it right?
And finally, my favorite scientific report comes not from the US but from Australia. It may have been Bob Carter’s presentation but I’m not certain. Anyhow this scientist used the current data used by the global warming crowd and proved that we are going into a global cooling period which should start in the next few years. It’s basis is the cycle of sun spot activity. But he does hope for more atmospheric carbon because that promotes greater plant growth that Australia is going to need when the earth cools due to it’s arid climate.
All in all the grape growing articles are informative and entertaining, as was this blog.
Here in the U.S. too many people still have their heads buried in the concrete. I get into global warming discussions all the time. Those who are growers get it. Those who have never grown anything just can’t see the problem.
My vegetable growing season has extended almost a month over the last 5 years. It used to be that you could not plant anything before May 15 without worries that you would get hit by frost. You could also depend on a killing frost for the last week of September. Now I am seeing the last frost in the spring being April 15-20th and the first killing frost happening around the third week of October. I figure that it has been happening for at least 5 growing seasons so it has become a trend. If we don’t do something quickly we are in for some real problems.
This is a very good article. I will study it and relate it to my area (North West Europe – U.K.).
A couple of points I would like to mention. The Romans brought the grape Vine over to Britain nearly 2000 years ago and it flourished very well until all the grape vineyards were destroyed because they were in competition with the French. It was a political thing.
My father continued to produce grapes on the well-established Black Hamburg vine he found in the greenhouse in the garden of the house we moved to in North Wales circa 1954. I have a cutting from that vine (found living amongst the grass cuttings) which I nurtured as a house plant for many years and which became the main vine now growing outdoors in the garden of our house in South East England. It produces tasty grapes but needs tender loving care of the kind that Danie suggests.
Jack Swain
PEOPLE HAVE A SCARE ABOUT THE GLOBAL WARNING AND REALLY SHOULD NOT BE. IT IS THE PLANET DOING ITS NATURAL COURSE IN HISTORY FROM THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THE TOP MELTS AND THE BOTTOM BUILDS AND IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS IT WILL DO IT AGAIN, JUST OPPOSITE….THE CHEMICALS WE USE THAT GO AIR BORN AND IT OUR WATER SYSYTEMS SHOULD BE A BIGGER CONCERN FOR OUR TIME AND FUTURE,REMINANTS OF THESE THINGS ARE AFFECTING WILDLIFE, WATERWAYS AND PLANT LIFE EVERYWHERE. THESE ARE BIG CONCERNS FOR NOW AND ARE SO CALLED GLOBAL WARMING CHANGES ONE INCH EVERY HUNDRED YEARS.IF EVERYONE REMEMBERS, THE HUGE ICEBURG THAT SUNK THE TITANTIC WAS HUNDREDS OF MILES SOUTH AND THEY DIDN’T HAVE ALL THE MODERN BIG CITIES AND TEARING INTO THE RAIN FOREST AND ETC, THEN…..IT IS JUST NATURAL HISTORY TAKING ITS COURSE. BUT!!!!! AND I NEED SAY BUT!!!!! WE NEED TO CHANGE OUT WE USE CHEMICALS AND OUR GARBAGE TO KEEP FROM POISONING OUR PLANET!!!!
MANY DOCUMENTRIES [HISTORY CHANNELS] THAT STATE WHAT I HAVE SAID…HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE A LITTLE BETTER…GROW FRUIT AND VEGGIES, RAISE A CHICKEN OR 2 FOR EGGS AND MEAT…IF YOU HAVE ROOM SHARE A COW WITH A NEIGHBOR FOR MILK AND MEAT, HUNT RESPECTFULLY, AND EVEN A FEW PEOPLE DOING THESE THINGS OR EVEN ONE GRAPEVINE HAS MADE A CHANGE FOR THE GOOD
THANK YOU EVERYBODY AND HAVE A GREAT LIFE!!!!
If we believe that global warming is true and it turns out not to be, we have saved money and cleaned up the air and exercised some.
If we belive that global warming is not true and it turns out that it is
WERE DEAD..
From USA
Hi,
I live in the North no one of you probably ever have thought grape wine can grow, 700 km from the polar circle in Finland.
There is a factor in the calculation of GDD you have not included: the length of the daylight. If we have the sun over the horizon during the summer time twice as much, but the summer is only halve as long, we should get ripen grapes as early as you do. And there is a lot of grape species that will ripen in much shorter summer than 180 days.
Of course this is not as simple and clear. Harder winters with or without snow, wet falls or summers, late frost in spring…
According to my knowledge the effect of the length of the day has not been studied. If anyone has more information about that I would be grateful. Most probably some varieties are also better adapted to use the relative low temperature near 10°C than others.
The climate where I live is rather poor, so I am looking for a better place in an area with better messo climate, but I did not think to buy a land from the Southern Cape area, though it is one of the nicest places I have ever been…
-Ari-
Danie,
I apologize for not attending the mail. Really it was very informative.I have leart a lot from your lessons. I think geographic distribution of the grape growing zones will be changed due to global warming.
Thank you very much
Regards,
Mohammed
I found your Global Warming article educational. And what I needed to know about the climate, that would have an effect on my grapes.
I bet most of your complaints was from the USA. For some reason GLOBAL WARMING is a ploticial thing. Your last article should have answer all of there questions. I like the flavor of your articles,they get to point so that the beginners can understand about growing grapes. Keep the good work up.(Please no more M words)
he,he,he
Willie M.