GRAFTING GRAPEVINES

Some vines in our vineyard were not growing to our specifications. These vines were flagged during harvest, and were grafted into Primitivo -- a cousin of Zinfandel -- during the spring. Grafting- or budding-over live plant stock is done after the threat of frost. Grafted buds grow quickly - production is low for only a year. While pruning in winter, we collected 1,000 canes (3' long sticks) from a neighbor's Primitivo vineyard. These canes were stored for months in an industrial refrigerator at just above freezing temperature.

HOW-TO

With chainsaws in hand, we took the vines down just below knee-height. The vines bled sap for a few days before the grafting crew came to lessen the possibility of the grafts being pushed out. The first man bends back the posts. The second man strips the bark. The grafter follows with buds in his mouth (to keep them moist.) He cuts two "chips" out on opposite sides and inserts a bud in each.

THE WAITING

The last man wraps tape around the buds. There are two buds to each vine -- otherwise one half would wither. LEFT: The grafter approves of the taping job. He makes a 1/4" - 1/2" deep cut with a tree saw directly under each bud so the water can bleed from the low cut rather than from the bud. RIGHT: Three months later, the dominant bud is tied up and the baby bud is kept alive and will eventually become a spur.

WATCH THEM GROW!

The Vines in May Will they sprout back to life? The Vines in August Yes! And we got some good fruit!