Grow tubes without stakes makes for a difficult time.

The beauty of flying by the seat of your pants is that you have a forehead slapping moment just about everyday.

Our forehead's were definitely sore after Tuesday, April 1 when we attempted to put grow tubes around the vines without stakes. Our vineyard is located on the top of a hill on the highest part of Hall plantation and without stakes the grow tubes went the way of the wind.

We attempted to set the grow tubes without stakes by pulling dirt up around the bottom of the tubes. This method is suggested anyway as a means of sealing the grow tubes at the bottom. The assumption was that the dirt would be sufficient to keep the grow tubes upright and in place.

Here is a shot of the grow tubes set firmly in the dirt.





This method worked for a few minutes until the wind picked up and the grow tubes went rolling off into the woods.

Alas, we are a determined bunch and we (my mom) decided to use 1.5' to 2' sticks to act as stakes. The sticks proved effective and mother nature was foiled again.

Here is a shot of the vineyard with the grow tubes firmly in place.



The stakes are expected to arrive sometime this week or early next week. At that point we will replace the sticks with proper stakes and wait for the vines to start growing.


Currently the grafts are underground to keep them protected from damage and to harden them following their dormancy. Once the buds start to grow, we will raise the grafts a few inches above the soil to ensure the graft doesn't try and grow roots into the ground at which point we will be screwed.