Frost Report - April 2012

QUESTION:
Someone on Facebook asked: "Winter's are usually cold in western New York, what's so difficult about this spring?"

ANSWER:
Like many parts of the country, we had an early ten days of spring and since Lake Erie wasn't frozen to keep things a little cooler, the grapes began to grow. Then, when the weather reverted to more normal cooler temperatures and occasional frosts, the buds are at risk.

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Here's what normal and frozen buds look like.  Each of these vines have three buds - the bottom vine is developing normally, with a primary bud and a smaller secondary bud. The top vine shows frost damage to the first bud and a bulge where the secondary bud is forming.  Secondary buds are just that - better than nothing, but not as big or vigorous as the primaries.