Been awhile since I posted however this got my attention - if you
really have black clay for soil - don't bother trying to grow
grapes. To verify your soil is a true black clay do the following --
dig a hole 6" x 6" by 1 foot deep. Clean out all loose material and
fill half way with water. Cover with a board. Wait one hour and
measure the water level. If it has dropped more then 1 inch your on
the border line of workable soil. If it has dropped more 2 inches
things are looking up. If the water is completely gone - good new
you don't have black clay.

Now think about this you plant your vines, get one good heavy rain
and the vines will end up drowning since the clay provide little
drainage.

Now I have found that Riesling and Villard Blanc do grow very well in
a Black Clay soil ( water drops 2" in one hour ). However you will
need to rip the clay up to a depth of 3-4 feet and add a sand/humus
mix to help with drainage.

Wish you the best of luck.

Chuck Butler


--- In texasgrapes@yahoogroups.com, wildtrout@... wrote:
>
> This is interesting stuff. I had considered doing a little
experimental vine or two in my backyard here in the same type of
black clay soil. Wonder what european growing region is the
slightest bit analogous to north texas if any. Always thought you
might get, say, a Tempranillo vine going around here.
>
> Jim Swayze
> www.fireholecanyon.com
>
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [texasgrapes] where do i start
> > From: Big Soy <bigsoy@...>
> > Date: Sun, January 14, 2007 9:35 am
> > To: texasgrapes@yahoogroups.com
> >
> >
> >
> > well, i don't have any experience with the classic texas black
waxy clay
> > soils you've got, but grapes can thrive in a variety of soils at
a
> > variety of pH's, provided the soil has a decent microbial life
going.
> > Your best bet is to learn to graft, as the grapes you probably
want to
> > grow (decent wine grapes) will struggle in your soil. Grafting
is quite
> > easy, though, and there are numberous books that describe the
process.
> > My favorite is called The Grape Grower, by Lon Rombough.
> > Basically, you're going to want to use a grape like Champanel as
a
> > rootstock, with whatever winegrape you prefer on top, such as
cabernet,
> > merlot, etc.. You'll also want to try out some French-American
hybrids,
> > such as Baco Noir or an old Texas favorite, Black Spanish
(Lenoir) on
> > their own roots. This is what i typically do, as the european
varieties
> > tend to be very suceptible to disease.. You'll need about one
vine per
> > gallon of wine you intend to produce, although it will take 4 or
5 years
> > to get to that point. You'll need a reliable irrigation system,
too,
> > preferrably drip (which is easy to install), and of course some
sort of
> > trellis system.
> >
> > Here are some pertinent sites:
> >
> > http://www.bunchgrapes.com
> > this is Lon Rombough's website. he sells cuttings at a
reasonable rate.
> > he can also answer a lot of questions better than i can.
> >
> > http://www.rakgrape.com/
> > double a vineyards in new york. good prices on cuttings.
> >
> > http://www.tandjenterprises.com/productslinks.htm
> > this is Thomas Giannou's organic products website. he can be a
huge
> > help in advising how to prepare soil over the winter and have a
> > successful planting. His BioVam is a blend of live micorrhizal
fungi
> > that do wonders in helping grapevines adapt to a variety of soil
types
> > and effeciently use available soil nutrients.
> >
> > Good Luck!
> >
> > Adam
> >
> > knikki wrote:
> >
> > > i live in crowly just south of fort worth. what r the best
grapes to
> > > grow for wine produciton. i have a 3/4 acre yard and black
dirt. dont
> > > they like acid soil? is there a point in growing any? my
brother lives
> > > to play around with wine making and im the gardener. how many
vines
> > > does it take to get a decent amount of grapes?
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>