So once we found out that our vine supplier of choice gave a significant volume discount at 50 vines or more -- boom--done--the decision to plant 50 vines was made.
We then entered the endless debate about vine spacing. How far apart should the vines be planted in the rows and how far apart should the rows be? For me, who blithely ignores Burpee's spacing recommendations each spring when stuffing seeds into the ground in a more or less straight row, it was an apocalyptic realization that there are solid hours of passionate horticultural research behind "sow 6-8 inches apart." So much goes into the decision: how vigorous are the vines you are planting, climate, slope of the land, precipitation. All these factors create a dizzying matrix of spacing recommendations.
As expected, the French and the Americans are on opposite sides of the vine spacing spectrum. The French cram their vines together, contending that a vine competing for water and nutrients produces better grapes as a result of its struggle. The yield per vine may be lower, but yield per acre is maximized. Americans say that close spacing has no effect on quality. A vine with adequate spacing will produce more grapes of perfectly good quality and therefore maximize yield per acre.
Now that I'm re-reading all this stuff about spacing, I realize, I don't remember how we spaced the vines! According to our bibles, they sort of boiled it down to a standard spacing range of 6 to 8 feet between vines and 8 to 10 feet between rows. I think we may have thrown a dart somewhere in the middle of the matrix to make our decision after realizing the vine spacing debate was an endless loop. When I go up to the vineyard again, I'll measure and get back to you! It seems to have worked if the healthy vines in the picture are any measure.
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