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The vines are 4 years old. This is the first year in hydroponics. For
adaptation purposes I limited the amount of clusters this year. I limited my
yield to mere liters after crush. I'd thought of thinning clusters to
nothing at all, but wanted to harvest some to see what submersion in water
would do to the fruit.

I took a trip to niagara to compare my clusters with soil grown cab franc on
mature vines and noticed little difference. I took my refractometer with me
to compare Brix. Niagara had a high sugar level, but it was expected since
my vines took off late this year and we've had an eternal spring. Summer was
a bummer. No one got good sugar here this year, and therefore I can't reach
a decent conclusion.

As for flavour. The jury is still out until this first batch is ready to
bottle and age.

Regarding simulating flavors...that too is a matter to be determined.
However, I have heard others suggest it can be done. Even so, the proof will
be in the bottle. There are ways of customizing the nutrient solution to
influence grape flavor.

In the previous post I mentioned the flood and drain system, which keeps the
roots wet, and highly oxygenated, rather than constantly submerged. If
submersion influences sugar, the flood and drain is the solution. Also,
aeroponics is another method which keeps grape roots wet.

Next season I will be employing two methods alternately. Beginning with the
static bubble to maintain turgor pressure for evapotranspiration, and then
switch over to flood and drain in mid to late summer into October to
maintain nutrient levels and cut back on water.

As for leave color. the real leafcolor is all over the spectrum, and I
didn't bother tweeking the tint in the images.

Jeff

"bob" > wrote in message
m...
> Jeff ,
>
> Interesting stuff. Couple things.
>
> 1. I can't get your web site to come up looking "normal". Does it come
> up fine in your browser? I've tried Netcape 7.1 AND IE 6.0.
>
> 2. How old are those vines and how many gallons of wine did you get
> this year from 12 vines?
>
> 3. How do the grapes taste compared to soil grown CF. The berries look
> GREAT BUT they seem rather big for Cabernet Franc. Does the abundance
> of water dilute the flavor? I could see this being great for table
> grapes but have you compared the taste to soil grown CF in the area?
>
> 4. With hydoponics, can you simulate limestone/shale/other
> minerals/etc... in the water?
>
> 5. Are your leaves a dark green or is that just the picture that makes
> them look light green?
>
>
> Interested in you answers.
>
>
> TIA,
>
> Bob
>
>
> "Jeff Chorniak" > wrote in message
>...
> > Cost per pound can't be calculated until I know I'm producing maximum
> > yields. The vines are still young. Each year will produce a greater
yield.
> > Eventually the yield will max out proportionatley to allowable root
size.
> >
> > Cost per vine to set up depends on which system you want to use. There
are
> > several configurations for hydroponics. I am currently working with a
static
> > bubble system. That is a system where the roots are suspended in
nutrient
> > solution constantly bubbled with oxygen.
> >
> > 12 vines are being bubbled by 6 pumps ($16 each; Wal Mart), plus hoses
and
> > reservoirs (minimal costs, $3 for a pail, a buck for hoses, etc). Then
> > there's auxiliary hardware for electrical wiring, trellising, etc. It's
> > nickel and dime, but can add up. The greatest cost is the nutrient
solution.
> > Nutrient solutions are concentrated and diluted in water to parts per
> > million. Maintaining pH and solution concentration requires a pH meter
which
> > varies according to what kind you buy, and an EC meter, which measure
the
> > electrical conductivity of the solution; that is, the concentration of
> > mineral salts in the water.
> >
> > Some costs are one-time, others, like nutrients, are regular.
> >
> > It's the nutrient that requires change every two weeks. Aside from that,
> > there are other more economical systems like flood and drain: Reservoirs
> > fill and drain on a timer. The roots are kept wet, but not submurged.
> >
> > I could go on, but there are countless variations on the same theme.
> >
> > Can you grow 200 vines? My vineyard is designed for the small scale home
> > winegrower who can't or doesn't want to grow grapes in soil. However,
there
> > are two vineyards I've hear of doing it large scale. One in Kenya,
growing
> > table grapes, and another in Israel. The website for the one in Israel
is:
> > http://hydroponics.homestead.com/index1.html
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > "J F" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > >
> > > "Jeff Chorniak" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > Africus Rex has undergone a major, major change in grape growing, as
you
> > > > will see. Even so, the chage has increased health in the vines in
spite
> > of
> > > > the garbage weather we've had this summer. Autumn weather has been
> > > > extraordianry for ripening conditions.
> > > >
> > > > Check out: www.africusrex.com
> > >
> > > Hi Jeff,
> > >
> > > What is the final cost per pound of grapes using this method?
> > >
> > > What is the cost per vine to set up the system?
> > >
> > > Will the cost scale down if you planted a larger number, say 200?
> > >
> > >
> > >