Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the info, I've been involved in grape growing for 25 years, indirectly with organics for 2 come Sunday :-). I just got a chuckle from the bee comment :-) Bill "the non-lemming" Thomas Giannou wrote: Bill, Most commercial varieties of grapes have self pollinating "perfect flowers" and bees are not required for pollination. There are grapes such as muskadine that have separate male and female flowers and bees do play a role in their pollenation. Self-pollination and wind cross-pollination are generally thought to be the more efficient pathways for grape pollination. One thing I've noticed is the pollen bearing anthers tend to be on the fragile side and if they are knocked off the flower before they release their pollen, fruit set can be reduced. Spray programs are not generally conducted during the pollination time so as to not disturb the fruit set. I would also not run overhead sprinklers during grape bloom time. Turning away heavy rains and hail, on the other hand, is a function of those nice looking grape leaves. :) --Thomas Giannouhttp://www.tandjenterprises.com ----- Original Message ----- |