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Wow what a difference a couple of months makes around here! My last post was about the wettest February on record and then bam we have the driest April in decades. The month isn’t over and it’s raining pretty good right now as I type this on April 23rd, but it’s going to be a one of the driest Aprils on record.
How does that effect us that are growing grapes in the Puget Sound AVA? Well, it was all good in my opinion. We are just now seeing budbreak here at HHV the 3rd week of April which is considerably later than normal. But, that sunny and dry weather made up a lot of ground. But as you’ll see in the picture above, the GDDs for the year starting in January are way off the normals and look at the difference from a hot year like 2015 to the average of 10 years to what we have this year. So far only 25 GDDs since January 1st. I know that April 1st is considered the official start of the growing season, but I find that going back to the beginning of the year gives a great snapshot about the whole year. Rarely does a year start off warm or cold and then suddenly just poop out in August. We end up getting early rains which can cause havoc, but that is different than heat. I liken the accumulation of heat like an avalanche, once it gets going it’s really tough to stop it. Likewise, a slow start means it has to be very warm and we have to have a dry September and October to make a difference. Something I don’t like to count on. Either way, it’s a slow start. Not much we can do about it, but it does predict when I will be spraying and doing other maintenance along the way. Flowering is the next big milestone.
