jmheflin

Awesome build and write up. I used to work for a company called AEssense making automated aeroponic systems for commercial cannabis growers. They are still around and have installs all over the US. Many similar features to your NFT system. Cool stuff!

You are right about avoiding organic fertilizers. It is my understanding that traditional hydroponic greenhouses that use inorganic nutrients are still eligible for organic certification.

Cuttings are used to start every vineyard, even vineyards making wines labeled as organic. I don't think what I am doing would be different than that?

Yup, will revise. Thanks!

Thanks for these links!

Before I started graduate school, I worked as an engineer for a company making aeroponic systems. Great potential here. I will look in to chitosan as well.

Correct, young leaves are BIG carbohydrate sinks until they have expanded and begun to produce their own photosynthate. Pruning off new growth allows the plant to redirect carbohydrates into existing organs.

There are a few leaves around the grape cluster that supply sugar to the cluster. The rest of the leaves do not contribute to the growth of the cluster.

Great question!

You can keep dormant canes in the refrigerator for about a year before they start to degrade. After 2+ weeks in refrigeration, the canes can be rooted. It takes about 6 months from budbreak to harvest. This time is the same in the greenhouse as it is in the vineyard. If the vines are grown in a greenhouse where day-length and temperature are controlled, it is possible to harvest 2 crops a year @ ~6 months apiece. We just take the canes out of the refrigerator when we start a new batch.

You totally nailed it. I would just add that I am growing these vines for only 6 months before harvesting the fruit and discarding the cutting. They do not have time to put out really long roots. In addition, air pruning of the roots happens naturally when they run out of grow media, so they never get too long.

Hello. Thanks for your feedback.

You are correct. Every greenhouse of course has risk associated with it. However, it is less than in the field if managed properly. In general, thrips are a minor problem on wine and raisin grapes in California. From what I have read they are more of an issue for table grapes. See ‘management’ section at this link. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r302300911.html#:~:text=Grape%20thr....

Thanks for taking the time to reach out!

The basement grows were just to establish the proof of concept. My future grows will all be in a greenhouse. Hydroponics also uses far less water than traditional ag.

Grapes actually don’t need a winter dormancy period. They grow at the equator without it. I will probably set up to grow year round in the greenhouse, with supplemental lighting during the winter. I would have to make sure winter growing is economically feasible first, with the higher electricity needs.

This is a great idea. I will reach out to some. Thanks!

Thanks for your questions!

I have gotten fruit. About 50% of the cuttings I use produce fruit right now. I am still working to optimize the process. I throw the cuttings away after they produce fruit. More cuttings can be collected each year as canes are pruned in the vineyard.

Please see my response to metanoia! I addressed this there.

Hi! Thanks for the question.

I haven’t written anything, or really thought this far ahead yet. But $4/pound is close to what they sell greenhouse grown tomatoes for, and their yield/sqft is likely similar to what I could get. I do not suspect that the greenhouse will be located in wine country, as land is too expensive there.

Thank you! I have had many issues. I use a dilute bleach or hydrogen peroxide solution to clean the hydroponic equipment between grows.

No, this is why I am growing my 3rd batch of plants in a greenhouse!

I am not sure! I think so, although I am not in Napa. The good news is that you can build greenhouses on land that is not suitable for vineyards, like in abandoned parking lots.

I know, sorry. I am writing a post now that will detail the whole process with more pictures. The first thing you need to get started is the dormant cuttings. From there it doesn't take any specialized equipment.

Hi!

Wine grapes varieties have ‘perfect’ flowers which means they contain both male and female parts. They self pollinate from wind. In a greenhouse, this means you would need oscillating fans during anthesis.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Indoor growing would allow us to replicate certain conditions that vineyard managers want. Vine nutrient stresses, water stresses, direct light exposure, swings in temp, all doable using hydroponics in a greenhouse. We might even set up different greenhouses for different varieties, or for different levels of berry maturity. As I understand it, most of the different flavors between wines of the same variety come from decisions made during the winemaking process. You can make two very different tasting wines from the exact same grapes (they did this experiment at UC Davis). Choice of yeast, fermentation temperature, maceration time etc. all contribute as you mentioned. My goal is not to replace the vineyard, as I need a source for the cuttings :). This would just augment what they already have for now.

Another great question. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Larry Williams, a professor at UC Davis did a lot of work on this. He found that canes are not a significant contributor to vine nutrient status. Only 2% of the nitrogen that falls to the ground in canes ends up back in the vine the next year.

Absolutely agree. I am not going to convince people that wine origin doesn’t matter. But I believe that 15% of grapes from a ‘Napa Valley Cab Sauv’ labeled wine can be grown outside of Napa. 25% if the wine is labeled as a ‘North Coast Cab Sauv'. So maybe the project is good for these types of situations.

Thanks for your question!

Grapes used for making bulk wine wholesale for about $2000/ton. I am not yet able to produce them at that price point. For now, I am hoping to partner with a vineyard that wants to make the highest quality wine possible, and is willing to pay for grapes that enable them to do so.

Thanks!

The first thing I would do is check to see if the cuttings are producing roots. You may see budbreak on cuttings without roots, but they will soon shrivel and die due to lack of water. Try rooting the cuttings in a 75:25 perlite:peat mixture while keeping the rooting zone warm 25-29°C with a heat mat or soil heating wire. Water every other day and dip the cuttings in rooting hormone or soak the root end in hormone overnight before you start. You should get roots and budbreak in 2-3 weeks.

I put some pictures on my website https://www.hefvin.com/

Great question. Grape vines have an extremely heterozygous genome, which means that their offspring (seeds) will not resemble the parent plant. This is why grapes plants are always propagated via cuttings. I wrote a post about grape clones on the site if you are interested. https://www.hefvin.com/posts/varietal%20clones/

Yes this is possible! Usually done with repurposed clean room pass thrus. It becomes harder to achieve as greenhouses get to 1+ acres in footprint.

Hi!

These are great questions. Thanks for your interest.

At the low end of the winemaking market ($5/bottle), grapes are a commodity that provide sugars for alcoholic fermentation. At the high end of the market ($100+/bottle), each vine is individually managed to maximize grape quality. Our grapes will be priced comparable to other grapes at the high end of the market. Right now, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sell for about $8000/ton. However, annual yields fluctuate wildly, so our greenhouse grown product may be used by some winemakers as hedge against the risk of down years. Growing indoors also allows us to produce grapes at any time of year, potentially allowing winemakers to ferment two or more batches per year. Growing the grapes takes about 6 months from budbreak to harvest.

Grape vines take up water and simple nutrients like nitrogen, potassium and calcium from the soil. The grapes make all of their more complex biomolecules, including the flavor molecules in-house. Water stress and nutrient deficiencies can have positive impacts on the flavor compounds that accumulate inside the berries. Growing hydroponically gives us the ability to better control these elements, leading to increased accumulation of important flavor molecules. Sun exposure and temperature will also be optimized to maximize biosynthesis of flavor compounds.

It is hard to say if these grapes will taste as good or better than their soil grown counterparts. Grape quality is usually based on three measurements: Brix, pH, and TA. If these three ripeness indicators fall in a specified range, the winemaker will come into the vineyard and taste the grapes. Each winemaker has different flavor preferences, but as long as we can hit the marks for the three quantitative quality indicators, we should have a good start.

Growing the grapes indoors will hopefully provide winemakers with peace of mind. These crops will not be susceptible to pest or disease pressures that often influence harvest decisions. I know right now in CA, a lot of growers are harvesting before the grapes have fully matured to try and avoid smoke taint. In general, the longer the grapes can hang on the vine, the more interesting the flavor profile becomes. Growing in a controlled environment allows for unlimited hang time as we do not have many of the usual pressures like bunch rot, birds, heat waves, heavy rains etc.

The last thing I will say is that climate change is negatively effecting wine growing regions around the world, impacting their ability to grow high quality grapes. The most immediate negative effect in my opinion will be the early breakdown of malic acid in the berries. This acid is important in malolactic fermentation. Growing grapes in a greenhouse with climate control would help to mitigate the impacts of climate change on wine quality. For more on climate change and wine, here is an interesting article I read recently. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/climate-change...

Cheers!

Try to let the soil/media dry out between waterings. I use yellow sticky traps and neem oil for plants I am going to eat. For ornamentals, I use Marathon 1%, shake a bit on the soil every 2 weeks or so.

Hi HN!

Woke up to more news about wine country in California burning. :(

One of my recent projects involves growing wine grapes from vineyard cuttings. The end goal is to collect cane prunings from local vineyards and use them to produce high quality wine grapes in a greenhouse.

Please reach out if you know of anyone with a vineyard that may be willing to help develop this solution further. My email is jormanheflin at gmail.com. Read more about my project on hefvin.com and below:

When grape leaves drop in the fall, canes leftover from the previous growing season enter winter dormancy. 90% of these dormant canes are removed every winter to make room on the trellis for new growth. Vineyard workers usually chop or burn these cuttings and return them into the soil. Hefvin takes these prunings and uses them to grow grapes hydroponically, in a controlled environment. Then, we sell the grapes back to wineries.

We provide wineries with the highest quality grapes, which allows them to make excellent wines. By growing the grapes in a controlled environment, we reduce year-to-year variability in fruit quality, and maximize the flavor potential of every cluster.

See website for pictures