Jon Grapevines: New Project - The IAC#3 (updated 30.6.13)

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18th March 2012 My 3rd IAC Generation

This is my new project which was started on March, 18th 2012 - the third generation of my original IAC grapevine, the IAC#3 (read: "IAC no. 3").

18th Mar 2012 - The 3rd generation of my IAC grapevine

19 Apr 2012

19th Apr 2012

11th May 2012

9th June 2012

9th June 2012 - Project failed. Mites attacked both left and right branches (future cordons)!
I have to remove all the leaves and the affected canes. Starting all over again... :(

23rd Aug 2012 - two months later.... 2 new shoots growing from the base.
The original future trunk was chopped off!

2nd Sept 2012 - Preparing to lay the Roots Barrier by spraying water around the pot
to soften the ground

2nd Sept 2012 - Laying the roots barrier

2nd Sept 2012

8th Sept 2012 - The IAC#3 is happily living in the Forbidden City!

8th Sept 2012 - Cutting the trunk-to-be above the bottom trellis wire .
Note: The 3rd wire was stretched at the 1-meter level from the ground.

8th Sept 2012 - removing shoots from the trunk

8th Sept 2012 - Before

8th Sept 2012 - After. The bottom trellis wire was installed at 1-meter height.
Two young shoots were tied on both left and right of the trellis wire - to be trained as the permanent cordons.

13th Sept 2012 - No more pot!

16th Sept 2012 [This is a special date for a Sabahan people like me. On the 16th Sept, 49 years ago in 1963,
the Sabah North Borneo which was under the British colony, together with Singapore and Sarawak,
joined Malaya to form Malaysia. 16th September is now known as the Malaysia Day and
has been declared as a public holiday since 2010]
Left and right arms getting longer. Coconut fiber is used to control weeds,
slowing down water evaporation and to prevent soil erosion
during watering/rain.

26th Jan 2013 Uprooting IAC#3

Sadly, my IAC#3 Project has to come to an end, prematurely. This is due to the new arrival of 6 young vines ie. two White Malaga, one each of Black Opal, Carolina Black Rose and Flame varieties. I have limited space so my two redundant IACs will have to be sacrificed. I have no choice. The plot currently occupied by the IAC#3 has to be surrendered to the WM#1. The IAC#3 is going to be recycled.

I don't have to write long sentences, the pictures below illustrate the detail process..

26th Jan 2013 - Spraying with water to soften the soil. I feel so sorry for my IAC#3 but I need this plot for

the White Malaga. Three vine trees of the same IAC variety is two too many for my mini 'vineyard'.

26th Jan 2013 - OH MY GOD....WOW!!!

26th Jan 2013 - My original plan was to 'recycle' my IAC#3 canes into cuttings but

after the unexpected head-scratching-finding of this large network of roots...I had a

second thought. I wonder if they have enough carbohydrate stock to produce fruit.

There is only one way to find out the truth...

26th Jan 2013 Finding The Truth

The only way to find the truth is to prolong the IAC#3 life for at least another month.

From the backyard, I decided to relocate and plant the IAC#3 to a temporary home - at the top left hand side corner plot of my front yard.

I purposely made a shallow pit to avoid burying the roots into the hard clay horizon of the soil. The humus-rich soil is very shallow in this area.

26th Jan 2013 - Preparing a shallow pit

26th Jan 2013 - Roots covered with 6 inches thick of black soil mixed with sandy clay. Let's see what will happen
in 10 days. If no flower buds, the cane will be chopped into cuttings. Why wire mesh? To prevent my best friend,
Bruang (my dog) from digging it. She is a miner!

3rd Feb 2013 - New shoots at the right cane...but there is no visible flower bud yet..

3rd Feb 2013 - Trunk..

3rd Feb 2013 - Left cane showing potential..

6th Feb 2013 - After the fifth leaf.. there is still no flower bud. Leaving me with no choice... :(

14th Feb 2013 - File closed!

The truth has been confirmed. There is nothing, not even a single flower bud. I knew it from the very beginning, simply, because I did not prepare the vine for fruiting. Knowing that I will replace the IAC#3 with the White Malaga, I have stopped the feeding (applying fertilizer) since 2 months ago. This is it. This is the final update of this post. The "New Project - The IAC#3" posting is now officially been closed. Time to chop my IAC#3 into cuttings.

Happy Valentine's Day.

9th June 2013 Re-Opening The IAC#3 Project !!

First, let me confess. I did not chop my IAC#3 into cuttings. It's not that I didn't want to, but I was too occupied with too many things I just let it grow uninterrupted for more than 4 months. On the 9th June 2013, I finally decided to prune it to see if the vine is matured enough to start fruiting.

20nd June 2013 Flowering !

Aaaahhhh....finally, my IAC#3 will produce fruit in 4 months time. I saw 22 flower bud clusters that evening.

(sorry, I have no picture to show)

22nd June 2013 Grape Fruit Bearing Potted Vine

I woke up as early as seven this morning, which is not my normal routine during weekend (but of course, that would be too late if I had morning golf with my buddies!). I took the gardener's weapon - the pruner. From my instinct, I knew it will be a long day. Something's telling me, "Jon, get prepared. You have a new project!". I knew it will be big. I can feel the adrenalin flowing and I felt so energetic although I was still totally bank of what exactly I wanted to do. There was no proper plan. I just have to follow my instincts, I guessed. And I know I am a very spontaneous person.

I went straight to my IAC#3. I counted there were 26 flower bud clusters. Hmmm... how many should I retain? Without thinking too long, I started clipping - and finally, the total clusters were thinned to just 16. Ten were removed together with its shoots to control the future canopy size. It was planted too close with the White Malaga#1 and the Black Opal I don't want it to grow too messy which could reduce the potential space size for the WM#1 and the BO shoots to roam freely to the fence area.

I collected all the pruned shoots and buried them into my composting spot.

By the time I finished, my son called me in, "Daddy, breakfast is ready!". It was only 8 am.

While having breakfast, I opened my Facebook timeline and I saw an old posting by a friend (Miss Fadzilah Abdul Kadir) of a grape fruit bearing potted vine picture.

About two weeks ago, a friend of mine, Mr. Dol Malek, his wife Maizah Jalil and their 3 children stopped by to visit my "mini vineyard".

Dol Malek, Maizah Jalil and their children

I remembered what Dol Malek revealed to me about the little trick used by the traders on how to produce a grape fruit bearing potted vine, the cheap way.

Then something struck my mind. It was like a cupid arrow shooting at the back of my head. Not to bring another falling-hopelessly-in-love aura though, but just a brand new, little crazy idea. "Ahaaa...!", nodding my head, I was smiling, my eyes blinking, and I was thinking hard and fast.

"I'm going to do just like this!", I told my wife while showing her the Facebook picture from the tablet.

I rushed my breakfast, drove to the nearby plant nursery and bought a PVC pot. A new project was about to kick off.

And later...