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Here's a wild thing: at many of the high end vineyards they'll do low-level helicopter flights over the vines every time it rains to blow the water off the leav
by tonyarkles 2y ago
Here's a wild thing: at many of the high end vineyards they'll do low-level helicopter flights over the vines every time it rains to blow the water off the leaves and fruit specifically to prevent infection and rot.
- 0_____0 2y agohaving worked at a cargo drone company, that is one thing that our platform would have excelled at. although ours had a tendency to simply flatten vegetation when "cornering" at low altitude.
- amoshebb 2y agoI’ve heard of this for frost prevention, but never rain. Do you know of a specific vineyard doing this?
- throwup238 2y agoNapa and Sonoma vineyards have been doing it for decades: https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/vintners-rush-to-dry-grapes-helicopters-being-2829662.php https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/vintners-rush-to-dry... (dated 1997) It’s pretty rare though. They usually only do it when it rains heavily right before harvest.
- amoshebb 2y agoparent comment said “every time it rains”… this article and your comment make it sound “pretty rare”.
- tonyarkles 2y agoI could certainly be wrong about the timing. I’m definitely not a grape growing expert by any means, I mostly know about it from being in the UAV world and having had some discussions about replacing the helicopters with drones for getting the water off.
- freedomben 2y agoYep. I recently visited some high end vineyards in Arizona, and the grapes really thrive because of how dry it is. They are able to irrigate carefully to avoid wetting the tops of the plants.