California was hit by some torrential rain in January. In our last post, we explored how that rain had affected soil moisture. In some cases, the water percolated right through and left the soil dry again. In other cases, the rain filled the soil to field capacity. It all depends on the soil’s water holding capacity. The rain we get now probably won’t have much of an effect on the coming season. By the time we get shoots pushing, even heavier soils will most likely need some water. That is assuming we don’t get some rain in the early Spring, when it really matters. Heavy rains can fill ponds as well as underground reserves of water. That’s where winter rain becomes important. Soil moisture in the early part of the season helps establish a canopy. At some point though, you may need to irrigate. It’s hard to do that if you don’t have any water. Last year Advanced Viticulture started an exciting partnership with The Well Bubbler. This device measures we

We're looking at another dry year ahead. Monitoring your ground water is essential to ensure you make it through next season. Did you also know that running your pump with insufficient water can severely damage the pump and possibly melt your well casing?! You might not even know you're doing it.  Take a look below at the readout from the Well Bubbler, AV's newest partner in well-monitoring and water management: The water in this well drops down to 240 feet and then sucks air for 36 hours! If the farmer continues to over-draft the well like this, he/she may need to make major repairs to his/her well...most likely in the middle of the growing season. The Well Bubbler allows you to set up alerts if your pump starts overdrafting the well, saving you costly repairs and prolonging the life of your pump.  The Well Bubbler uses a flexible airline to cheaply and effectively monitor your well. There's no risk of clogging your pump with a metal transducer and less