The Official Grape thread

[rebecca100]

Wow I am glad about this thread. I have 3 in pots I am trying to figure out what to do with. I was going to grow them on an old trampoline frame cut in half and bolted together which makes a big arch. Dh thought it would be good with a grapevine covering it where you could walk under and pick the grapes. It is 14 feet across and 7 feet tall.

 

[murphysranch]

So next questions because I am overwhelmed with just the thought... can I dig 3 of them up and move them or should I just cut them off at the ground? Seriously, I don't think I can handle 6.

Dig them up. They will be just fine. They haven't been in the ground very long, and they don't have a ton of roots to spread.

 

[Rebecka]

Ah! Now you've done it. My husband looked over my shoulder and saw the grape vine pics and says

... " Gee baby that would make a really good wind break for the hives" and has now spent the past 2 hours researching what grapes would suit our needs best. We make mead now, its a natural step to wine. So.. what he cant find now is.. how many vines do we need for a 1/4 acre square ? I will of course be encouraging my sweet hubby to read over my shoulder more often

 

[Wifezilla]

LOL

My vine is shade for the ducks. It does make a good wind break too. How many vines you need will totally depend on the variety. Audrey is not that much older than Seymore, but she is at least 4 times as big. I THINK Seymore is a concord, and Audrey is a seedless red.

They were both "charlie brown" clearance plants we got for a $2 each and the tags were gone.

 

[FarmGirl]

We're in Canada so you probably have a different type of grape than we have but we've got ours spaced 3-4 feet apart. The trellising has posts about 10 feet apart and we have three sets of wires running across at 1.5 feet, 3 feet and 4.5 feet that we train the vines to.

Our grapes are wine grapes and the training is important (especially in our short season) so that we can ensure that the grapes have enough sunlight reaching them to ripen and that there is air flow through the canopy so that it helps them to resist the mildews and rots that can affect them. You definitely want to keep them off the ground so tie them up or clip off the extra shoots so you can focus on the shoots going up. We have about 1000 vines so we spend a LOT of time pruning!

For wine grapes I've been told that you want to drop off the fruit for the first couple of years so that the vine develops a strong root system but it's really hard to resist watching your first bunches ripen

Have fun and enjoy your new crop!

 

[FarmGirl]

Here's a shot of our grapes:

 

[Rebecka]

Farmgirl, Absolutely beautiful ! I dont dare let my husband see those pics or he will be trying to figure out where were are going to put the vineyard!

 

[dipence71]

I just want mine to grow. I had 2 planted last year and one died and the other is not much bigger than 5 inch tall at most. So bought 3 more and planted them and they turned brown and look like they are dying. What the heck???

 

[FarmGirl]

Thanks Rebecka - lol - this is my husbands special project!

 

[dacjohns]