frogesque
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Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:29 pm
Location: Kingdom of Fife, Scotland: 56.2°N, 3.2°W

Greenhouse vine and peach tree help please

Probably difficult question to answer from a photo but does anyone have any idea what variety of grape this may be?

If it helps, the grapes have only one seed enclosed in the berry. The bunches are small but this could be down to age, location and/or pruning as I'm no expert :lol:

[img]https://frogesque.com/29sep05/grape.jpg[/img]

The vine is ancient (up to 50 years old - could be more) and grows in an unheated greenhouse with its roots spreading outside. I managed to propagate a new plant by taking a blind (no flowers) May runner up through an 8" pot with an enlarged hole in the bottom, adding about 1" of gravel then filling with compost (own mix, 60/30/10 organic compost/loam/crushed old mortar - not cement!) and staking it vertically. I severed it from the main vine in August, it's been doing really well and I've had to prune it back.

I would dearly like to know more about the vine, how to feed, prune and generally care for it because, apart from one book on the subject I've no practical experience. Should the bark be peeled off or left on? I did remove a lot of loose stuff last year but it seemed like taking lagging off a water pipe which is NOT what we do here with our winters. Also, how much leaf should be left on before the fruit starts to ripen?

The same greenhouse also has a small peach tree which bore about 12 fruits this year, very tasty but the stones split and the fruit went off very quickly. Basically all I did to it this year was to mist the leaves with water once the fruit was off the tree and it apears to be healthy.

Any other plants were removed from the greenhouse in January when the vine and peach were dormant and a sulphur candle was used for fumigation. Overwintering plants were then replaced after a couple of days and a good airing. Everything survived so I guess I did something right :lol:

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Hello Frogesque! Unless someone out there is a specialist on grapes, it will be very difficult to get an identity on your grape I am afraid. There are literally thousands of different types of grapes out there!
But I can help you in a couple of other ways. I have already done quite an extensive explanation on pruning grapes in the Vegetable Garden Forum, on the thread "red spots on grapes" from August 4, if you would like to take a look at that.
Also, grapes like very deep, well drained soil, but are not particularly fussy about type of conditions. They do require very warm temperatures, and depending on variety, like it either very dry, with low humidity, or very humid.
As far as fertilizing, I would just make sure that your soil had a good addition of well rotted manure (grapes like chicken manure if you can get it), compost, alfalfa pellets, fish emulsion. You can also water it with the famous "compost or manure tea". The recipe can be found either on the Organic Forum, or the Rose Forum under Organic Rose care.

I definitely do not know anything about peach trees, sorry! Does someone else out there have any answers?

Hope this helps you some, and good luck! :wink:
VAL
Hope

frogesque
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Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:29 pm
Location: Kingdom of Fife, Scotland: 56.2°N, 3.2°W

Thanks for your help VAL - I didn't expect to find grapes in the Vegetable section :lol:

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

I know, I kind of wondered about that one too!! :P I guess because there isn't anywhere for fruit, people don't know where to go. Maybe I should see what we can do about that!
Anyway, hope it helps. Feel free to ask if you have any problems with it. :wink:
VAL

The Helpful Gardener
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Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

The peach is also a bit of a mystery without knowing more (I'd never had a chance with the grape, especially an old strain like that :oops: ) So many cultivars it would be a guessing game for an expert in the field (I am not).

If the fruit got to tasty, then the drop and stone splitting are not that suprising; peaches are pretty quick once they get to ripe. Is this a free stone type or a cling?

HG

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Frogesque, in case you go looking for that grape pruning thread again - the one in Vegetables :? , I have renamed it to "Hard Pruning & Red spots on grape plants". I didn't want you to think it wasn't there anymore if you went back to find it! :wink:
VAL



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