I have some grape vine on the property, they were 4-6 inch in diameter and cut down 5-10 yrs ago. It has been over 30 yrs since they have been properly cultivated(previous owner didn't take care of them).
I was told they were concord grapes?
They have continued to keep coming back. I always treated them as a vine that needed to be tamed along with other nuisance plants on a fence row.
Now instead of treating them as a weed, I am going to try and let them grow.
Any suggestions would be welcome, I've never grown them(I'm a veggy gardener). Also can I take cuttings and transplant them to a friends garden..
Thank you all, as I am a fruit novice and appreciate the help.
Hi 2cents.
Grapes can be trained in all manner of ways.
There are a few basics to understand and then you can train your vine as you wish.
In general the plant will have a main stem that is left untouched, this is tied into the position that you want your cropping wood to come from.
The side vines that grow from this main stem are looked on as temperary wood and are just allowed to crop that particular year...then they are pruned back to a couple of buds for the new season.
These grow away in the spring and are tied into a support of some sort as the weight of grapes would break them if not.
The main stem is allowed to grow on until it reaches as far as you want it to go.
Grapes can be trained in all manner of ways.
There are a few basics to understand and then you can train your vine as you wish.
In general the plant will have a main stem that is left untouched, this is tied into the position that you want your cropping wood to come from.
The side vines that grow from this main stem are looked on as temperary wood and are just allowed to crop that particular year...then they are pruned back to a couple of buds for the new season.
These grow away in the spring and are tied into a support of some sort as the weight of grapes would break them if not.
The main stem is allowed to grow on until it reaches as far as you want it to go.
Jona,
Thanks for the response and please be patient through my ignorance.
You mentioned a main stem....How long should this be? Does it need supported & supported how with what?
Cropping wood....temporary wood? Are these the same? So, other than the main stem, all stems get cut back each year? They will produce the stem growth and fruit in the same year?
So grapes are not like raspberries, (this year's shoots provide next year's fruit.)
Thanks for the response and please be patient through my ignorance.
You mentioned a main stem....How long should this be? Does it need supported & supported how with what?
Cropping wood....temporary wood? Are these the same? So, other than the main stem, all stems get cut back each year? They will produce the stem growth and fruit in the same year?
So grapes are not like raspberries, (this year's shoots provide next year's fruit.)
The main stem of a vine can be left as a single stem or allowed to devide into two or even three according to how you want to train it.
Any side shoot left to grow on would become such a stem in time.
As to what system you use it will all depend on the room you have and what you plan to use as support for the vine.
If as you suggest you are growing it along a fence and you have the room then I would suggest that you train the main stem along the fence in one direction and allow a shoot to develop and grow the other way as well.keep them tied to the fence every two or three feet or so and they can grow as long as you have the room.
Vines will grow consderable length if allowed but 10 - 12 ft either side of the main trunk will be fine.
From these two stems young vine will grow ...this is the cropping wood.
After cropping you then cut them back to two buds from the main stem.
If you suffer hard winters then I would leave this pruning until the worst of the winter weather has passed as vines can suffer from frost damage on their breaking buds......hence the reason to cut to two buds and not one, so that there is a safeguard in place if the first should get frosted.
Once in a while these two side branches can be replaced with new ones but that would normaly be only after some years if they get too heavy for the supports.
As you have found. vines can be tough customers and are very rewarding if treated well.
As to taking cuttings.
You should be able to take them fairly easily but remember that most vines are grafted for better virus protection... but... however we have vines that are over twenty years old taken from straight cuttings.
Any side shoot left to grow on would become such a stem in time.
As to what system you use it will all depend on the room you have and what you plan to use as support for the vine.
If as you suggest you are growing it along a fence and you have the room then I would suggest that you train the main stem along the fence in one direction and allow a shoot to develop and grow the other way as well.keep them tied to the fence every two or three feet or so and they can grow as long as you have the room.
Vines will grow consderable length if allowed but 10 - 12 ft either side of the main trunk will be fine.
From these two stems young vine will grow ...this is the cropping wood.
After cropping you then cut them back to two buds from the main stem.
If you suffer hard winters then I would leave this pruning until the worst of the winter weather has passed as vines can suffer from frost damage on their breaking buds......hence the reason to cut to two buds and not one, so that there is a safeguard in place if the first should get frosted.
Once in a while these two side branches can be replaced with new ones but that would normaly be only after some years if they get too heavy for the supports.
As you have found. vines can be tough customers and are very rewarding if treated well.
As to taking cuttings.
You should be able to take them fairly easily but remember that most vines are grafted for better virus protection... but... however we have vines that are over twenty years old taken from straight cuttings.