I recently bought a Niagara grapevine that had several unopened leaf buds on it. It's sitting in my house waiting for the last of the freezes. It has since sprouted several leaves and is growing quite rapidly. The only potential problem is that it is covered in very small milky droplets (sorry but my camera can't take pictures of things that small). I'm concerned that I bought an infested plant. Or is it normal for the soft tissue to "weep". I'd hate to wait until something hatches to find out.
A final question. Do I have to wait until the last of the winter freezes to put out the grapevine? I live in Kansas City (zone 6) and plan on keeping it in a container for a few years. I've searched and not found an answer. It may seem obvious but up until this winter I lived in southern Louisiana where "freezing" is 45 F.
Outside in a container below freezing will not work for grapes; they need more heat near the root. Zone 6 means with roots in the ground; soil temperature isn't near air temps (unless you move your soil into the air, like in a container). And outside now when you have gotten sap flowing is not a good idea, grapes move water like no othe plant and if that freezes you can rupture vines. Inside for hard freezes still...
As for white spots, could be fungal, could be scale, don't know without a pic, but neem oil would take care of either, and it fine for indoor use (check out the smell first as some don't like it, but it always reminds me of Indian food. Yum.)
Grapes will be fine once planted and get much bigger. You are planting it?
Thanks for the info, I figured it was still too cold for any container to go outside. Coming from a sub-tropical climate it's almost time for tomatoes, so being in the Midwest now it's like starting over.
I thought of using neem oil but in the past people with more experience have told me to only use it at the beginning of winter (once again an issue with changing climates). So I think I'll give it a try, better safe than sorry.
Not sure when they'll be planted in the ground, but I've had success in the past with root pruning etc.
Hello all. New to forum and need some advice. I have two 2-3 year old vines that I planted last year. I had an aphid problem mid summer that I resolved and the plants had new growth and did well until winter. Both plants had healthy new growth at the beginning of this spring but about 3 weeks ago the Thompson started developing a problem that soon spread to the Concord which is on the other side of the trellis but still touching the Thompson. Please see the images for a better idea of the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
