How to Grow Grapes
If this is your first gardening experience, learning how to grow grapes might not be the best place to start. Growing grapes takes a lot of patience.
If you do decide learning how to grow grapes is for you, check with your local gardening center to find out what varieties grow best in the area in which you live. Then pick the place you intend to plant them. Grapes like a lot of sun. If you are only growing a few, mounds might do but if you want grapes in any kind of quantity, the best place is a hillside.
Make sure to buy certified grape plants from a greenhouse or gardening center. Grapes are susceptible to many different pests and diseases and it is best to start out with a plant whose quality is guaranteed. A grape plant is a deciduous woody vine. It has a root system, a trunk, and shoots, also called canes on which the grapes grow. Grapes take up a lot of space. There roots normally expand into close to five feet of soil and have been known to grow down into the ground from 25 to 40 feet.
Grapes are particularly susceptible to herbicides so do not plant anywhere near a place where herbicides have been used. They are easily picked up from the air. Try to plant grapes on a hillside and if possible with a windbreak of large trees. The best time to plant is in the spring--March if you live in a southern region and not before late April if you live in a northern colder climate. On planting day, soak the roots for 2-3 hours. Dig holes that are a little larger than the roots of the plants--set them in the soil to the same level they were at the nursery where they were grown. There is always a mark on the plant trunk from which you can tell how far it was planted in the soil. Replace the dirt and firm it down around the roots of each plant. Then make sure to water the new plantings. They will need an inch of water a week, and if nature doesn’t provide it you will need to.
Grapes should be planted in the rows 6-8 feet a part and the rows should be nine feet a part. After each grape plant is in the ground, trim the cane that is the strongest so that it only has 2-3 good buds. Then it is necessary to put a 5-6 foot stake or pole into the soil next to each plant and tie the canes to the stakes. They need to be supported in this way for the first six feet of growth and then should spread up onto a trellis. You may be able to get through year one without building a full trellis system but it is a requisite for year two of the growing season. Your gardening store will have information and books on building trellises and the internet also has plenty of information.
The first year in learning how to grow grapes you must also learn how to prune the vines. Each year the fruit will grow on the previous year’s growth. Growth that gets two years old needs to be pruned off the plant. Leave 30 buds for the first pound of wood and 10 buds for each additional pound.
Common grape diseases are black rot. downy mildew, powdery mildew, and bird’s eye rot. Common pests include grape berry moth, grape phyiloxera, yellow jackets, spider mites, grape flea beetles, leaf hoppers, and red banded leaf rollers. Speak with your local extension agent to see which are most common in your locale and the best methods for treating the plants.
If you are patient and persistent your vine will bear grapes. Whether you are going to eat them, cook with them or make wine, you’ll be glad you took the time to learn how to grow grapes.