I’m drifting away from the plums and leaning more towards grapes. So far I’ve found local options at Walmart and a local nursery, but I’m not sure what ACTUALLY does well in Ohio. Ideally I’m looking for seedless dessert grapes - I don’t really care about size, so long as they taste good and will survive (: Any ideas? So far I’ve found:
Walmart:
~Van Zyverden seedless Concord (Bare root)
~Van Zyverden seedless Somerset (Bare root)
~Van Zyverden seedless Himrod (Bare root)
~Van Zyverden seedless Somerset (Bare root)
~Set of two bare root - Reliance and Niagara
~Potted Summer Royal seedless black (it says jams and jellies so maybe it’s not good fresh off the vine?)
~Van Zyverden Grapes Thomcord Seedless Set of 3 Plants White (The pictures don’t show white grapes so I’m confused about what these are at all) - bare root
~ Van Zyverden Grapes Einset Seedless (Bare root)
~Catawba red grape seedlings
~“Tickled pink” grape bare (dormant) root - no further information provided
Local nursery (all potted):
~Mars (seedless, cold hardy, good for fresh+jams and jellies)
~Canadice (Pretty much same as above)
~Lakemont (same as above but in September rather than August)
I really like Derek Fell’s books, and all he said for grapes that I’ve found is recommending Concord, Thompson’s Seedless, or Suffolk, maybe Cayuga? But I haven’t found any of those locally (except Concord) and am unsure if they’re worth a special order when I don’t know what I’m doing. Thoughts? Advice? Warnings?
I am in 6b growing zone as well. There are plenty of grape growers in my area. Wineries as well. I do not know what varieties my neighbor had. He always had lots of delicious grapes. Unfortunately, he sold his house and the flippers tore out all his grape vines he took years to acquire and take care of. Perhaps contact your OSU Extension agency and talk to someone there. They sometimes can be helpful.
Oh man I’ll have to look into this, that’s way cheaper than the potted ones at the nursery…part of me doesn’t want to wait on bare roots to produce but the other part knows I may kill them all by accident…
It’s worth a shot! I didn’t see it on my extension list but maybe it’s too new of a cultivar?
We can have hot humid summers, it’s a mixed bag where I am in Ohio. I talked to a guy at our church who grew grapes (and even made wine) for a while and he had Concords too.
The beetles are my main worry for now…they really got my morning glories last year.
I doubt if Thompson’s seedless would do well in the cold weather of Ohio. I had a Thompson’s seedless vine produce a handful of grapes and then died. Summer Royal is another one that I would question. Cold hardy grapes are your best bet.
I second the recommendation to visit your local Extension agency. I’m sure they would have useful pamphlets on grapes.
Just because a local big box store sells a particular grape vine does not necessarily mean that the grape will do well in your locality.
Birds are a huge problem. I personally would not plant seedless table grapes without an enclosure to prevent the birds from getting to them. They generally ignore Concords though.
We are zone 6b and I grow multiple vines of the following grapes here:
Agawam
Beaver
Ben Hur
Beta
Bluestar
Buffalo
Caco
Catawba
Concat Yellowbird
Concord Seedless
Delaware
Diamond
Diana
Dutchess
E.S. 4-22-62
E.S. 8-5-68
Eidelweiss
Einset Seedless
Fredonia
Goethe
Golden Muscat
Helen Keller
Hercules
Iona
Jefferson
Jersey Muscat
Kay Gray
King Phillip
Leon Millot
Lucille
Marechal Foch
Mars
Mills
Monte Senario
New York Muscat
Niagara
Oenida
Reinohli
Rochester
Rommel
Romulus
Rosebelle
Royal Seedless
Ruby
Schuyler
Seneca
Seyve-Villard 20-365
Steuben
Stout Seedless
Swenson Red
Vanessa
Westfield Original
and this year I am adding:
Bacchus
Alexander
Naples
Reliance
Interlaken
I’m in 7a in the southeast and I planted these last year. They did wonderfully and survived the arctic blast and the humidity of TN. All purchased from Double A Vineyards, I cannot recommend them enough. Fantastic plants.
Concord
Mars
Victoria Red
Villard Blanc
Niagara
Other Options - I have not planted these but they came highly recommended for our climate.
Southern Sensation Seedless (would have planted this already but it was sold out)
Somerset seedless tastes quite a bit like decent grocery store grapes and has thin, crisp skins. The berries are small but taste very good. Marquis and Everest are delicious seedless grapes but are slip skin like a Concord.
In zone 6B, southern Indiana, I only have Mars. It has survived very well with only early spring pruning and a handful of 10-10-10 thrown at it in spring. It always makes the prettiest little bunches of grapes, but they inevitably get black rot since I don’t spray.
Last year, I finally decided to spray and they were sizing up and looking beautiful. Then one night the deer came through and ate them all and most of the leaves, too. This is the first time I ever had the deer eating my grapevine. It was a strange year, though, as they ate tomato plants and okra leaves, and hairy, spiny squash leaves, things they had never eaten here before.
Anyway, after reading the comments here, I think I will try good old Concord. Sounds like it might be a winner in difficult conditions. I did put up a tall backyard fence last fall and have a new dog that will be out some, but also lives inside. Hoping between those two things the deer may not be such a big problem.
Sandra
Yeah, I’m planning on netting all the fruit I can reach until I have plenty to share!
Out of those, do you have any you dislike or prefer over the others? I’m leaning towards Mars because my local extension claims it’s the most resistant to everything bad. Maybe a few bare root extras as back ups…
I was just reading about Victoria Red somewhere…I haven’t seen a local strain of it yet though. Like I said above, Concord and Mars have my attention right now I think; it’s good to have it affirmed!
I suppose I should’ve asked way sooner, what’s a slip skin? I’m assuming it’s a thicker skin that’s less nice to eat?
Good to know about the black rot, my extension claims Mars is more resistant of it than anything else on the list but perhaps it’s old data…Also, what a tragedy with the deer! I wonder if their eating conditions went down that year due to drought or overpopulation or something. I hope you avoid them this year!
@MamaHawk Yes we did have drought conditions last summer so that may have played a part in the deer feeding frenzy on things they usually mostly ignore. And overpopulation seems to be an issue here, too. Deer are walking everywhere around my garden, woods and fields all day and night. I scream at them from less than fifty feet and they just look at me and keep munching. They also come through to get to my little pond for water. My dogs had all passed away as of last spring, so that probably played a part in it, too. There were fewer deer so close by when my 3 dogs were patrolling the property.
Your experience with Mars may be different. It may be one of the more rot resistant grapes as I have no other grapes to compare it too. However, if it does need a couple of sprays, grapes are easy and quick to spray compared to fruit trees. It took longer to mix up the spray than to spray the grapevine!
Sandra
Yep. The inside pulp separates very easily from the skin, and the skin is thick. Very different from super market grapes. The most common slip skin grape is seeded Concord. Some people don’t like the texture, but some people do and they are very juicy. Most slipskin varieties have really good flavor.
highly recommend Suffolk Red…red seedless…super vigorous…should be hardy in 6B…only problem is the bunches in most years do not fill well…in the odd years when they do, the bunches are immense…very tasty…first rate in my opinion…also Seneca… if you can find it…white…absolutely delicious…again very vigorous and productive…hardy to 6B…problem is it is very susceptible to powdery mildew…you will need to spray for it…but very well worth it