Hope Grapes

This is a first for me hope grapes are oval! And much later than Swenson Red.

5 Likes

Hmm, from what I have read, Hope grapes have excessively tight clusters. Those don’t look like that.

1 Like

I can grow them I just can’t tell them how to grow. :kissing_heart:

2 Likes

I’ve been growing Hope for a few years. An OK grape, but, because they are green, it’s really difficult to know when they’re ripe. The clusters do get tight, but not too bad, and the grapes aren’t large. Mine are ripe now.

I also have Jupiter and Joy. I like both of those better. My Joy grapes are small, but have a strong grape-candy flavor. @scottfsmith previously said his didn’t have much flavor at all. I think his get more shade, whereas mine are in full sun.

3 Likes

My soil makes grapes sweet even my Concords. These Hope grapes are babies and I just found them today. The clusters always get tighter. Thanks for your comments I will let you know how mine taste.

3 Likes

Can you please take a picture of your Hope! Thanks!

2 Likes

Which do you like better the Jupiter or the Joy grape? I have the Jupiter which I find has an excellent flavor as long as it is perfectly ripe. My problem is that I always pick them before it is really ripe because of the birds. Then it has a mostly neutral flavor. Also, I have the Reliance grape which has a sweet fruity flavor whether it is ripe or not. But the Reliance has some other problems one of which that its the raccoons favorite grape too. It does not color well. The raccoons don’t care about the color. :rage:

My intentions is to purchase one or maybe two of the newer Arkansas grapevines as soon as I can decide on which.

2 Likes

Here, I have growing in pots (waiting for me to build them a proper grape arbour/greenhouse) Thompson seedless, Green Champagne & Himrod. I need to build an enclosure because raccoons probably eat 90% of the grapes grown around here, b@st@ards!!!

Anthony

5 Likes

Well, I went out to take pics and nearly every grape was gone. Either by birds or my own chickens!

2 Likes

I probably like Joy a little better. Jupiter is fine, but has a thicker skin that I usually spit out. Joy is a smaller grape with a thin skin. I also prefer the Joy flavor a bit more.

Joy does tend to get black rot pretty heavy, so you’d definitely need to spray for it.

Where are you in TN? I’m near the Murfreesboro area.

3 Likes

Thompson seedless is a tough grapevine to grow anywhere but California. My Thompson Seedless that I got at a big box store lasted all of one year before dying. Its not winter hardy at all and it is very prone to diseases. I would not try it in a greenhouse either.

Autumn is a great time to build either an arbor or greenhouse! Just don’t do like I did and plant the grapevines before you build the arbor - if that’s what you build.:no_mouth:

2 Likes

I am near Somerville, which is basically 40 miles east of Memphis.

Sorry about the your grapes.Ya, birds and varmints are tough on grapes. The last two years they got nearly all my Reliance grapes. One day the vine would be loaded down with grapes and the next morning they would be gone. This year I picked them all green (they are suppose to color up to either pink or red). That is the one thing I like about them. They are edible even when they are green.

1 Like

Plan is to build big garden boxes pn the outside of the arbor and then train the vines inside and up the cattle panels. I’ll use either window glass or 6 mil poly to seal the arbor to turn it into a greenhouse for grapes. A local citrus grower (mainly Ponderosa lemons) has Thompson seedless growing all inside his big greenhouse. There is a big stump I’ve covered with landscaping cloth so I plan to build the arbor greenhouse over the stump and build a cedar bench over the stump to camouflage it.

Anthony

2 Likes

@mrsg47, here is Hope… both cluster and vine. Yours looks spot on. Dax

6 Likes

Thanks Dax. :blush:

3 Likes

That is a nice project!

Back in 2011, I built a 24’ x 12’x 7.5’ arbor. A lot of work went into it.

I have played around with the thought of converting it into a “pole barn” type of greenhouse. Would think that a greenhouse could be built as simple or as elaborate as one wishes. Of course, it would be advantageous to do a lot of planning. I don’t know what kind a store would carry
6 mil poly.

1 Like

Joy are very good, they have plenty of flavor. But they ripen with my muscadines and if you eat them after eating a muscadine they taste like nothing. Its all relative…

For Hope you need to wait until they get dark yellow, they are very good at that point.

5 Likes

Thompson seedless, Green Champagne & Himrod can you tell me more about their differences? in terms of flavor, productivity and and disease?