I haven’t even considered it here. My grandfather’s concord grapes would be attacked by wasps every year. My neighbor said he got rid of his grapes because the raccoons would feed on them. I also have some SWD concern here. Do you guys get any of these issues with grapes? I know @BobVance grows them in the same general area as me.
I’ve seen some bug /critter damage but i put out traps for both and have controlled them. knock on wood, SWD hasnt made it this far north YET. no mildew / fungus issues either.
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Grapes seem so inconsistent. Some people have constant problems with them, others have none. It seems like grape cultivars are extremely variable and picky about what microclimates they like.
My parents have a giant concord growing through an even more giant pine tree that produces bucket-loads with no pruning, no spraying, no work at all.
My own grapes are young and not grown in an ideal spot, but they still gave me a lot of berries. I like them mostly for the fact that I can grow them up my porch beams instead of finding yard space. Most of them went to the birds, but I still got a good amount. I’m crossing my fingers that disease pressure doesn’t find me in the next few years.
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My grandparent’s house was recently sold and this thread has had me thinking about eating the concord grapes right off their vine as a kid. And now I’m thinking about my own grape juice, wine, jelly, and pie. I believe the sacramental wine they serve at Catholic churches around here is made from Concords, and it’s a good sweet wine. Concord grapes off the vine are on another level, flavor-wise, than what you can find in the grocery store. Google tells me a popular and pretty effective way to deter birds and wasps is to bag the bunches, which is something my grandfather never did with his.
This is another thing to plant at some point over the next few years.
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Grapes do not like wet feet or fertile soil. They like a slope with clay or lome soil. I failed for years at growing them and then I figured it out.
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This is something I am far from an expert on, but my grandfather’s yard was off to the side of the farm he grew up on. It was never used by the farm because it was mostly swamp land. Much of his property was of course reclaimed/filled in swamp. The area the concord grapes were in was towards a pretty wet area. When there were heavy rains in the spring an area right along the edge of his property would often flood. The flood from a particularly wet period would get into the vicinity of the concord grapes. This area was very muddy in that time of the year. He put his 2nd blueberry patch about 6 feet further from the property line from the grapes and this patch did mostly poorly, with the exception of one variety. The soil here was wet and heavy.
His blueberries closer to the house did far better. Just about anything closer to the house than where the 2nd blueberry patch was did fine. He still grew winter squashes right up in the muddy area every year, didn’t matter if it was muddy in early to mid spring if he planted around Memorial Day.
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that makes sense. our property as a kid was a cedar swamp when my father cut and filled it to put our trailer on. our gardens were all heavy rocky poor clay soil. there was a very wet spot in the early years to the left of the garden. for 20yrs we dumped all the rocks out of the garden, branches and other garden waste in that hole until finally it was flush with the rest of the garden. this is where my father planted his concords on mounds there. they grew like weeds. only thing he gave them was a couple shovels of compost in the spring and mulch w/ wood chips.
I’m sure the grapes that people use to make fine wines, and most table grape varieties such as those that are sold in grocery stores, would require a much drier soil. The good wine grapes from Europe do poorly here, but they love the Mediterranean climate in California. My grandfather had a green grape, probably Niagra, in a dryer spot. I’m not sure if that grape requires more drainage or if it was just where he was able to put it. I’d guess it could take about as much abuse as the Concord can.
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It is so humid here that if left un sprayed my concord grapes rot most years.
Last year I bagged a few, ziplock, corners cut ,they cooked in the bag. A lose.
This year I tried a few again .but they never ripened , these ripen here in August ,the ones not in bags ripened and rotted in August ,it is now late October and they are still green and unripe in the bags, but the sun did not cook them this year…
they grow great here. i found a wild patch of them that covered a 20ft apple tree that is still covered w/ fruit after 7 good frosts. i harvested 40lbs of awesome tasting concords and there was a lot more to be had. took cuttings to root also. want them in my yard .the best grape juice ive ever tasted!
I know this is a year old, but it is good.
I like the idea of making a grape juice concentrate to can and save for making juice later in the year. Can you tell me a recipe?
I have not had any need to spray, and no birds have eaten my grapes only my cherries and blueberries so far.
I have wished to have muscat and “champagne” grapes like they sell in grocery stores.
i have a european fruit juicer. i put the grapes in the top and after they start to get tender, i lightly mash them, just to break them up a little. i continue to steam them for another 30-40min. i open the spigot and drain the juice. i continue to do this with all my grapes and save the juice. then pour it all thru a fine sieve to remove most of the pulp. put juice in a stock pot then heat to a gentle boil and keep adding juice as it evaporates. taste it occasionally to see if its to your liking. if you want to sweeten dissolve the added sugar as its boiling. i usually reduce 5 gal. to a gal. then jar and process. if you want a concentrate you can reduce further.
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Gee I have not seen a fruit juicer set up like that. How cool. It is harder to de seed concord.
i paid $60 for mine. they work great and the chickens love the leftovers. seeds and all. 
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what varieties of table seedless grapes do you grow? i love growing grapes. i had grape leaf mite last year on one of my small plant. i dont know if its treatable as i called the nursery they told me to use dormant spray or to cull it.
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I am making my second attempt at growing grapes this year, they are not easy to grow for a lot of people, my first attempt was a total failure, they need lots of sunlight hours, they need easily draining soil, they need a lot of wind/airflow, they need acidity like blueberries, they need all those things otherwise they are not so healthy. Birds, and squirrels would steal most of the fruit if we had any, just like the blueberries. That is why I am using nets this time. Oh and like me my first grape vine died from disease, I did research recently and found out that the grape vine that died on me was disease resistant, yet it turns out that it was very sensitive to a disease common where I live. I had no idea that it was diseased until the year it died, even though it was in the ground since years before then. The trellis I am building this time will be stronger than the last one as well. I am making sure that everything is better quality. I had no idea when I built the last trellis how heavy the grape vines can get, a lesson I learned by doing research online.
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I am looking to plant grapes this year as well. I may just buy some cuttings and try to root them. I was wondering about the bird issue myself. Do green grapes attract fewer birds, like yellow cherries? I was thinking about keeping all of the vines along the N fence line, and within cat range to deter wildlife.
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I myself have been able to tell little difference in bird preferences for green, pink, or purple (black) grapes. Strange as it may seem, birds do have a huge preference for my pink reliance grapes, though I cannot really explain why. They are planted in same area- same trellis in fact- as my other grapes but birds and bugs both go for them much harder than my other grapes. Honestly, though, birds just aren’t a major problem for me and my grapes- not sure about others here. Certainly they eat some. But by the time the grapes are starting to ripen enough to interest the birds, the vines have covered and hidden a lot of the fruit from birds, and the exposed grapes that do feed the birds are so plentiful for me that birds don’t eat enough to make a huge dent in my crop.
As for trying to root grapes, its hard for me to think you wouldn’t be better off just buy some potted grapes at a big box store. They cost very little, and often have a substantial root and main vine so that they often produce at least a few grapes the same year you plant them. Unless you want some unusual variety, it would be much faster and easier to plant a potter (ie rooted) grape than trying to root a cutting or even planting bare root. I’ve had much better luck buying potted grapes at big box stores than I have with trees. All my grapes have been true to label and healthy, fast growing plants. Others are likely to disagree and may have good points, I’m just relaying my own experience.
Also, unlike many people here, grapes have been pretty easy for me. I do plant mine in full sun and I guess I have the right soil. But about all I do is trim them HARD each winter and spray them with Myclobutinil a few times during growing season and I’ve had delicious, large crops each year. That doesn’t mean I’m smart or doing something special- just that its worked out well for me. I can also say that for me grapes have been a great way to get a lot of really good fruit that is spread out over much of the summer and fall. I include a few bunches of grapes with ever fruit box I give away from July to October. Good luck!
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I think that fruit color does fool some birds and not all of them. Some birds here will go after lets say figs of all colors, even the colors that they supposedly are not interested in, different places have different types of birds. The types of birds that are familiar with fig trees are watching our fig trees waiting for the fruit months before they are ripe, birds take our blueberries when they are still raw. I’d be surprised if the grapes I am getting would do any better without netting. That reminds me of my failed attempt at protecting my blueberries from birds using a net. I was walking near the blueberry bush and I had heard something inside the net, a bird freaking out because it was trapped inside the net so I am being smarter with the netting this time around as well. Seems like a loosing battle here without nets. I am going to try to use the same netting with our blueberries as our grapes, to keep the netting cost down.
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grapes absolutely don’t need acidic soil.
my soil is very alkaline but my grape is fine.
no bird problems here.
i built an arbor for the grape n a honeysuckle to cover.
my cats love lounging around up there.
so, no birds, but lots of feathers.
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