Let's talk about growing grapes

Thank you! I don’t have Rooting Hormone so I’ll have to try without…
Edit: I’ve found an article talking about homemade Rooting Hormones: 7 Ways to Make Natural Rooting Hormone | PreparednessMama
It talks about cinnamon and honey, any experience with these?
I guess I could make a fresh cut, sprinkle it with cinnamon and stick them in the pot again.
.

3 Likes

My recipe adds ground beef with the rice, and she cooks it in broth, or tomato sauce, and even sometimes Borsch. I guess you can cook them in any type of sauce you like. Next time I think I will try a creamy dill.

Vanessa is a good grape.

That’s mostly true but muscadine and aestivalis (like Norton) do not root from cuttings easily and should be layered.

2 Likes

If you have those do it and if not i would not worry about it, also aloe vera is a good rooting stimulator or you can put a willow stick in water in the fridge for a day and then remove them and when the water warms up you can water in the cuttings. Otherwise they have a decent shot at rooting either way. My understanding is rooting hormone can double the take rate and that seedling substrate was more effective than water in general.

Thank you for the tips! I have cinnamon readily available I’ll try with it.

After I pruned my grapes this year. Which was in early January (early for normal yes but was just right for this year) I took cuttings from both my regular grapes (Catawba and Concord I think) and some of my grown from seed muscadines and stuck them in the ground close to a small branch that I have. They are protected from the elements some because it is in a wooded area. Both the regular grape and the muscadine cuttings are showing signs of life and may actually come out! I am hoping that being in that area with the water the muscadines will take off like wild ones and flourish. If not then no loss. I will probably spray these when I spray my other grapes with a fungicide this year and maybe next. Then after seeing how they do I may leave these to their own devices.

1 Like

I do the same for all slip-skin varieties. Point the top of the grape at your throat, smush and swallow all contents and suck out the juices. If you do this properly you can then blow into the empty skin and eject at high speed. Sometimes aimed at others near by for fun. I have been eating them this way for about 50 years and never noticed anything but a happy stomach. Last year we ate 3 varieties several times a day during the season in pretty big quantities. Smiles everywhere…

3 Likes

i eat them seeds skin and all. never had a issue.

2 Likes

@moose71 I watched someone do this last fall. His bite looked very similar to that of a deer, except no dirt on the edges. I was impressed.

1 Like

um, i never thot to prune my grapes this year.
they are leafing out.
should i do it now/?

Catawba, Niagara and Concord are 3 of the 4 varieties that I grow. I have about 30 vines now and lots of young cuttings growing. When I was young, (I’m 60 now), we ate tons of Concord and “Cinnamon” grapes. I went out of my way to “save” cuttings from the “Cinnamon” grapes on my Grandpa’s old farm because I assumed that it was a “unique old variety”. 3 years ago, my Father bought me a Catawba and a few other varieties to plant. Turns out “Cinnamon” grapes are actually Catawba, (a unique old variety native to the USA). Ripe Catawba’s are amazingly good and I prefer them to Concord. They’re all good though.
I have a few “Muscat of Alexandria” vines but only got about 10 grapes last year. I’m in zone 6a and Muscat’s like zone 7 or 8 so they’re struggling a bit.

3 Likes

I’ve got a king of the north grape coming in may. anyone have experience with it? supposed to be very vigorous and hardy. both are good things here. manly for fresh eating and juice.

1 Like

You can still prune. A lot of California guys delay their pruning till close to bud break now to try to push the ripening period back a bit (so it spends less time in the hottest part of the summer). It can help reduce the risk of frost damage too.

1 Like

thank you, dc.
i’ll do it.

i dont use paraflim to root my grape cuttings. everything is about right.

I would love to grow grapes. Someone gave me several large vines and I have bought several over the years and they never grow. I got a couple feet on a few of them-that’s it. I finally gave up. I have so many other things that I grow with absolutely no issues I figured it was best to focus on those.

Yeah, I have also had to change my plans based on what has wanted to grow and what has been difficult. For me the grapes have wanted to do well. Apricots, no.

I had high hopes for Nanking and Cornelian cherry when I started based on Lee Reich’s books, but so far we have had less than a handful of fruit combined from them in 6 years. Can’t stand to take them out though because they do have pretty flowers in spring.

3 Likes

Try to add the Romeo or Cupid tart cherry because they produce quick and in abundance.

4 Likes

Just got my grapevines from Double A vineyards. Very nice 2’ long roots nice and moist and plenty of healthy buds and fully asleep and well packaged to boot. Gotta say these are probably the healthiest grapes i have received from the mail and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for healthy grape plants with a good selection.

Question, its going to be 15 on sunday and 21 on monday with a two day freeze. I could plant these right now they are definitely dormant or should i heel them in coco and leave them in my garage until tuesday or thursday afternoon when i would get a chance to replant? They are definitely going in the ground before all freeze is over and my thoughts is that they would stay asleep longer if i plant them out right now?

3 Likes

put them in ground. they will stay dormant but start to root in until it gets warm enough to leaf out… if the leaves are coming out i would pot them in the garage to put them out a little later.

3 Likes