The second plant I ever rescued from the dumpster was a Grape vine. One of the big box stores placed it on clearance to get rid of it and I scooped it up. Back then I had no idea I was going to develop a love for saving plants. I read the box very carefully, choose a spot and planted it. It was in pretty rough shape and I seriously questioned whether it would ever survive. After year one I trained it to vine along our backyard fence. I will say it did not produce any fruits until around year 3. Please do not let that discourage you because again this vine was pretty bad off and just about dead. Here are 5 Tips for growing Grapes in the hopes you wont have to wait as long.
- Trim the vines back after they have started to dye off. This helps the plant focus on it’s root system. I did this at year two just to train it to grow along my fence. Now, if I didn’t cut it back it would take whole fence and then some.
- Grape vines can grow just about anywhere. They can tolerate heat, cold, wet soil you name it. If the leaves look a bit dry and withered I will give it a good water.
- Be on the lookout for beetles. We have these lovely pests Japanese beetles that just love to munch on their leaves. UGH, my biggest gardening stress are that darn insect. I have tried many herb remedies but honestly the insect bags at Home depot are about all that detour them in my area (zone 5b).
4. Allow your grapes to fully grow before picking them. I just love seeing them start to develop. So do my local birds! If I am not careful they will easily dash along the leaves and take a few for themselves. For this I keep a bird feeder near by to help keep them away.
5. Taste different kinds of grapes before choosing which to plant. I saved our grapes from the trash so I didn’t really do this. Looking back I wish we had Niagara grapes because that is what we eat the most. However, the concord grapes that it provides it just as nice!
One of the best parts of growing your own grapes is harvesting. Each year I am astounded at how many one vine supplies. During the pandemic we also ventured out to local farms to harvest produce. If you want to see some of the other produce we picked, take a look at these articles: Grapes, Strawberries, Peaches and Apples.
Did you find my 5 Tips for growing Grapes helpful? Let us know in the comments!