Mike's Backyard Nursery

The Most Fun You Can Have With Your Bibs On!

  • Home
  • Recommended Tools
  • Products
  • Categories
    • Complete Guides
    • Gardening
    • Growing
    • Landscape Design
    • Plant Care
    • Propagation
  • Contact
  • About Mike
Home » Backyard Nurseries » Growing Grapes

Growing Grapes

Updated : February 13, 2015

9 Comments

Why am I posting about this now? Because in Ohio, it is time to prune your grape vines! Plant your cuttings in the spring to grow more grape vines!

Like most plants, grape vines really like rich soil that is fairly well drained. However, they will grow well in soils heavier than most ornamental plants prefer. For one, they are very vigorous growers so soil that holds some moisture actually helps them.

New grape plants should be set out (planted) in the spring.Fall planting is not recommend in cold climates because the heaving of the soil during the freezing and thawing process can actually push freshly planted grapes vines out of the ground. So plant in the spring so they are rooted in nicely by fall.

If planting on an arbor you can put the plants as close as 48″ apart. If you are planting them in more of a garden setting on a trellis they should be 7 to 8 feet apart. After planting wait about
7 to 10 days then apply about 8 ounces of 10-10-10 garden fertilizer. Just sprinkle the fertilizer on top of the soil, over the root zone.

Do not over fertilize. After the grape vines have been established for a year you can apply about 16 ounces of fertilizer around the root zone each of each plant in the early spring.

Grape vines need support.
You need a system for supporting your grape vines. You can put posts in the ground and stretch a heavy wire between the posts. Or two wires. Make the top one about 60″ high and the lower one about 36″ high.

grape vineAs your new grape plants grow you’ll want to keep them pruned to a single vine until they almost reach the top wire, then allow the vine to grow in two directions like a “T”. Then keep the vine tied to the wire as it grows. Grape vines can easily grow as much as 12′ in a season.

wild grapesIn the latter part of each winter grape vines require aggressive pruning. Left unpruned they will produce a great deal of grapes, but with that much fruit on the plant none of it will mature into
quality fruit. So you control that with heavy pruning.

Leave the main vine that grows along the wire or wires, then all vines coming off of that vine need to be pruned back to just 3 to 5 nodes or buds. The nodes are the little bumps on the vine with the
little curly cues growing from them.

How’s that for a technical explanation?
The part of the vine that you leave is called a spur. Space the spurs that you leave evenly along the vine so they are not too close together. This part of the plant needs sunlight and good air
circulation.

On a mature plant the pruning will require removing as much as 80% to 90% of the previous year’s growth.
In Ohio mid to late February is a good time to prune, so adjust your pruning around that time frame.

These varieties are all very popular and tolerate cold climates well. Concord, Niagara, Delaware, Reliance, Candice, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc.

A well maintained grape vine will produce grapes
for over 30 years.

Take a gander at these posts...

  • Pruning Azalea Bushes
  • Growing Japanese Maples
  • It’s time to Make Baby Plants! Make Baby Plants! Make Baby Plants!
  • Tree Stump Removal Instructions
  • Check Out My Billy Goat Outback Brush Cutter!

Comments

  1. steve says

    June 14, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Hi
    Why do my grapes fall off when they are small?

    THX

    Reply
    • Mike says

      June 15, 2017 at 7:50 am

      Steve,

      I am not a grape grower, this article was written by somebody that asked to submit it. Hopefully somebody can answer.

      Reply
  2. Smith says

    September 8, 2016 at 2:32 pm

    If you plant a grape cutting in the Spring, can you expect to get grapes that same year? Or, does it take them a couple years before they start producing?

    Reply
    • Mike says

      September 9, 2016 at 6:54 am

      Smith,

      You really won’t get any significant amount of grapes until the second year.

      Reply
  3. Route66Kicks says

    August 9, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    I have Kyoho grapes growing on my chicken coop. The field mice and ground squirrels have stripped off all the leaves and grape clusters. Do you have a good organic solution? Also, only 1/3 of the Kaffir Lime tree’s leaves remain – the next dining place after the grape vines…..

    Reply
    • Mike says

      August 10, 2016 at 8:38 am

      Google Gardens Alive to look for an organic solution.

      Reply
  4. Bob Bales says

    June 2, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    Seedless grapes are better but you can read about each variety and the descriptions never say whether they are seedless or not. Why withhold this valuable information?

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    March 6, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    What direction should you plant a row of vine? North to south or east to west. Is it better to bye one type or different types. Will different types stay true or would you be getting crosses of all three. I am starting a grape patch this year.

    Reply
    • June says

      April 11, 2015 at 3:11 am

      I have grapes planted in a row, north to south. They get full sun exposure from morning to late afternoon. Produced a lot of grapes. I taste and when sweet enough, ready to cut the bunch.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

A Profound Thank You from Mike.

Posted On September 1, 2022 By Mike

Finnegan keeping the sun off his head.

An Old Guy, Two Donkeys, a Puppy and a Hammock. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted On July 17, 2022 By Mike

This upside down donkey is a hoot!

An Upside Down Donkey and Cute Puppy.

Posted On July 14, 2022 By Mike

'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm.

‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm.

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

'Bubblegum Blast' Bee Balm.

‘Bubblegum Blast’ Bee Balm

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Complete Guides

Growing, Rooting and Propagating Dappled Willow in Tree Form from Cuttings.

Growing Seeds, Winter Sowing, in Milk Jugs and Kitty Litter Jugs.

The Correct Way to Pot Rooted Cuttings, Nursery Stock Liners and other Plants.

Training Arborvitae and other Conical Evergreens to Grow with a Single Leader.

How to Propagate, Root Cuttings, of Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Recent Posts

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

'Blue Angel'hosta is by far one of my favorite blue hostas. A big hosta like this in a perennial bed covers a lot of area and that keeps a ton of weeds at bay! These giant heart shaped leaves are very slug resistant. We have this plant in full sun. With … Read Full Article

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

'Big Daddy' hosta is one of my favorite big hostas, mostly because it's big, it's blue and it has very interested leaves that are a bit dimpled. Big Daddy hosta gets about 24" tall and 36" wide. It's hardy in zones 3 through 9, the flowers are blends of … Read Full Article

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

We sold out of 'Humpback Whale' hosta pretty early this year. Humpback Whale is pretty impressive hosta and this one really hasn't matured yet because they can get three feet high and 7 feet wide. I've also seen photos of them that show them to be a lot … Read Full Article

Ice Plant, delosperma

Ice Plant, delosperma

How pretty is that? And it's a ground hugging perennial that comes back year and year. These plants were new to our nursery last year so Pam and I planted three of them in our landscape at home. Not only did they do really well last year but they wintered … Read Full Article

Electric Red Dianthus

‘Electric Red’ Dianthus

I've been working on my perennial bed at the nursery and this Electric Red Dianthus caught my eye and was screaming "make my picture". So I did! Dianthus in general are great perennials for your garden. They are super winter hardy even here in cold … Read Full Article

Copyright © 2023 · Hill Country Digital Media, LLC · Privacy Policy · Earnings Disclaimer · Terms of Service