Growing grapes is a labor of love. The first couple of years won't bear much fruit but once those roots get fully established, you will have grapes galore!
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How to plant grapes
- Pick a spot with full sun and dig a whole deep enough that the roots go into the ground without curling.
- Place a trellis by the grape vine.
- As the grape plant grows, focus on training the vines to grow up the trellis.
- Prune off any fruit so that the plant can put all it's energy into growing up. The grapes on a first year plant aren't very tasty anyway. Doing this will help your plant down the road.
What kind of soil do grape vines need?
Like strawberries, grape vines like sandy soil. Which means planting strawberries near grapes is a great idea!
If you soil is sandy already, you are ready to go. If not, add some sand in and disperse it throughout your garden area where your grapes will be growing.
How to train grapes to grow on a trellis?
When you plant your grapes, make sure to have a trellis right beside your plant. As the grape vines grow, weave them through your trellis.
You can also use a piece of cloth to tie the grape vine to your trellis or some gardening wire.
While you are training the grapes to grow upwards, prune any grapes that might grow. You will do this for the first couple of years because it gives all the energy to growing the grapes upwards instead of bearing fruit.
Wine VS Table Grapes: Which one to plant?
Most notably the difference between wine grapes and table grapes is their sweetness and size. Table grapes are usually larger and sweet, but wine grapes are the sweetest grapes.
Wine grape varieties are also more juicer which makes sense when you think about it because these grapes are juiced out to ferment and turn into wine.
Table grapes are most known for the sweet, and crisp taste as most people just eat them right off the vine.
Wine Grape Varieties
- concord
- pinot
- chardonnay
- muscadine
Wine Grape Varieties
- Einset seedless
- red globe
- seedless Candice
Where to buy Grape Vines?
Almost always, grape vines are available for purchase in nurseries, but I've also had good luck purchasing them from Etsy too!
Before you purchase a grape vine, make sure it can handle your zone for temperature. If you don't know your zone for planting, head over to the USDA plant hardiness zone map.
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