If you have room for an arbor or trellis, you have room to grow your very own grapes. Even those of us with small gardens can likely fit in a grape vine or two. If growing your own organic grapes sounds like something you’d like to try, here are some things to keep in mind.
Selecting a Site for Growing Grapes
Two things are hugely important in growing grapes: plenty of light and good drainage. If you don’t have an area that gets a full eight hours of sun, then your next-best option is an area that gets good morning sun, which will help dry any dew and help prevent fungal issues.
The great thing about grapes is that, unlike many fruits such as sweet cherries or pears, you don’t need a second plant to cross-pollinate. You can grow a single grape fine on a fence or arbor and end up with a nice harvest. If you do grow more than one vine, space the plants at least three feet apart.
Selecting a Grape Variety
When selecting a grape variety, you’ll want to begin by thinking about how you plan to use the grapes. Do you want to eat them fresh? Do you want to make grape juice, or jelly, or jam? Or do you want to try making your own wine? This will determine both the type of grape you select as well as how many vines you’ll need.
Once you’ve decided how you want to use your grapes, you can further narrow down your list of possible varieties by looking for disease-resistant varieties. This will just make your life easier and you’ll get a more dependable crop. One thing to keep in mind is that most disease-resistant varieties have seeds; seedless varieties have been bred with the focus on, well, seedlessness, and not necessarily on disease-resistance.
Planting Grapes
In mild winter areas, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7 and above, you can plant bareroot grapevines in late fall or early winter. In colder areas, you’ll want to wait until early spring to plant. Before planting, set up your trellis and mulch the soil with aged compost. You can train grapes to scramble over fences, arbors, and walls, or you can build a post-and-wire trellis like those you see in vineyards. You may also want to drape the vines with netting if you don't want to share your harvest with the neighborhood birds.
Pests
Grape leafhoppers are the most common grape pest, and they tend not to cause a huge amount of damage in any case. Just follow good organic gardening practices such as monitoring your plants, mulching, watering, and handpicking pests or damaged leaves and fruit, and your plants will be perfectly healthy. Grapes are not going to suffer if they have a pest or two on them.
Diseases
You can tolerate some pests without taking action, but when it comes to diseases, early detection and action are important.
The diseases that affect grapes differ based on climate. The cool, wet springs and mild winters in the Pacific Northwest can lead to powdery mildew, while warm, humid weather in the East can cause black rot. In the Southeast and California, you may end up dealing with Pierce's disease, which scorches grape leaves. If you’re not sure what’s going on with your plant, it might be a good idea to take a sample to a local nursery or to a Master Gardener, who can help you determine what’s going on and how to fix it.
Harvesting Grapes
As grapes ripen, their final pigments appear and the stems get woody. Taste one before you harvest; the sugar content changes throughout the day and throughout the harvest season, so wait until your grapes are as sweet as you want them before you pick an entire cluster of them.
The best way to harvest grapes is to simply cut off each perfectly-ripe cluster with pruners. Clusters that are not quite ripe yet can remain on the plant until they’re perfect.
Growing grapes is an easy, fun way to grow more fruit in your own back yard.
Selecting a Site for Growing Grapes
Two things are hugely important in growing grapes: plenty of light and good drainage. If you don’t have an area that gets a full eight hours of sun, then your next-best option is an area that gets good morning sun, which will help dry any dew and help prevent fungal issues.
The great thing about grapes is that, unlike many fruits such as sweet cherries or pears, you don’t need a second plant to cross-pollinate. You can grow a single grape fine on a fence or arbor and end up with a nice harvest. If you do grow more than one vine, space the plants at least three feet apart.
Selecting a Grape Variety
When selecting a grape variety, you’ll want to begin by thinking about how you plan to use the grapes. Do you want to eat them fresh? Do you want to make grape juice, or jelly, or jam? Or do you want to try making your own wine? This will determine both the type of grape you select as well as how many vines you’ll need.
Once you’ve decided how you want to use your grapes, you can further narrow down your list of possible varieties by looking for disease-resistant varieties. This will just make your life easier and you’ll get a more dependable crop. One thing to keep in mind is that most disease-resistant varieties have seeds; seedless varieties have been bred with the focus on, well, seedlessness, and not necessarily on disease-resistance.
Planting Grapes
In mild winter areas, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7 and above, you can plant bareroot grapevines in late fall or early winter. In colder areas, you’ll want to wait until early spring to plant. Before planting, set up your trellis and mulch the soil with aged compost. You can train grapes to scramble over fences, arbors, and walls, or you can build a post-and-wire trellis like those you see in vineyards. You may also want to drape the vines with netting if you don't want to share your harvest with the neighborhood birds.
Pests
Grape leafhoppers are the most common grape pest, and they tend not to cause a huge amount of damage in any case. Just follow good organic gardening practices such as monitoring your plants, mulching, watering, and handpicking pests or damaged leaves and fruit, and your plants will be perfectly healthy. Grapes are not going to suffer if they have a pest or two on them.
Diseases
You can tolerate some pests without taking action, but when it comes to diseases, early detection and action are important.
The diseases that affect grapes differ based on climate. The cool, wet springs and mild winters in the Pacific Northwest can lead to powdery mildew, while warm, humid weather in the East can cause black rot. In the Southeast and California, you may end up dealing with Pierce's disease, which scorches grape leaves. If you’re not sure what’s going on with your plant, it might be a good idea to take a sample to a local nursery or to a Master Gardener, who can help you determine what’s going on and how to fix it.
Harvesting Grapes
As grapes ripen, their final pigments appear and the stems get woody. Taste one before you harvest; the sugar content changes throughout the day and throughout the harvest season, so wait until your grapes are as sweet as you want them before you pick an entire cluster of them.
The best way to harvest grapes is to simply cut off each perfectly-ripe cluster with pruners. Clusters that are not quite ripe yet can remain on the plant until they’re perfect.
Growing grapes is an easy, fun way to grow more fruit in your own back yard.