Those little green things are gonna grow up to be grapes.. I had a Concord vine , but it got killed during a backyard remodeling.. it wasn't in a good place anyway... soon I hope to have a proper arbor, and then I will get another.. watchout for japanese beetles. study up on pruning grapes.. left to their own devices the vines can run 20-25 feet in both directions if the have a fence or tree to support them.. however bigger is not better.. the longer the vines grow the smaller and fewer the grapes unless you irrigate and fertilize heavy.
Anyone else grow concord grapes at home?
I am curious what mine should look like.....The grape is about 3 years old. Last year I was unsure if it even had survived the winter, then it TOOK OFF. This year its taken off again......It loks like I have these small clusters of flower buds starting all over it. They almost look like small green grape clusters....but I think they are flower clusters......anyone maybe post pics of what theirs looks like?
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Yeah pruning is the essential element if growing good grapes. I have two old plants - not Concord, some sort of American and European - and it takes me hours to cut them back every winter. Prune the weak and dead, cut the new vines back to the 2nd bud. They grow up my deck and during the growing season I have to cut them more or they're a complete mess. They never fail to amaze me with a ton of grapes.
Some friends just haven't been as lucky. I know of several people who gave up on growing grapes. But to me they can be the plant that ate Chicago.
I had read that they don't need water or fetitilizer and I've never added either.
Some friends just haven't been as lucky. I know of several people who gave up on growing grapes. But to me they can be the plant that ate Chicago.
I had read that they don't need water or fetitilizer and I've never added either.
My parents have been growing grapes in the backyard for 25+ years. Pruning is very important. The clusters will be your grapes. Don't water too much or they will be a little bitter. We don't have bug problems, but spiders like to make thier nest among the clusters. Make sure you have something to keep the birds off of them. A couple of pie tins will scare them off with the noise/movement. Move them a every week or so so they don't get used to it.
I should have added that the racoons harvest more than I ever do.
Mine put out about 30+ gallons of ripe grapes every fall. I started doing clipping starters and now have some 1, 2 and 3 year olds that are really taking off. I'm now growing a grape wall in my backyard.
would it harm them too much to prune them a bit NOW? And can you plant the parts you prune? I know I watched my grandmother prune rose bushes sometimes and start them in jars of water....
I only prune grapes in winter that are going to produce. Just cutting a runner for a starter isn't pruning and must be done early enough for the vine to fully root before winter or it will die off.
My experience has been that I can prune them year round with no ill effects. Vineyards also prune during the growing season. You'll just have to see how the cuttings sprout. Onward into the experiments.
I just planted 2 vines today. There's good info here. Anyone have any advice on what to do for the first year?
I gave up on grapes. This hard black clay soil I've got hates grapes. I had some making and an elm tree died and fell across the arbor. I only wanted grapes for wine making. The best wine I ever made came from the wild mustang grapes that grow on fence rows along the roadsides, so I gave up growing my own.
Texian .. are you refering to muscadine "grapes" Looks like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscadine they go by many local names.. extremely hardy, not bother by heat or very many pests.. taste a little plumish , well, grown in red clay.. climb anything nearby like a sherpa. That was my other vine, lost it with the concord on the remodel.
Start your collection of wine making supplies and start gathering canning supplies... I got a funny feeling canning supplies might not keep up with demand this year.. just a guess.. haven't seen any supply problems ...yet.I just planted 2 vines today. There's good info here. Anyone have any advice on what to do for the first year?
Yep. "Mustang Grape" is a Texas thing. Muscadine is the real name. Makes good wine and jelly but will invert your face if you eat a green one (ripe ones not any better). Very seedy. Growing companions include poison ivy, bull nettles, and rattlesnakes, but worth the hassle. The crops were almost non-existent the last two years. This year is looking promising.Texian .. are you refering to muscadine "grapes" Looks like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscadine they go by many local names.. extremely hardy, not bother by heat or very many pests.. taste a little plumish , well, grown in red clay.. climb anything nearby like a sherpa. That was my other vine, lost it with the concord on the remodel.
When ripe mine were very sweet and, as i said, taste as much like a plum as a grape..but then and again.. mine were 1) not wild, 2) didn't have the posion ivy, bull nettles, or rattlesnakes, however they did climb through the tops of my dogwoods, and into the neighbors loblolly pines... one vine took up about 40' of fence and produced fruit 25' up the pine tree.
I was always amazed at how much I had to prune my vines back to keep the vines producing well and to keep them from overgrowing the arbor. Makes darn fine jelly, too, but wine is a problem to make in such a way that it is drinkable.
We had arbors and the things grew like mad but I don't know what kind they were -- think there were two types. Where I'm from, Concord grapes mighta been kinda new-fangled. Ours were really only supposed to be good for jams and maybe wine (the latter I'm guessing as I recall a press on the property when I was a little kid but we never fermented anything). Add enough pounds of sugar and some pectin and you can eat any darn grape on bread I guess. We didn't use lids and rings, just melted paraffin wax poured over the top. Oh, and we stuffed and ate leaves in season too. I was really little as I said. The arbors attracted bees like mad but smelled wonderful when it woulda been time to send the migrant farm workers in. Unfortunately, and this musta still been in the 70's around when I vaguely recall a latino guy trying to get people to pay his "union pickers," we took down our arbors...
Alden
Alden
There are some old growths of wild grapes with vines over 4 inches thick at the base, but I don't know how well they produce. Down the street a ways, they grew up to the point of being a traffic hazard. The county cut them down. Those newly sprouted vines came back healthier than you can imagine.When ripe mine were very sweet and, as i said, taste as much like a plum as a grape..but then and again.. mine were 1) not wild, 2) didn't have the posion ivy, bull nettles, or rattlesnakes, however they did climb through the tops of my dogwoods, and into the neighbors loblolly pines... one vine took up about 40' of fence and produced fruit 25' up the pine tree.
My two plants are 18 years old and have 4-inch trunks. They're twisted and gnarly and some times, when they're over-growing the deck, I've thought about cutting the *&#** stalks for canes or just firewood. But they continue to produce ... can't waste food.
Alden it was probably Cesar Chavez.. the growers hated the guy.. he organized a grape boycott to get better working conditions and higher pay for US Citizens that worked as migrant laborers in agriculture.. also taught new US Citizens english and to read and write and registered them to vote.We had arbors and the things grew like mad but I don't know what kind they were -- think there were two types. Where I'm from, Concord grapes mighta been kinda new-fangled. Ours were really only supposed to be good for jams and maybe wine (the latter I'm guessing as I recall a press on the property when I was a little kid but we never fermented anything). Add enough pounds of sugar and some pectin and you can eat any darn grape on bread I guess. We didn't use lids and rings, just melted paraffin wax poured over the top. Oh, and we stuffed and ate leaves in season too. I was really little as I said. The arbors attracted bees like mad but smelled wonderful when it woulda been time to send the migrant farm workers in. Unfortunately, and this musta still been in the 70's around when I vaguely recall a latino guy trying to get people to pay his "union pickers," we took down our arbors...
Alden
He was famous for the grape and lettuce boycott.. but some think he should be more famous for forcing the stopping of the Bracero Program where the US Goverment , to pander to the large agricultural growers were allowed to bring in immigrant field hands from Mexico... Chavez would turn them into the INS.. they would ignore him, then he would round up the immigrants with his Union boys , put them on busses and send them back down to the border.
Chavez was a tough smart US Navy Vet.. he knew what was what... cheap non- citizen labor was allowing the growers to bust the Union Pickers strikes and drove down wages for US Citizens... if America would have listened to him in the first place we probably wouldn't have the illegal immigrant problem we have to day.... I have to laugh everytime those pro- criminal immigrant clowns use his name... they are that freaking ignorant of History.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Chávez
http://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurri...ources/Biographies/High_School_Biography.aspx
The Chavez family lost their farm during the depression like so many other and went to California to pick fruit like so many others... He knew first hand what the Bracero program, which was started during WW2 to solve the legitimate problem labor shortage , did to wages for US Citizens working in agriculture after the war.
Sorry to hear your family decided to kill the grapes.
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