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Gardening

Grapes need a huge cool root-run.
Traditionally, a ground-level pane has been removed from the galsshouse and the vine planted outside, the vine itself trained inside.
I have never grown one but variety will count for a lot.
 
Vinny said:
Grapes need a huge cool root-run.
Traditionally, a ground-level pane has been removed from the galsshouse and the vine planted outside, the vine itself trained inside.
I have never grown one but variety will count for a lot.
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Exactly what I did when I first planted our Pinot vine; but didn't remove the pane, just dug under the back of the greenhouse and planted the root deep with only a few inch of the vine sticking out

It took very well and it fruits, without fail, yearly...

I've just cut a lot of it back this afternoon as I only want grapes along the trained top section as per the last few years; this was last year:

 
TalYWaun said:
1st watering of the vines growing in my shed, since Autumn last year. They have been growing there for 3 years but have yet to produce any grapes (two white varieties and two red). If they don’t produce this year they will get evicted to a corner of the garden, although they are useful as a sun shade during the summer that stops the shed becoming unbearably hot.

Vines by Mark Edwards, on Flickr
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They should have fruited by now... The vine I'm growing outside on the next doors garage wall :D is 2 years old now and it fruited well last year, 10 decent bunches...

If I were you'd I'd cut it back to only one main branch and see how that goes...
 
TalYWaun said:
I tried cutting them back last year so am leaving them this year to see if that makes them happier.
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Give it some fish, blood and bone around the roots - a good handful - and plenty of ventilation especially when they're flowering.
 
TalYWaun said:
I tried cutting them back last year so am leaving them this year to see if that makes them happier.
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Established grape vines are pruned to within in inch of their lives in autumn and dramatically so once into growth. If fruit-set is good and you wnat nice table grapes, bunches are also thinned.
Like Wisteria, pruning vines is labour-intensive and never done for the plants to give their best.
Looking again at the pic', it is remarkably spindly growth.
 
Thanks all, will definitely try the blood, fish and bone feed, as so far it’s just been a chemical feed. This is my first attempt at grapes so read up about them but I think I’m either doing something wrong or perhaps the plants were/are too young (?). Many years ago I was helping to clear a very large garden and underneath a huge pile of brambles discovered a greenhouse, which was mainly intact. It had a huge growth of vines and a large number of grapes so I guess that even left alone (for many years) and deprived of food and water, they can still set grapes, so that’s my plan this year, leave them alone (but watered and fed) and see what happens. The other thing I wonder about is that perhaps they aren’t getting pollinated properly as I don’t seem to get many insects in the shed. Perhaps they would be happier out in the garden, so will move them in the autumn.
 
TalYWaun said:
Thanks all, will definitely try the blood, fish and bone feed, as so far it’s just been a chemical feed. This is my first attempt at grapes so read up about them but I think I’m either doing something wrong or perhaps the plants were/are too young (?). Many years ago I was helping to clear a very large garden and underneath a huge pile of brambles discovered a greenhouse, which was mainly intact. It had a huge growth of vines and a large number of grapes so I guess that even left alone (for many years) and deprived of food and water, they can still set grapes, so that’s my plan this year, leave them alone (but watered and fed) and see what happens. The other thing I wonder about is that perhaps they aren’t getting pollinated properly as I don’t seem to get many insects in the shed. Perhaps they would be happier out in the garden, so will move them in the autumn.
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I think they're usually self pollinating so a bit of shaking or gentle brushing should be enough. Pruning might well improve quality.
 
mandryka said:
@TalYWaun Do they produce flowers?
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Yes, although I had to look up what a grape flower looks like as I don’t remember seeing anything like a flower yet. There are a few new buds visible so will keep an eye on them and look out for the flowers. Fish, blood and bone fertiliser acquired. Here’s hoping for some luck this year.
 
TalYWaun said:
Yes, although I had to look up what a grape flower looks like as I don’t remember seeing anything like a flower yet. There are a few new buds visible so will keep an eye on them and look out for the flowers. Fish, blood and bone fertiliser acquired. Here’s hoping for some luck this year.
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A good deep drink and a thick mulch of compost, if you have any, afterwards.
 
TalYWaun said:
Yes, although I had to look up what a grape flower looks like as I don’t remember seeing anything like a flower yet. There are a few new buds visible so will keep an eye on them and look out for the flowers. Fish, blood and bone fertiliser acquired. Here’s hoping for some luck this year.
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I've never grown grapes for the table, but I've got some experience growing two types of ornamental vine - V. purpurea and V. coignetiae. V. purpurea produces bunches of vine fruit prolifically, but it takes at least three years before that starts to happen -- more like four or even five. V. coignetiae produces loads of flowers after a few years, but I've never seen a vine fruit.
 
gavreid said:
A good deep drink and a thick mulch of compost, if you have any, afterwards.
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I will admit to being a little negligent in looking after them, so far, as the last few years I have been working on the house so all my tools are here and I rarely visit the shed, but will try harder this year and will mostly leave the shed door open so that they get plenty of ventilation. They are still in the pots I planted them in when I got them and don’t think there is room for any meaningful amount of compost so will have to rely on fertiliser. I’m surprised that a few scrawny vines have generated so much interest. I thank you all, and I will post updates if anything exciting happens.
 
You cannot grow vines in pots; it's that simple... They'll take, but they'll also soon die off... They have to go in the ground!

By all means start them off in a big pot; but as soon as they start to take and put on size, in the ground they need to go, and DEEP, if you can!
 
Lawns cut this afternoon; tried to do some weeding but that's a no go for my broken body, so it's a job for the wife this weekend :D She's more patience than I have for that as well haha...

I'll start to turn and weed the other raised bed tomorrow; can manage that with it being higher but also the soils a lot looser...

That's going to be prepped for the kalettes, courgettes and possibly some more root veg, if I use the other bed up
 
hifilover1979 said:
You cannot grow vines in pots; it's that simple... They'll take, but they'll also soon die off... They have to go in the ground!

By all means start them off in a big pot; but as soon as they start to take and put on size, in the ground they need to go, and DEEP, if you can!
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Much to my surprise the RHS disagrees -- to me this looks like an April fools joke, but the RHS aren't jokers. Put it like this, I'll believe it when I see it.

Grape vines can be grown in containers of general purpose potting media; loam-based John Innes No3 potting
compost is ideal. Use a pot about 30-38cm (12-15in) in diameter and depth.

Grapes: outdoor cultivation / RHS Gardening
Fruit in containers / RHS Gardening
 
mandryka said:
Much to my surprise the RHS disagrees -- to me this looks like an April fools joke, but the RHS aren't jokers. Put it like this, I'll believe it when I see it.

Grape vines can be grown in containers of general purpose potting media; loam-based John Innes No3 potting
compost is ideal. Use a pot about 30-38cm (12-15in) in diameter and depth.

Grapes: outdoor cultivation / RHS Gardening
Fruit in containers / RHS Gardening
Click to expand...

One of the Bordeaux growers told us his roots went down 400', not sure that i believe that.
 
mandryka said:
Much to my surprise the RHS disagrees -- to me this looks like an April fools joke, but the RHS aren't jokers. Put it like this, I'll believe it when I see it.

Grape vines can be grown in containers of general purpose potting media; loam-based John Innes No3 potting
compost is ideal. Use a pot about 30-38cm (12-15in) in diameter and depth.

Grapes: outdoor cultivation / RHS Gardening
Fruit in containers / RHS Gardening
Click to expand...

Yeah; I've never seen a vine growing in a pot at all; they just don't like it...

Their roots go deep...!

When I dug the soakaway in the back garden, leading into the woods, a few years back; I uprooted a huge root thinking it was one of the sycamore or oak tree roots so was about to hack through it and my Dad stopped me and he chased it back... It was the pinot vine root and it was as thick as my wrist, and I've not got small wrists haha :D

We left it be and changed direction of the soakaway a bit to not disturb it too much...

It'd reached out about 8ft from the back of the greenhouse!
 
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