fertilizer????

[clucksbc]

This was our second summer in our little slice of paradise..
I took on an acre.lot..
I love it but really don't know too much about gardening..
It is looking lovely and green...and some flowers..
but the kiwi i planted last year didn't flower..nor the grapes..
and plants having odd flowers but not a big total bloom..
I am thinking..I need to do something..
don;t really know..which too choose..
what is actually affective..

 

[WillsC]

Clucks,

Not sure where you live as it does make a difference but......the Kiwi could take many years before they flower, generally 4-5 years and do need a male and female to get fruit. The grapes it depends if they are northern type bunch grapes or southern muscadines. The northern bunch grapes grow slower and you don't want them to flower the first couple of years even if they want to which they normally don't. If they are muscadines they grow much faster and can easily cover a 25 foot wire in a single year. They may fruit the first year but again is better if they don't or you remove the flowers. You want the energy to go in to cordon growth at first not fruit.

I mostly use natural fertilizers namely rabbit manure as I have many hundred pounds of it a year. You can use chemical fertilizers and I do on my citrus, bamboo and blueberries but my personal rule of thumb is only use chemical fert when a plant is happy and growing well unless by looking at the leaves it is clear it is lacking a nutrient such as nitrogen. If you do decide to use chemical fertilizer go VERY LIGHT the stuff can cause more harm than good at times and over applying is a good way to burn plants.

It takes time for plants to establish themselves and their roots. Some plants grow fast and give quick rewards and others take time.

 

[clucksbc]

i am in hope bc..zone 5 aparently the grapes before my time did well (concord) but grew high in the trees...
hydro..while installing a new pole.. cut the vine..so...I retrelliced it this year..so should be well established...
thanks for the kiwi info is a male and female..but hadn't realized about the wait.
.the plants in the yard are healthy and well established..just not blooming well...
I only have acess to chicken poop...and even then..I know it is nitrogen base and not sure which plants shouldn't get it..
i do prefer not to have strange chemicals lurching in the soil..so not sure which fertilizer i should use...seems confusing..

 

[mickey328]

Check around locally and see if you can get your hands on some rabbit poo. It's absolutely the BEST fertilizer...doesn't even need composting. Our grape vine (concord) is at about the same stage...been in 2 years and is large and healthy and well established, but we haven't seen any blooms yet. I don't think they need 2 but need to do more research

 

[WillsC]

Clucks,

Grapes have to be pruned to get good harvests but it is simple to do during the dormant season.

Chicken manure is a good fertilizer but it is hot and needs to be composted before use. A chemical fertilizer to use would be like 10-10-10 with micro nutrients but too late in the year for you to do that.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I'm in zone 5 and generally get a heavy grape harvest. I only got a dozen bunches this year.

We had a warm spring and then when all the fruit trees bloomed, it froze down hard for 2 weeks. Not many blossoms survived.

Grape vines get pruned down pretty hard every year. Once a branch has fruited, it won't fruit again, so you take it off. Then you take off more to trim to tidy.

 

[erinszoo]

We're in zone 6 and usually have a good crop of grapes as well. But this year they did nothing. I don't think it was cold enough over the winter or our really hot summer last year zapped them. They only grew a couple of feet this year. I only know of one person in our area who got any grapes at all this year so it may have just been the weather and the seasons. Fruits are so cyclical. One year you'll get a bumper crop and the next year nothing at all. I'm not sure why that is. Give it time. If you want to fertilze look for something with fish emulsion in it or something slow release. I haven't grown kiwi so I'm not sure about it.

 

[Oregon Blues]

2 year old grapes probably are not old enough to fruit. Fruit plants take awhile to mature.

I give my grapes a time released 12-12-12 with trace mineral. I buy it by the 50 pound bag at Big R, or any farm supply store. I use it because it is cheap and I have a lot of plants to feed.

You can spend a lot of money to get better fertilizer. I pay almost $50 a gallon for a 9-3-6 for my potted plants. My grapes would probably love it, but I can't pay that much, considering the volume of it they would need.

If you can get something in the same proportions as the 9-3-6, it would be the best. A 18-6-12 would be the same proportions, if you could find it. But with the 12-12-12, they use what they want and leave the rest, so it is not gong to hurt them.

Don't feed late in the fall in a cold area. It will cause the plant to put on new tender growth that will freeze.

You might want to get your soil tested. That''s the only way to know what your plants want to have added to the soil.

 

[mickey328]

Thanks for the advice, OB. I put in concord grapes for jam making...just can't ever find any available in the stores, and they make the best jam. Do grapes need an acidic soil? Ours here is very alkaline. I will say though, the plant itself is growing really, really well! We're going to have to put in another trellis this fall or spring; it's already covered the one we have. Besides the fruit, I'm wanting to use it for shade. Our deck is on the south side of the house and it gets beastly hot out there. I figured a grape would be the best all around...shade in the summer but let the sun in during the winter, and luscious fruit as well

 

[WillsC]

Grapes are not very picky about PH but they do best just on the alkaline side. You said your soil is very alkaline??? Above 8 you may have some micrnutrient issues. Having grown up on the shores of lake Erie just 5 miles from the Welchs concord grape plant I have always loved Concord grapes. Just 1000's of acres of them in NW PA and NY. I was quite sad when I found out I could not grow them here in Florida. Then I found Nesbitt that tastes just like concord so was happy though it does not make as good of jelly as the concords do.

Grapes as shade do work but doing that you will drastically cut down on fruit production.....if you prune for maximum fruit you lose a lot of shade lol.