Growing grapes

[Celie]

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if anybody could give me some tips about growing Grapes. I do not know a thing about them except how o eat them.
Two years ago I bought 5 grape vines for 4 of my favorite table grapes and 1 concord grape vine for jelly and preserves. I planted them into the veggie garden to acclimate to my Southeast Louisiana climate. Now I have several additional shoots of each one and would like to start a small mini vineyard to transplant them into, but I do not know where to start or any idea how to trellis them. This year they had a few small clusters of green grapes, that fell off before ripening. They all looked green, but was supposed to be red, purple, pink and green. Can anyone out there help me? Any tips, plan or advise would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,

Celie

 

[math ace]

We live in Florida and built an overhead arbor. We wanted to be able to drive the lawnmower under the trellis. We made the trellis just tall enough that we could reach over our head and touch it. We will have to use a stool to see any grapes that grow on top of the trellis, but I think most will grow under the trellis and won't be a problem to pick. In the meantime, we are able to mow the ground area under the trellis and keep everything manicured.

We used a clothes line type set up... With the two end poles anchored / supported with a guide wire at each end of the arbor. We ran 6 lines of wire between each pole.

Here is a reference link..

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/grapeweb/Grapenews/gg122001.pdf


This T Bar set up is what we did...
http://berrygrape.org/trellis-systems-for-kiwifruit/

http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_id=6127

( look under the kiwi section again)



We did plant our grapes right beside the post, NOT in the middle of two posts.

 

[WillsC]

Celie,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but.....you need to look up Pierces disease. It is the reason we can't grow northern type grapes in the deep south. Sometimes you can grow the northern grapes for a few years before it hits but it usually arrives and decimates the vines. The worst part is stores still sell the northern grapes here, like the big box stores and some nurseries and it just sets people up for failure.

Muscadines are immune to Pierces and use to our hot humid climate. If you like Concord try Nesbitt as it tastes IDENTICAL to the concords. I currently grow 6 types of muscadines and have 9 vines. On the plus side the muscadines grow fast and can fill a 25 foot trellis in one season.

I don't know what part of Louisiana you are in.....but here is the map for Pierces disease.

 

[math ace]

On the plus side the muscadines grow fast and can fill a 25 foot trellis in one season.

Muscadine grapes is what I am growing too. I can vouch for them being super fast growers. I planted 4 different varieties and there is a difference in the flavors between each variety. I got grapes off of two of the vines the second year. That is much better than the success I had with my blueberries, apples, plum and nectarine plantings. I would recommend growing muscadine grapes because they thrive in the south. I would recommend planting several varieties so that you can mix up the flavors...

 

[Celie]

Thanks Guys,
I am so disappointed that I spent all This time on table grapes, that Gurneys Nursery said would grow i my area in Southeast Louisiana, to find out thy won't. I had a lake house in Popplorviille, Mississippi,tat had a muscadine grape vine, but in 4 years, I didn't get even a pint of grapes!

What kind of yields, do you get from your muscadine?

 

[WillsC]

Celie,

The muscadines produce well....did you fertilize them? What about prune? You must must must prune the grapes to get good harvests.

 

[Celie]

I bought the house as a get away place, on a private lake, on 3 pieces of ground. The house was on one, the pier on one and a beach on the third. The house was bought already built and furnished and happened to have a single muscadine grape vine with an arbor that shaded a bench. It was overgrown, when I bought it, so I cut just enough to open the way to sit on the bench and enjoy the view. I never fertilized it and had very little time to spend there, because my hours were increased at the oil refinery I worked at from 52 to 84 per week on average. The first summer I owned the place, I spent a lot of time landscaping, redecorating, putting in a garden and was going to retire there. My young adult kids at the time would go water skiing and we all went fishing. I had several BBQs for 100 to 150 guest, when I had weekends off and really enjoyed it. I never got around to the grapes, because it was only one vine and produced a total of about 15 grapes total ion 4 years. After that my husband passed and I was the sole support with a daughter in college with a 4.0 GPA and no time for the place, so I sold it.
I guess I should buy some more muscadine vines in the spring and try again. I love table grapes like the big sweet dark red ones in the stores. Do you have any suggestions as to the name of a sweet muscadine grape for eating fresh? Do they all have seeds or is there a seedless variety?

 

[Oregon Blues]

The thing about fruit is that named and grafted varieties always produce better. I suggest that you purchase some vines of a variety suitable to your area.

Maybe the grape you already have is a wild seedling and not a productive one.