Three years ago we planted our first grapevine in the backyard. We’ve been vegetable gardening for decades but now wanted to try growing our own fruits. That summer I planted 3 grapevines but only 1 made it through the growing season. Fast forward 3 years and I can tell you…I’ve learned a few things!
1. Know when it’s appropriate to plant a new vine and know what varieties grow well in your area. The U.S. has planting/growing zones, it’s important to know what zone that you’re in. We’re in zone 4. We also learned that 3 different varieties grow well in our area.
2. Make sure you prepare the soil before planting them. They need a good draining soil to prevent root rot and mold. We opted to add sand to our soil as recommended by a local nursery. They need plenty of sunshine, so don’t plant them in shaded areas.
3. Buy healthy plants from a reputable seller. A lot of places sell inferior plants that have all kinds of non-visible and visible issues. You don’t want any plant diseases spreading throughout your garden.
4. Pruning your grapevines is a necessary task! In the northeast we prune in late winter or early spring right after the last frost. Pruning keeps your plants healthy.
5. Make sure your plants get enough water but don’t over-water them! You never want to flood them. If we get a little rain every 4-5 days (in our area) we are good to go. If not, I do lightly water them but I don’t over-saturate them.
6. Grapevines will need a trellis or fencing to grow-up on! Train your vines to grow upwards to stay healthy. I use a gardener’s tie to attach the vines to our fence and trellis. They can get weighty, so make sure you check on this aspect every 2-3 weeks to see if you need to tie them up.
7. When it comes to harvesting you need to pick them when they’re ripe. Unlike other fruits, they don’t ripen after harvesting…they spoil. Don’t pick under-ripe grapes! They should be plump, juicy and taste sweet.
8. Got more ripe grapes than you can handle? You can freeze grapes for later use! Check out our previous blog post on how to properly freeze grapes.
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I have fond memories of the grapevines in my grandfather’s yard. The grape vines looked so pretty growing on the trellis and it was fun to pick and eat the grapes.