Any interest in grape vines?

Just putting it out there to see if anyone would be interested in cheap vines. I did an experiment this spring propagating vines and it was very successful. They are about the same size as you buy at Home Depot and Lowes in the spring and in the same size pots. They usually charge $6-$7 a pot, if there was interest I would sell for way less than that. Thompson Seedless and Concord.

Just wondering what I can do with all these vines. I extended my row but I am not interetsed in a vineyard (just yet anyway) and if I were it would be for a better wine grape.

Just a thought.

Thank you,
Jim

I'll take that as a "no"

I've tried to grow grapes from those pots at home depot...I usually end up with dead sticks.

Cool, and thanks for the offer. I have very limited space and I think I'll hold out for a better (to me) type of wine grape.

What method of propagation did you use?

nittanybevo said:

I've tried to grow grapes from those pots at home depot...I usually end up with dead sticks.

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Well...that doesn't surprise me. Both HD and Lowes put stuff out way too early and often they put them inside the front entrance (call it foyer) where they are in the dry heat of the heaters to warm customers as they enter the store. Those plants were no doubt "raised" in outdoor conditions like they should be as grapes are outdoor plants. Second they probably don't get much light there when they need it as they begin to sprout. They also probably don't get watered there so they are already probably dying by the time you buy them since by then they have been there weeks maybe months. Even the one outdoors are neglected.

To get them to grow for you buy them as soon as you see then in the store and care for them at home until you are ready to plant. That goes for all their berries too, in fact for just about anything you buy there. Most plants these are neglected, especially as summer approaches and new plants arrive for the summer season.

Always buy grapes for you climate though or it will be a battle to get grapes. The plants may survive but getting grapes from them may be difficult. My lesson learned. But Concord and Thompson are fine for my area. Just made some wine in fact even though we got them for table grapes.

That is our rant about Home Depot and Lowes. Seems once the plants are delivered to the store the neglect begins. They treat plants as disposable items if not sold. True fact for a business as theirs, but sad for a plant lover. The other rant is they don't reduce prices until plants are about dead or dead if at all. Then they go in the dumpster. In fact Wal-Mart is worse, they put plants such as roses right under the space heaters in Feb...crazy. I saw a woman taking dead plants and putting them in a cart. I asked if they save the trays, so said no, all goes in dumpster. Again sad, not only more waste but I could use those trays.

...oh, make sure you see buds that don't fall off as you touch them and the "sticks" bend and don't snap. If so they probably are just sticks and are dead.

DrJerryrigger said:

Cool, and thanks for the offer. I have very limited space and I think I'll hold out for a better (to me) type of wine grape.

What method of propagation did you use?

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NP I understand, if you want to make wine there are better choices but concord is a versitile grape.

Anyway, when I trimed back the vines in late winter/early spring I took the thickest cuttings with at least 3 buds and simply burried them halfway in soil in large pots then put those pots in a sunny location in the ground deep but with the rim exposed to help watering and to keep weeds out. Later in summer when they were growing new vines I replanted each cutting into their own pot. Buds in the ground become roots, buds above ground become vines. You need at least one of each in and out of the ground, 2 each better. Of all the cuttings I had an estimate of 95% success rate.

I am going to keep them another year in pots unless I can get rid of them, if not I may just plant in our woods. I hate to kill a plant I raised and put so much effort in to care for.

OP, it is not a good idea to take clippings from grape vines and plant them. Grape vines you buy from a nursery are grafted on to a certified rootstock like 1103P, 110R, Freedom, St George, and so on these rootstocks are nematode and phylloxera resistant. Your vines will still grow the same they will just me much more susceptible to disease.

It may not be as good as rootstock vines, but it will do fine. I have a chardonnay, a Cabernet, and five palomino vines growing on my patio that all came from cuttings. Also, a large portion of commercial vines come from cuttings.

jgln, the types that you've mentioned do PERFECTLY well as own-root, the way you're doing them. There are a few ways of fermenting Concord that do the type extreme justice, here's a link to one way (I don't seem to have the others in my favorites but if I can get myself out of this beautiful stupor that this 2007 Pieroth Dernauer Pfarrwingert Pinot Noir from Germany put me in, I'll look them up -- hey, I've fallen in love with German wines, almost as long ago as I fell in love with the incredible woman to whom I'm married, and am celebrating our 28th Wedding Anniversary with tonight!!!!) - http://www.winemakermag.com/stories...rietalswine-styles/218-concord-varietal-focus - Wait, here's another (wow I'm looped, for the first time in more than 15 years!!!) sort of kind of maybe... http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2008/02/05/a-drinkable-concord-grape-wine/

Anyways, I've made some extraordinary wines with Concord and King of the North grapes so don't get sold on the "Concord only makes for Mogan David and Manneschevitz (or however it's spelled) kind of wine" balogna. It's not necessarily world-class, but control is the key. Where I live, the climate and short seasons and everything else contribute to almost ALL the fruits being higher in acid than elsewhere, so I don't usually have to add any acids but I AM "supposed" to dilute because of the higher acids and then add sugar to compensate for the dilution... anyways, experimentation holds within its results a myriad of new paths to explore for the wise of heart. wow, now I'm a faw-reekin philosopher!

And that's just the Concords... don't get me started on the Thompsons you're offering (although I don't think NY allows them to be shipped? Someone told me that, I never bothered to check it out for myself) --- they make an excellent white wine and I've had several glasses from a few different sources over the years. Here's a snippet from one major vine supplier in my area (that does NOT sell Thompson Seedless, which can also make an excellent ice wine I'm told), in regards to the hybrid wine varietal Villard Blanc (I am using this to point out their mention of Thompson Seedless, which they have regarded rather highly): Large, loose compound clusters up to 5 pounds. Fine flavor of vinifera, like Thompson Seedless, with disease resistance of American grapes. Outstanding table grape, good for wine. Resistant to Pierce's Disease. Not for short season areas.

Anyways, I'll check out about legality here and if good to go I'll hit you up for a few as long as shipping's not too severe.

Good luck to you, and I salute you for striking out in an entrepreneurial manner! Heck, right about now I'm ready to salute anything and anybody as long as I'm sitting down... and I am, thank God. Now to try and make it to wherever it was that we were going... I do tell ya, I absolutely truly DO love these German wines!!!!

- Tim and Rebecca, my lovely bride of 28 years

P.S. - Contact your local who- or whate-ever agency to find out about what type do well in your area. I figure being as sharp as you seem, you've already done that, but just for insurance's sake I'm writing this. For thought, I grow Traminette (a Gevurtztraminer hybrid), Chardonel (Seyval Blanc-Chardonnay Hybrid), Chambourcin and Cynthiana (NOT Norton! - maybe we can swap?) - an American variety that once-upon-a-time used to regularly win "Best Red of All Nations" awards at the European competitions. My plans also include Reisling and a few other greats. All in good time, right?

g'night......:cross:

Rossnaree said:

P.S. - Contact your local who- or whate-ever agency to find out about what type do well in your area. I figure being as sharp as you seem, you've already done that, but just for insurance's sake I'm writing this. For thought, I grow Traminette (a Gevurtztraminer hybrid), Chardonel (Seyval Blanc-Chardonnay Hybrid), Chambourcin and Cynthiana (NOT Norton! - maybe we can swap?) - an American variety that once-upon-a-time used to regularly win "Best Red of All Nations" awards at the European competitions. My plans also include Reisling and a few other greats. All in good time, right?

g'night......:cross:

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Wow, you sound like you are having fun!

Thanks for letting me know I am good with the cuttings.

Well, I only have about 24 vines left and I it was only an experiment to see if it worked well which it did. If I decide to sell them it would only be for a couple bucks for my time, not really making a profit there. I also would expect a pick up only for what I have. Shipping pots of soil would be crazy. Not looking to sell cuttings as a business, at least not with table grapes. But yes, it was to see if I could propagate a vineyard of grape vines once I get the first couple rows going. That is if I do that at all.

Yes, like another person stated, I do need to make sure I can propagate my choice of wine grape from cuttings if I do so. That or practice my grafting skills but the easier solution would look for a variety that takes well from cuttings if one exists.

Thanks!

Right, I wasn't thinking about shipping the whole works (potted with soil), but I've purchased rooted and unrooted cuttings from different places and as long as they were packed appropriately I've never had any problems result that were due to shipping, so that's another consideration.

Rossnaree,
Thank you for those posts. When I read concord grapes my first thought was Manisshevits. Also it seems like they may be good plants to have for making root stock for grafts as it's tricky to get a hold of one of those fancy ones with a number for a name.
I'm now wanting some, but I'll have to do some more research first.

As for shipping, they would be happier with soil and all, but most likely would do fine if you just knocked the soil off and put them in a plastic bag with half a cup of damp peat moss.