Hi there! Newb here, with question(s)

Hello all!

A friend just bought a house that has a few vines in the back, and while they were told that they DO bear fruit, no one seems to know what variety they are. They are considering taking them down but that makes my husband and myself awful sad!

We have been talking about growing grapes for just over a year now, but didn't want to start until we had done a good amount of research. However, we are thinking of seeing if we can transplant these babies, or at least take cuttings and grow from them. Would either of those options be realistic?

Also, as for not knowing the variety, they all seem to be the same, (with the all of the leaves looking very similar), is there a way we (or someone here) would be able to identify the variety just by the leaves?

Thank you in advance to anyone who might have any answers for me!!

(sorry for the newb q's!)

Take cuttings in the fall after all the leaves have fallen off (if they will wait that long). Choose vines that are about or just under pencil width.

Cut the bottoms right under the buds and the tops a little ways from the buds or cut the tops at an 45 degree angle. This will distinguish the bottom from the top so you don't plant them upside down.

If you have a warm place (inside) you can plant them straight-away in pots, or place them with some damp paper towels in a ziplock bag in the fridge until spring frosts are over then plant them outside.

They shouldn't fruit the first year but save two good vines from the new growth that year (prune the rest) and they will grow fruit next year. Again keep the best two NEW vines for the next year and prune the rest. You can keep 4 vines each year if you have room for them to grow and fruit.

There is a lot of info on youtube on pruning vines. AcresOfReed has a good tutorial that explains why you prune and has a good tutorial on building a wire trellis.

Thank you for the reply and advice/suggestions, cyberlord! I appreciate it.

A few years ago I transplanted a ~7 year-old vine on my property and it started to grow fruit the very same year, and it's still going strong. If you do so, take as much soil and roots as possible and then water alot once transplanted and you should be fine.

I'm sorry I can't help about the variety though... If you really want to know for sure I'm guessing some kind of lab could do it...

Contact your extension service agent. In CA, chances are good that they will be able to ID or connect you with someone who can ID the grape variety from some leaves and a photo of the vine. If the neighbors won't wait until harvest time, transplanting now will give you a big head start over cuttings.