I'VE TAKEN MY GRAPES - WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Here is an answer to a question I have been asked regarding how to go about caring for a grape vine over the coming winter.


A great deal depends on the temperature you will have over the winter, so the simplest option is to put a good deep mulch at the base of the grape vine to reduce frost penetration, that way protecting the roots, and possibly feed the plant as well, as this is now the time your grape vine will be concentrating on growing its roots.

This mulch is needed around a few weeks, perhaps a month after leaf-fall.

Regarding the mulch, this all depends on the age of your grape vine and whether you do, or want to, get fruit from it over the coming year.

If it is over three years old, then keep away from high nitrogen concentrations as the following year you will get mostly limb and leaf growth rather than fruit and you will be over-run with new stem growth before you know it.

If it is younger than this you need to promote this growth to get the vine established, both roots and shoots, by using nitrogen.

By high nitrogen concentrations, I mean farmyard manures, especially bird manures.

Horse dung is excellent, provided the bedding it is mixed with is not wood based, as to break down the wood, any bacteria within the soil needs nitrogen to feed itself.

That way the bacteria rob the soil of nitrogen to break down the wood, and the bacteria can take it in a lot quicker than your plants do, leaving your soil starved. This means your plants will not be fed and may wither, although a small amount of shavings is acceptable, but straw or paper bedding is the best option.

The emphasis for manure is on the word MATURE. It must be at least two years old otherwise you may well kill your vine off because of the acidity levels.

Sorry, just thought. You may have realised that I live in the country and these products are readily available to me, so if you have to use granular, pre-packaged products, then a fertiliser is needed, but keep the nitrogen side of things just the same.

Alternatively you could use grass clipping with a young grape vine, with straw used on an older plant, or possibly a layer (2 inches) of old newspaper, or even at a push, use old carpet.

If it is really cold, likely to go below minus 6, then an old blanket, jumper or the likes wrapped around the lower part of the main stem, from the ground to about a foot or maybe a little higher, will help to keep the cold out, as a vine exposed to this sort of temperature for more than a day will most definitely die. It's the chill factor as well as the cold you have to be aware of, which can freeze the sap.

There's a lot more to it than this, but that is the basic concern.

Pruning should be carried out around Christmas time, when the plant is most dormant, and I shall be elaborating more on that at the appropriate time, but this is a very simple procedure, which again depends on the age of you vine.

Otherwise, providing the plant is not standing in wet ground, for the time being, it is OK.


If you are looking for a vine to grow yourself, whether indoors or out, then a very dependable friend of mine has a shop on Ebay where he sells vines, amongst many other types of plants.

He is absolutely down-to-earth, not a rip-off merchant in any way, and customer care is his main concern, so if you fancy having a look at his shop simply click http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Blacklands-Plants and you will not be disappointed. And no - I am not on a commission!!


Til next time,

George

www.vines-make-wines.com