Growing grapes

[sparrowgrass]

I am right on the line between zone 5 and zone six--our first frost is usually between Oct 1 and Oct 15.

Does the fruit taste like the grocery store type? I know they are smaller and not hairy.

 

[larry_stewart]

looks and tastes exactly like grocery store type brown, hairy, slightly larger than an egg. Ripening them is a little tricky. You have to pick them when they are kinda hard, put them in the fridge a few weeks, then take them out to ripen ( at least this is what someone online told me and it worked)

With 900, i made kiwi jam, kiwi wine, pie ...

last year , tried to gain control of my backyard, and heavily prune them. I only got a dozen or two last year. this year should be a better year. I also bought the other variety ( large grape sized kiwis, not hair..) they havnt prodced yet.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I have the grape sized ones--I don't think the others are hardy here.

 

[larry_stewart]

We get pretty hard winters up here on LI, so I would assume whatever variety I have would do ok by you too. If I come across the actual variety ( i think I saved the pot I bought them in which was labeled ) I ll let you know.

 

[texherp]

Sparrowgrass, how in the heck did you bend those cattle panels? Those things are so stiff and heavy I can't imagine bending them unless they come in a higher gauge than what we use for our horse corral.

We have grown muscadine grapes for years, both on a large pergola and on wire trellises. Unfortunately, European grapes which is what table and wine grapes typically are don't do too good on the Gulf Coast, but muscadines are native and (IMHO) better because of their unique flavor. They actually seem more productive grown on a pergola so there's definitely no need for the whole wire setup.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I hooked a rope thru one end of the panel, stood on one end, pulled the panel into the proper curve using the rope, and tied the rope off. I then stood it up and attached it to the posts (had to loosen the rope to adjust the amount of curve to fit) with wire and clips, and then took the rope off. (It would have been much easier with a helper, but ya do what ya gotta do.)

I don't know, maybe Texas panels are stronger than wimpy Missouri panels?

 

[texherp]

LOL, they must just be different things. I can barely lift one of ours.

 

[CookLikeJulia]

Thanks for the tips, I love to try planting grapes.

 

[ama125]

I I made my arbors by setting T-posts (metal fenceposts) and I curved a cattle panel between four T-posts, in an arch. Cattle panels are heavy wire panels, 16 feet long and 4 and a half feet tall.

I used 4 of them to make an arbor, all in a row. There is enough space underneath to drive the lawn tractor thru, and I put them just high enough so I can reach the grapes that hang down from the highest point.

Get a grape cultivation flyer from your local extension office (or online). You WILL need to spray regularly, or you will have a lovely arbor but no fruit. Japanese beetles love grape leaves, and can strip them bare in about 15 minutes. They probably won't kill the vines, but that will hurt yield.

I realize this is an old thread, but I was inspired but your photos and just erected a similar trellis to grow hardy kiwi on and was wondering since it has been a couple of years what it looks like now. Is the structure holding and how did you train the main trunk? Did you plant the kiwi on the outer edge and train the trunk to grow in an arch? Any fruit yet?

 

[sparrowgrass]

My kiwis are still among the living. No fruit yet, and the plants have not filled the arbor. Of course, we had a horrible drought this summer, so I am just happy that they made it.
I did have a few blossoms on one of the vines--the male--so I have high hopes for next year.

No training required for the vines--the only thing I have done is push a few errant runners back into the wire.

The grapes, on the other hand, look miserable--they look so green and pretty in that old picture. That baby granddaughter is almost 3, and I don't think we even looked at the grape arbor when she spent a couple days with me in August. (We did, however, 'check the chickens' every 3.5 minutes. She couldn't figure out why there weren't eggs to pick up every time.)