Last year my grapes were loaded with fruit but this year nothing! The plants appear green and healthy, growing vigorously. Any idea why there might be no fruit? I trimmed them back in the fall last year and noticed that my neighbors, who also have grapes, cut theirs back in Feb. They have lots of fruit.... so did cutting them back too early perhaps cause some problem?
Karen Portland, OR
Not really an expert, but in general if you want a plant to bear fruit, prune it while dormant (winter) when its energy is in the roots. Then it will think it was winter killed and the survival aspect will encourage it to reproduce (bear fruit and new growth). If you prune it while still green, you remove its energy and stunt its growth (more like an overcrowding condition).
I also thought that grapes bear fruit on previous year's growth. So if you pruned off all current year growth last year, that might explain the lack of fruit this year. You should selectively prune, not just prune it all back. Weather can also be a factor, but apparently not the issue in this case if a neighbor is doing better.
You should have gotten grapes. I prune mine when they are dormant and the grapes produce on new wood. However, I know of several grape plants around the area that are ignored completely and they put on new wood every year (not always in the right places), and put on grapes. This year was bad in this area for grapes. I have pruned my friends grapes, and told people I know how to prune and no ones plants have done very well at all.
There are several reasons why grapes don't produce. In the South, you might need to add phosphate to the soil, or otherwise have a regulated fertilization program.
Almost everywhere I have been, you need to spray them with a fungicide at least once a year. Here we get late frosts, and that damages or at least stunts the harvest. I know several that have put on grapes, only to die and fall off later.
Get on the internet and type in "growing grapes". Then bring up what some university extension office has to say about it. Learn how, where and when to prune the plants. My brother has a 15 year old grape plant that had been ignored for that long. I pruned it the first year after moving back, and he had to give grapes to a local wine maker because he had so many.
My biggest problem is keeping the wife out of them until they have time to ripen completely.
Dwayne
As someone else mentioned, grapes bear on new shoots from last years growth.
Look up "4 cane Kniffen" for pruning instructions.
I pruned them correctly, as described. Could it be the grapes just haven't begun to develop yet? I'm in Portland, OR and the neighbor's various grape varieties are loaded with fruit so I'd expect mine to be also. It's wierd.
Karen
Do you have no bunches at all, or bunches with no fruit on them? If the latter, it's lack of pollination, but the neighbor seems to rule that out. Could you have sprayed with something that repels pollinators?
If there's no bunches at all, I don't know. Possibly some deficiency in soil nutrients?
I see no bunches at all. I've pretty much ignored them since pruning - no spraying or fertilizing - just as I did last year and just like the neighbors, but last year there was an abundance of fruit. Oh well, the lush green growth over the arbor looks good anyway, so it's not a total loss.
Karen
I would like to grow wild Concord grapes. I live in Massachusetts. Where can I find info on how to grow them? How long does it take? Do I start from seed? When do I start? I have seen some grapes in the wild in other cities. Can I start from a clipping?
Are there wild Concord grapes? Or is this a domesticated variety developed from a wild ancestor?
Maybe your State Extension Office has some information on this. Maybe.
You could try looking through the forums here:
Or you could just try Googling on "growing wild grapes". Google is your friend. :)
Pat
Well, I have seen "Concord" grapes in the wild growing near rivers and roadside in Concord, MA. Whether these qualify as wild or not, I don't really know.
Concord is descended, I don't know the exact route, from the little wild "frost grapes," but I can recall a huge curtain of rather nice concords growing wild in South Hamilton, on the noath shoah of MA. I'm sure you can grow them from cuttings; take year-old wood 3 buds long or so and stick in the ground in the spring. You can get more scientific than that, but a good percentage should take root.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
I would order one from a reputable company or business that knows what kinds are good for your area. and plant it this fall or in the spring. Other wise, Gary had a good idea. I prune my grapes in February, and the pieces I cut off that are brown (year old) rather than green, I plant.
I plant them in pots rather than in the ground. I put 2 buds in the dirt and leave two buds sticking out. Don't let them dry out, and in the spring, I move mine into a place that is shaded in the afternoon. Those that lived will put on leaves. I keep them alive all summer and plant them in the fall when it doesn't get so hot.
Another way is to find an established plant that has long vines. Lay one or two vines on the ground and cover some of the leaves with dirt (about 2 feet apart) in the spring. Then in fall, cut the vine between the piles of dirt and dig them up so you can plant the roots under each of the dirt piles. If done correctly you will get a plant with a good start of roots, and 12 to 18 inches of vine that is ready to plant.
Dwayne
you can come up here to new hampshire...we've got tons of wild concords growing here in the lakes district. the fence that borders lebanon high school from the credit union is inundated with them as is the fence at mascoma valley clinic.
they don't seem to take being transplanted too well; however, they grow from seed very well and amazingly enough, they start bearing their own fruit within 2 years!!!
Great. Have those vines beared fruit yet?
They could be feral grapes. ;-)
Pat
yes, they have BORNE fruit...already. of course they're better after frost, a mite sweeter than they are before, because, after all, wild concord grapes ARE a bit more sour than the cultivated ones.
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