Crash course on growing grapes

[TJsBasement]

I know it's me again Mr Million Questions, we just picked up two 5 acre parcels and me dad asked me if we should grow some wine grapes, "heck yeah we should". He loves growing stuff to begin with, his porch looks like a rain forest so with me getting into wine it just makes sense. Says they grew eating grapes when he was a kid and he was the care taker. We already have a few fruit plants at my parents house ( they live a crossed the street ) like apple, peach, plum, one tree with 3 different pears, a few berry and he just planted 5 grape, not sure what kind of grape.

So I'm in south west PA and looking for some crash course books on growing wine grapes. I'm in the process of reading everything on here and wonder if there are a few books I should start with too. We have not had the soil tested yet. And the property is about 12 miles away, there is no real need to tend to the plants all the time right, unless it's really dry would we need to visit it more then every couple weeks beside pruning and harvest.

My father thinks we should have some bees there too and he didn't even know what mead is at the time , I'm not sure who is nuts here me or him.

 

[ibglowin]

I would recommend From Vines to Wine available from Amazon as a good starting point. Also contact your county extension agent and see if they can come out and look at the site and give some advise. Check out Double A Vineyards website for what varietals will grow in your region as well. I personally think they are one of the best places out there for information as well as high quality vines.

 

[SLOweather]

Also Vineyard Simple by Tom Powers...

 

[gird123]

Grapes don't need a pollinator. And if there is nothing in bloom and the grapes are ripe i have read the bees will pierce the grapes. I did a bunch of elderberries last fall and one of the buckets was outside and I had bees on the covering. I have bees on the property so whenever there is sugar water (i.e. soda, grape juice...) there are bees otherwise we don't know they are there.

 

[TJsBasement]

Both books ordered. And thanks for the tip about bees, I'll be reading more on that later before we really do anything in that direction.

 

[grapeman]

No, you don't need the bees for pollination. The wind does that for you.

How many grapes do you plan on planting? What type of soil is it and how flat or hilly is it? Lot's of questions to be explored before you plant.

 

[Runningwolf]

TJ, sounds like an interesting venture. Any idea of how many acres you're going to plant or what your budget is yet? Depending on the variety of grape you're looking at about 10-$15,000 per acre when it's all said and done.

 

[TJsBasement]

I haven't seen the property yet. We may go looking sometime this week if so I'll take and post pictures. Is there any simple soil test I can do or stuff growing to look out for that could indicate junk soil, this is just a project thing not a commercial investment. And I'm only 29 so I'll use the info that I acquire at some point in life.

The one lot has road on two sides and a small creek I think but one is land locked so we'll have to meet the neighbors I guess, it was a package deal and you take what you get for a super price.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

sounds like a great deal, what was the property used for in the past. I have a friend with a vineyard and it was an old corn field and 2-4-D was used, he has a heck of a time keeping his plants alive, even after a number of years..
good luck, keep us up to date..

 

[TxBrew]

From Vines to Wine is a great place to start but a lot of colleges also have good local information which is even more vital.

 

[BARBQ]

Your local Ag Extension agent is your best bet. They may even have a Viticulture Advisors or Specialists for your region. They are the ones that are in constant contact with you the vineyards in your area and can advise you what the latest and greatest is in growing grapes in your area. Even if you read the books you should contact them. Sometimes they conduct classes or workshops you can attend. I would recommend this before dumping alot of money in trellising and buying vines to plant.

 

[OilnH2O]

I'll second the Ag agent. You'll be surprised what they can tell you - might even be able to look at a shovel full of soil, and because they already know so much of their own area, they could tell you pretty close to what you've got. And they may be happy to walk the land with you.

You'll be surprised how much work even a half acre of grapes can be! This might not be a "drop by every two weeks" operation if you plant all your acreage! Be careful what you wish for!!!

 

[TJsBasement]

Ok I'll be looking into the Ag thing. I don't think we will plant even enough grapes to measure by the acreage, we already owned this property, its just sitting unused. Still haven't seen the property but I did almost get the tax map out to look again, almost.

I when to wally to get some oxy clean and they had grapes on the way in, couldn't help it and I got 3 of each concord, himrod and canadice. No I didn't research these at all and I hope to plant them and the other flowers my wife got in the back yard tomorrow. So it's official they are my first 9 grape plants

 

[TJsBasement]

After a tiny bit of reading I see them 3 types are more eating and less wine grapes, that's ok, my boy can pick eating grapes in a few years.

Are there any sponsored sellers on here that sell wine grape plants or is that something that most people buy local. I haven't really looked around yet.

 

[grapeman]

Double A Vineyards- near Buffalo NY www.rakgrape.com
NE Vine SUpply - Andy Farmer- Vermont www.nevinesupply.com
Grafted Grapevine - NY www.graftedgrapevines.com
All are good suppliers.

 

[TJsBasement]

Has anyone started a winemakers help group like AA yet. I ordered some cuttings, I know it's about the slowest and hardest way beside growing from seed but if I'm here to learn "lets do it" An ebay seller had a pack of 10 cuttings each of 10 different types.
Concord
Niagara
Catawba
Cayuga
Steuben
Elvira
Chambourcin
Vidal Blanc
Vignoles Ravat
Leon Millot
I know long hard and high failure rate but ya gotta learn some how. This is still vines for the backyard, to try and plant any real number I would probably just order them from a supplier and be done with it.

I'm still pursuing planting vines at the other property but in no real hurry to do so.

 

[grapeman]

Most of those varieties should root fine for you and you should expect 50-90% sucess rate. If the grower has clean stock you will be fine, but there are diseases that can be spread cuttings. That is why most of the reputable nurseries are spending a lot of money and time to gain virus free material to provide virus free vines. If you have a leaf roll virus in the wood, it will be in the vine. You can also spread crown gall from infected wood. None of these will kill the vines quickly, but can cause vascular collapse and part of the vine will die back suddenly. Just some food for thought.

 

[TJsBasement]

First off I truly appreciate all the help from everyone in this thread and all the other thousands of post in the many other threads. Grapeman soon as I read your post I was thinking the same thing, should have gotten cuttings from a for sure clean source. No damage done yet, they was cheap and my uncle would love them, should I bail on the ebay clippings. I didn't even think about bringing disease around.

 

[grapeman]

Chances are they are alright, but who knows. you can try to root them at least for the experience.then decide if they are ok to keep or not.

 

[TJsBasement]

I sent a message to the ebay seller. He said they are a licensed and inspected nursery and sell loads of cuttings and vines for the past 4 years, so I'm gonna take this as a serious attempt to grow plants.

Any brand of root hormones you guys recommend I read its not needed but it cant hurt right, if not I'll just get some from the local hydro shop.