Hoeing around Grape Vines

[ThePlantGuy978]

Hoeing around Grape Vines
There was a thread a while back in which some people said that it was safe to hoe around grape vines due to the fact that they have a deep root system. My experience in the last few weeks has contradicted that fact. I have been digging up my adult grape vines making room for more muscadine vines. All of the (7) vines that I have dug up had very shallow root systems none deeper than 4-6”. The soil was fairly loose and good quality. Maybe my vines didn’t read the info sheets that their roots are deep and that it is safe to hoe around them. My advice is to think twice before you hoe even though the experts say that it is safe.

 

[FTC Wines]

I've had the same experience with my Merlot vines in No. Ga. They may have a deep center root, but there were lots of roots at the surface. Couldn't roto till or hoe anywhere near the vine! Roy

 

[grapeman]

You will indeed find some shallow roots around your grapevines, even more so if the subsoil is hardpan or clay. The majority of the roots want to go deeper and will if the soil allows it. What are the grapes you are digging up out of curiosity?

 

[jamesngalveston]

i dont know about grapes, my mom was a master gardener, she always said deep watering, means deep roots....providing the soil is adequate.

 

[bchilders]

Great info PlantGuy. How old were the vines you dug up and what were the soil conditions? I agree that tilling or hoeing around vines can be risky. Most vines should have deep roots with the right soil conditions but will also have surface roots. The different layers of roots provide different things to the vine and hard or clay type soils can prevent vines from pushing as deep as they need to be. From the white papers I have read, tap roots will extend from 2 to 6 feet deep and soils with good drainage down to those depths are best.

 

[ThePlantGuy978]

You will indeed find some shallow roots around your grapevines, even more so if the subsoil is hardpan or clay. The majority of the roots want to go deeper and will if the soil allows it. What are the grapes you are digging up out of curiosity?

I am digging up my Reliance Seedless, Moore's Diamond, and Seibel. I put an ad on Craigslist for $25 each and so far sold 7 of them. All of my Reliance are gone.
There is probably a hardpan but not in the top ft. and the soil is mostly soft.
I dug them up with a pick ax, gently loosening the soil around the roots.

Hans

 

[ThePlantGuy978]

i dont know about grapes, my mom was a master gardener, she always said deep watering, means deep roots....providing the soil is adequate.

Don't know if this makes a difference but we had above normal rain fall last summer,18+ inches.

 

[ThePlantGuy978]

Great info PlantGuy. How old were the vines you dug up and what were the soil conditions? I agree that tilling or hoeing around vines can be risky. Most vines should have deep roots with the right soil conditions but will also have surface roots. The different layers of roots provide different things to the vine and hard or clay type soils can prevent vines from pushing as deep as they need to be. From the white papers I have read, tap roots will extend from 2 to 6 feet deep and soils with good drainage down to those depths are best.

My vines were 5 years old after I planted them. They had no roots going down in the soft soil.

 

[garymc]

I think there are a number of factors. I'm finding roots 6 feet or more from the trunks of my muscadines that are 4-6 inches deep. But they also have a central root that goes down. I dug some up a few weeks ago, but I was killing them, so I just cut the tap root with the shovel about a foot deep directly under the trunk. Here's a picture of a 25 year old french hybrid vine I dug up. Notice how much thicker the trunks are than the shovel handle.

 

[garymc]

Speaking of roots, I saw something that surprised me this summer. If you've ever seen a banyon tree that sends a root down from the branches of the tree to form more trunks, I had a muscadine vine doing that. It had a root hanging down about 2.5 feet. It still lacked about 3 feet reaching the ground, though.