Kay Gray/Edelweiss question

[OilnH2O]

I was walking through the local ACE hardware store's garden/nursury section and came across some potted grape vines -- two different ones were Kay Gray and Edelweiss -- and I may be spelling the last one wrong. Kay Gray is mentioned in the Northern Wineworks book but not the Edelweiss -- one was $8 and the other $9 a pot -- and 20% off that!Eachplant hadseveral green shoots that could be split perhaps into more than one plant.


Any observations on or experience with either of these two varietals?

 

[NorthernWinos]

I have [had] them both...I grow them as tender vines on wire panels, I lay them down and fluff straw over them for the winter.....the Kay Gray has never produced more than a couple clusters, this spring it broke off at the base when I lifted it...I was glad...I replaced it with another Edlewiess....


Edelweiss produce here and may survive hanging on the wires to
-30*F...They produce long clusters of delicious grapes, for table or wine...get all you can at that price. My girlfriend grows them on her porch in Grand Forks MN with no winter protection.

 

[grapeman]

If I remember correctly NW has both of them. They are both pretty hardy. I just posted a picture today of Edelweiss at Willsboro. It looks pretty good there so I would expect it to do well where you are. It is a good white wine grape. Here is a picture of a 3 year old vine with about 40 bunches of grapes on it.



Edited by: appleman

 

[NorthernWinos]

This is a photo of my older Edelweiss vine last year....It had been ignored, not pruned and produced a nice little harvest, for the table and I made a blended wine with it. Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[OilnH2O]

I might go pick some Edelweiss up today! What do either of you think about cutting several of the extra canes off and trying to root them as green cuttings?

 

[NorthernWinos]

That would probably work...or better still...if there are long canes bury them beside the mother plant in a trench...place mulch and a rock on top of the buried part......leave the tips out.... and next summer cut them from the mother plant and if they have good roots plant them off on their own.

 

[grapeman]

NW's trick might be the way to go this late in the year. Plant the whole thing ASAP and keep it watered good. The extra shoots will help increase it's root reserves for overwintering better. If the shoots ar emore than a foot long it will probably work. If not just let it grow whole for this year.


How are your other vines doing- updated pictures please!


P.S. Here is the variety at DoubleA- comparable to what you are paying in small quantities so the price is good.



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 align=center>
<T>
<TR vAlign=top align=middle =#ffffcc>
<TD align=left>EDELWEISS</TD>
<TD>American</TD>
<TD>White</TD>
<TD>White Wine, Table, Juice or Jelly</TD>
<TD>Zone 4</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD colSpan=5>Produces early-ripening amber fruit similar to t hat of its parent, Ontario, but the vine is much more winter hardy.
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD align=left colSpan=5>Quantity Discounts: &lt; 26 - $7.25 | 26-49 - $6.50 | &gt; 50 1x - $2.90 | &gt; 50 1-1 - $2.65 | </TD></TR></T></TABLE>Edited by: appleman

 

[OilnH2O]

BLUE TUBE FARMS


Well, that's what my wife calls it anyway!


Here is the "vinyard"

And here are the two new "little darlin's" -- as you can see, they may be leggy enough to do as NW suggests --

Those are 6" diameter pots so there is close to 24" of growth on the main stems. Thanks for the price comparison, Rich, there are probably a dozen more pots just like the above, so I might get a couple more -- price was $6.33 -- oh, and no sales tax here in paradise!

 

[grapeman]

Well those blue tubes are certainly doing well there!

Nice looking vines in the pots. Good find!

How big are your little ones in the tubes now?

 

[OilnH2O]

The ones calloused this year are about 1/3 up the tube -- but they were being "nipped" by something -- I suspect a squirrel although we have plenty of deer. But it was just the leaves and within a few inches of the ground, plus, I never did see hoof prints in the dirt. They are putting on noticible growth in the tubes. I still have probably 25 cuttings that I'm still attempting to callous (since March) but they look more and more like my last year's experience!


I planted the two edelweiss this morning -- and they are both within 4-6 inches of the top of the tube. With one plant I was able to go in two directions with the buried vine method suggested by NW. We'll see how that goes!


Happy 4th!

 

[OilnH2O]

NW!


The edelweiss came from Baily Nursuries in St. Paul, MN!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Those looked like nice healthy vines...they looked like they hadn't been in the pot too long....were the roots nice???


I recognized the labels...I have some potted vines and currants from them...Good things that grow up here.

 

[OilnH2O]

NW -- lot's of new "tendril" growth on the ends of both plants -- and while roots were starting to get bound up, they were not yet tight, so I think they'll do okay!