Marquette Grape Vines

[jgareri]

Hi all, given my recent 'failure' with the pinot noir, I have decided to diversify a bit and try my hand at marquette. I was able to source some vines from a commercial provider in Niagara on the Lake and will hopefully pick them up in a week or two.

My question to those who have grown this variety is: is it possible to grow this grape without a trellis - ie. headtrained. I'm trying this with my pinot noir and I love the look for a backyard. For example:

 

[Masbustelo]

I researched this possibility this spring because I am maxing out available space on my property. I think it can probably be done. You will need a very sunny spot. The difference between Marquette and info you might find online is that it is a downward trailing variety. Most of the vinifera grow upwards. What I had decided was to get an eight foot post. Put it in the ground two feet, set it with concrete. Plant your vine, and the first year tie the vine growth to the post with flexible horticultural or surveyors tape.The second year choose which of the vines to keep for your trunk. Eliminate the others. Prune at six feet, just above a node. Beyond this step Im a little vague and thought it would become self evident as one goes along. As the vine will send off two shoots after pruning, these two will need to be pruned to get 4 arms and then eight. Maybe some others can chime in here. Probably the main trunk will always need to be tied to the post, which is no big deal. The second year you would rub off any buds on your trunk, except at the top.. However looking at your picture it looks like in addition to the top pruning you would perhaps allow some of the buds to grow out "branches" near the top of your "tree", and then every year these same branches would be pruned back to 4-5 buds per branch.

 

[jgareri]

I researched this possibility this spring because I am maxing out available space on my property. I think it can probably be done. You will need a very sunny spot. The difference between Marquette and info you might find online is that it is a downward trailing variety. Most of the vinifera grow upwards. What I had decided was to get an eight foot post. Put it in the ground two feet, set it with concrete. Plant your vine, and the first year tie the vine growth to the post with flexible horticultural or surveyors tape.The second year choose which of the vines to keep for your trunk. Eliminate the others. Prune at six feet, just above a node. Beyond this step Im a little vague and thought it would become self evident as one goes along. As the vine will send off two shoots after pruning, these two will need to be pruned to get 4 arms and then eight. Maybe some others can chime in here. Probably the main trunk will always need to be tied to the post, which is no big deal. The second year you would rub off any buds on your trunk, except at the top..

Sounds similar to what I was planning to do with my pinot noir. Unlike some of the lucky ones here, my backyard isn't very big and putting up cables and a wiring system wouldn't work well. I'm still going to keep the pinot, but i'm going to cut them closer to the ground this year and, like you said, have them grow upwards. This will allow me to cover those plants each year to protect them somewhat from harsher conditions and hopefully the plants become more hardy. When I bought them, they were supposed to be hardy to -20C. This year was bad, so that might be why I failed.

Any other insights that people may have would be awesome.

 

[Masbustelo]

Not many people outside of the west coast are head training vines, there are vigor problems in the North (excess vigor). I would suggest looking into espalier systems as a possibility. It's a good way to conserve space and possibly gain a climate zone. Here is an excellent web page source. https://www.fassadengruen.de/en/small-espaliers.htm

 

[Masbustelo]

This is an example of espalier, that I am working with.

 

[jgareri]

This is an example of espalier, that I am working with.

This is great reading. i will definitely take a look at this to see what I can do. I have a shed which i was covering in boston Ivy which now feels to be a waste!