Pots....

[David Engel]

Hi All,

My wife has 2 varieties of table grapes in giant pots (got them from Costco last year), things grew like jack and the beanstalk. I had a 3 year old Merlot in the same size pot which only grew about 1/4 compared to the table grapes. Here's a question I have not been able to answer by cruising the internet. Do table grapes grow faster than wine grapes? Lots of videos and how to's concerning growing table grapes from a large pots that have crazy yields, but nothing concerning wine grapes. I'm assuming it's "cause we don't do it that way"... Our soil is nothing but thick clay with what I call potato rocks of all sizes and don't know if putting wine grapes in the soil here would be a worthwhile effort (we're in Western Washington). Can wine grapes be grown in large pots with success?

Dave

 

[hounddawg]

my only suggestion would be to go the the grape growing forum and ask them, they are walking wealths of knowledge when it comes to vineyards,
Dawg

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Different vines will grow differently under different conditions. Hmm, that was nebulous, eh? Well, what I'm saying is that the Merlot is probably not getting enough nutrients/minerals in this condition, but the table grape was ok with it. Some varieties will tolerate less root space better than others. Generally speaking, the more vigorous varieties are the ones that like the most leg room. Some table grape varieties (ie, seedless) are not as vigorous and may tolerate limited space for a while, but will burn through the available minerals eventually. The more vigorous vines are hungry little devils, which is why they like a larger root system; to get more access to nutrients and minerals. Which also brings up the fact that you may be fertilizing the vines, but not replenishing the minerals in the soil, which will result in less than desirable growth and production. Hope that helps..