How to Plant and Grow Grapes
Grapes are one of the well-known and very popular fruits in the whole world. Well, it would be hard to find someone who doesn’t know about grapes. From kids to the elderly, everyone likes grapes. Eating grapes can also provide us with many benefits for our bodies. Grapes are a good source of vitamins; for your information, grapes contain lots of vitamins such as vitamin C, vitamin B, and vitamin K, which are very good for our health. Did you know grapes have a long history? The original home of grapes is the Middle East. Theories say that around 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, grapes began to be cultivated in the Middle East. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like to eat grapes, although many people believe growing grapes in your home garden can be a difficult and time-consuming task. To be honest, growing grapes can be super easy. As for me, I come from a farming family, and my family has been growing grapes as long as I can remember. I am also growing various kinds of grapes in my home garden. I have been growing grapes in my home garden for almost five years. Growing grapes can be rewarding. I will show you how you can also grow various kinds of grapes in your home garden; well, let’s get into it.
Choosing the Right Variety
If you are growing fruits or vegetables in your garden, choosing the right variety is most important. If you do not choose the right variety of fruits to plant in your home garden, you might get confused, and as a result, you may get a poor yield at the end of the season. For grapes, there are actually lots of types and varieties to grow. As far as I know, grapes have many types, and those are table grapes, wine grapes, and juice and jelly grapes. Among them, table grapes are the most popular and common. Table grapes have four varieties, as far as I know: Thompson Seedless, Red Globe, Cotton Candy, and Moon Drops. The second type is wine grapes; wine grapes also have four kinds of varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Merlot. Table grapes are ideal for eating fresh, while wine grapes are originally used for making wine. If you are growing grapes for the first time, I would suggest you grow table grapes. They are very common and easy to grow and take care of. If you want to make money by growing grapes or are looking for financial support by growing grapes, I would suggest wine grapes as the best choice for you. As for juice and jelly types, they also have three varieties: Concord, Niagara, and Catawba. They are actually used for making jams and jelly, and they can also support our financial status, although they grow well in cooler climates except for Catawba grapes. Catawba grapes are adaptable to various climates, meaning they can grow well in almost any climate, whether cold or warm. So you must choose a variety that is suitable for your climate.
Prepare Seedlings
Grapes are super easy to grow. If you want to grow grapes, you have to first get grape plants or seedlings. You can get a good variety to plant from your closest nursery. If you select the right variety of grape tree from the nursery, that will save a lot of time, if you ask me. If you have a good variety of grapes and want to grow a tree from its seeds, you can also grow seedlings from grape seeds. It’s actually pretty easy, but it’s also a little time-consuming. First, collect the grapes you want to grow a tree from their seeds. The next step is to remove the seeds from the grapes and also prepare a small bowl full of water. Just put the seeds in the water, and you will see some seeds floating in the water. If the seeds are floating in the water, that means those are damaged seeds. That means you cannot grow seedlings from those seeds. If the seeds reach the bottom of the water, they are good for growing seedlings. After removing the damaged seeds from the water, prepare a small pot with two or three drainage holes. You will also need tea leaves for this process. For growing seedlings from seeds, you don’t need any kind of soil or compost; all you need is just tea leaves. Fill the pot with tea leaves. After filling the pot with tea leaves, spread the seeds on top of the tea leaves, then cover the seeds with tea leaves again. After covering, water the top of the tea leaves. After 15 days, you will see your grape seedlings starting to grow, and after 45 days, you will see your seedlings are big enough to put in the ground. As I said before, it’s actually a little time-consuming but also pretty easy to grow. I would still suggest you get a good variety of grape plants from a nursery; that will be much quicker.
Planting Method
The planting method is very important if you are going to plant fruit trees or vegetables. If you do not plant fruit trees or vegetables correctly, that might cause some problems. For example, if you do not choose the right location to plant your tree, your tree might not grow to its full potential; as a result, at the end of the season, you will get a very poor harvest, and in the worst cases, your fruit plants might die. Grapevines like well-drained soil, but soil is not a problem; actually, grapes can grow in every kind of soil. Whether your soil is sandy, clay, or loamy, it doesn’t matter; as I said, they tolerate all kinds of soil. So you don’t have to worry about soil; all you need to do is collect the plant and put it in the ground. Although the perfect location is a must. Grapes need proper sunlight to grow properly. If they do not get enough sunlight, it can halt their growth. So you must choose a location where sunlight can reach properly. Grapevines require six to eight hours of direct sunlight to grow fully. So all you need to do is dig a hole where sunlight can reach well. If you want to add some fertilizer or compost before planting, you can, but it’s not that necessary. If you really insist, you can add some chicken manure before planting. One thing you must pay attention to is plant spacing and row spacing because grapes have vines that grow a lot and are really fast-growing. So you must plant them at least six feet apart from other trees, and row spacing should be at least eight feet apart. This will give them enough room to receive proper sunlight and adequate airflow so they don’t get any kind of fungal disease. If you are lacking space in your garden, you can plant them on the side of your house. As I said before, grapes grow vines, so if you plant them on the side of your house, the vines will start to grow and reach the roof, where they can get proper sunlight, and you will get a good harvest at the end of the season.
Fertilization
Fertilization of your fruit plants or vegetables is very important. As a gardener, you all know how important it is to fertilize fruit plants or vegetables. Fertilizing fruit plants and vegetables brings many benefits. If we use fertilizer properly, it helps provide key nutrients for plants and vegetables. By using fertilizer, the fruit plants and vegetables can grow properly, and at the end of the season, we can have a good harvest. Not just for grapes, if you are growing other vegetables, you must use fertilizer. For grapevines, they need potassium and magnesium for fruit quality and leaf health. For that, I recommend using a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 and for root development and flowering, 5-10-10. As for organic compost, you can use well-rotted manure and fish emulsion; if you use these composts, they will improve soil structure. Now let’s talk about when you should use fertilizer. You must use fertilizer at the perfect time to get the best results. Early spring can be considered the perfect time to use fertilizer. In early spring, grapevines start to grow vines. That means if we use balanced fertilizer in early spring, it will support the initial growth and budding. The second perfect time is after harvesting; a light use of fertilizer can help the vines prepare for the next season. Also, over-fertilization can cause huge problems, so we must avoid over-fertilization. When I was a beginner gardener, I also grew grapes in my garden, and at that time I used too much fertilizer on my grapevines. As a result, it caused me a huge problem. If you use too much fertilizer, it will cause excessive vegetative growth at the expense of fruit production. Consequently, you will have less harvest at the end of the season. So avoiding over-fertilization is the best choice.
Taking Care and Protection
Taking care and protection is a must if you are growing vegetables or fruits in your garden. If you do not take care of your fruits and vegetables properly, at the end of the season, you will have a poor harvest. So you must take care of your fruit trees and vegetables, not just the grapevines. With proper care, growing grapes can be rewarding. Watering the plant is the most important part; if you do not water the grape plants properly, your plant will not only produce a poor harvest but it can also die. You have to water the plant regularly so that the soil remains moist. However, you must also avoid overwatering. Using too much water can bring great harm to the plant. You have to keep in mind that the soil shouldn’t be waterlogged at any cost. You also have to remove dead or weak wood and shape the vine to encourage strong growth and fruit production. Grapes are very attractive to wildlife, such as birds and rats; they often attack the grapes, damaging them and the vines. So when the grapevines start to produce fruit, you have to cover them with a net so birds and rats cannot attack. You also have to monitor the vines every week because there are lots of pests and diseases that can harm your plants. Monitor the plants regularly so that if your vines get any disease, you can take action as quickly as possible.
Harvesting
After planting trees, they might take two or three years to produce their first fruits. So you have to wait a little longer to have your first harvest of grapes. Pruning also has a lot to do with the first harvest. After having your first harvest, they will continue to grow fruit. Grapes are normally harvested when they reach full color and develop their full taste. All you need to do is eat the grapes; if you feel they are ripe, then one or two days later, harvest all the grapes from the vine.
