Rooting Grape Cuttings

[luigiwu]

This will be third year we're trying to get a grape cutting to grow. We're even 'cheating' by buying the cheap ($5 this year from Tractor Supply) rooted twigs from the big box stores that already show growth and have a small root system already. We every get one and plant it and every year it doesn't make it. Any ideas or advice? Nothing fancy, just a concord grape! that's all we want!

[KarenO]

Look for a variety called valiant. It even grows and fruits here in zone 3.
KarenO

[Carriehelene]

Luigi, I can't kill mine no matter how hard I try. Feel free to come dig up as much as you want. I hate grape vine!!!

[luigiwu]

You are so lucky Carrie! They just won't grow for us - poor things wither and die...

[berryman]

The bottom ends of the cuttings need to "callous". It's some tissue that forms before the roots come out.
Bottom heat and keep the tops cool and in not too much sun.
I root 20-100 cuttings each year from prunings off of Canadice, Himrod, and Reisling.

[clkingtx]

What I did most recently(actually out of convenience, not planned) was buy a little larger plant, and it seemed to do better than any of the little barely rooted ones I had tried before. But when I went to try to get cuttings to root, I brought them in and put them in a sunny window until I got one to take(1 out of 15 or 20 maybe?).

I really think that if you get a good vigorous plant, of a variety that does well in your area, plant it as directed, don't let it dry out or stand in water, and let it get enough sunlight, it will thrive.

Is it that you can't get a vine established, or that they die after growing good for a while? There is a disease that is fatal for grapes that is spread by bugs called Pierce's disease. If you have healthy, established actively growing vines that decline for no known reason you might want to research this disease. There are some areas that don't really have problems with the disease, and some that do. There are also some resistant varieties.

If the problem is that you can't manage to keep a little plant alive long enough to get it established, you might want to try to get it to a state of vigorous growth before planting it at the appropriate time for your area. Maybe transplant into a larger pot(say 5 gallon) in a bright place maybe that only gets morning sun. Then after a week or two move the pot to dappled shade, and slowly get it used to being out in full sun, and give it a season to develop a large root system before you put it in the ground.

Just brainstorming here, feel free to disregard any and all of this advice . I know the first time we bought the vines from walmart that had plastic around their roots) and they didn't have any problems. They grew great for 3 or 4 years before succumbing to pierce's disease. The next time I bought the one in a larger pot(of a resistant variety) and let it grow in the pot for a season before planting it out. When it went inground it did great, and it has withstood a LOT of mistreatment. When I knew we were going to be moving soon(but wasn't sure how soon), I roughly dug out a root ball approximately 18 inch in diameter, and about a foot or so deep, and cut off most of the branches, leaving 3 or so healthy branches that I cut way back. I put some potting mix in a big planter pot, and put the rootball on top, and covered it with an inch or two more of potting mix. I also made cuttings in case I killed the main vine by the moving. This was in July in Texas, so grapes can be really tough(my variety is Himrod, a nice small green grape).

I only say all this to reassure you that you can do this. Since you have done this before unsuccessfully, I bet you know several ways that won't work. Avoid repeating things you tried in the past, or better yet, try to figure out WHY what you did didn't work, and try something different.

Sorry for the long rambling post, but hopefully something I "said" was helpful.

Carrie