Watch This Before Growing Grapes
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Date: 2025-08-02
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Comments and reviews: 20
HaloRiot
Kevin I hope read this puts some improvements you can do to improve production.
1st your canopy isn’t full because the trellis wires are stack up on each other. You should have 3 wires ran. Lowest wire is the support for your main laterals. I recommend removing the top and bottom laterals. Leaving you with 2 main laterals that can better support product and more disease resistant. Tip those laterals at about half ways to the next vine or long enough so a lateral has about 5-10 buds available.
Place the 2nd wire at head height and space it off the wall between 18-24. Space between 1st and 2nd wire is for the cluster support. Then 3rd wire is above your head high and spaced even further away from the wall. About 36 is a good number. You want to make sure you have a dome shaped canopy to maximize surface area available to capture sunlight.
Next is pruning. 1st yr you want to establish your laterals and spurs/side chutes. Be sure to tip the laterals so the vibe can push side chutes. Winter pruning is pretty straight. You want down to 2 buds. Top bud is for this yrs harvest and lower bud will be for next yr. Every yr after you just need to prune it back to the lower bud. Head the chute from the lower down to 2 buds. Repeat every yr.
Next is spring pruning. Once the new growth is about 12, remove all the side chutes from the new cane that is growing. Along with the 1st two leaves. Then make sure the is on top of the wires growing towards south. Once are draping over the 3rd wire, head them to about shoulder height. Then remove any new side chutes.
Canopy maintenance is the removing of excess leaves. General rule of thumb is no leaf should be touching a cluster. Also, thin out areas where the sun is completely blacked. Basically no leaves should be blow a cluster. Once you have fruit set, thin to only one cluster. Keep the one closet to the lateral. This increase the quality of the fruit. Also tip the hang tale of the remaining clusters and make sure they are hanging unobstructed.
You can also griddle the main trunk to help boost sugar levels. The cut you do should done before the temperature hits high 90’s griddling prevents the vine from pulling the sugar from the maturing fruit. It’s not necessary but it helps.
As for harvesting, taste method works but not full proof. Generally once the cane has turned brown, the cluster is mature flavor wise. It’s not uncommon for flame to never fully turn red. Some times flame can have almost no color but tastes perfectly.
If you read this hope you try out what I have learned from working in the grape industry.
reply
Kevin I hope read this puts some improvements you can do to improve production.
1st your canopy isn’t full because the trellis wires are stack up on each other. You should have 3 wires ran. Lowest wire is the support for your main laterals. I recommend removing the top and bottom laterals. Leaving you with 2 main laterals that can better support product and more disease resistant. Tip those laterals at about half ways to the next vine or long enough so a lateral has about 5-10 buds available.
Place the 2nd wire at head height and space it off the wall between 18-24. Space between 1st and 2nd wire is for the cluster support. Then 3rd wire is above your head high and spaced even further away from the wall. About 36 is a good number. You want to make sure you have a dome shaped canopy to maximize surface area available to capture sunlight.
Next is pruning. 1st yr you want to establish your laterals and spurs/side chutes. Be sure to tip the laterals so the vibe can push side chutes. Winter pruning is pretty straight. You want down to 2 buds. Top bud is for this yrs harvest and lower bud will be for next yr. Every yr after you just need to prune it back to the lower bud. Head the chute from the lower down to 2 buds. Repeat every yr.
Next is spring pruning. Once the new growth is about 12, remove all the side chutes from the new cane that is growing. Along with the 1st two leaves. Then make sure the is on top of the wires growing towards south. Once are draping over the 3rd wire, head them to about shoulder height. Then remove any new side chutes.
Canopy maintenance is the removing of excess leaves. General rule of thumb is no leaf should be touching a cluster. Also, thin out areas where the sun is completely blacked. Basically no leaves should be blow a cluster. Once you have fruit set, thin to only one cluster. Keep the one closet to the lateral. This increase the quality of the fruit. Also tip the hang tale of the remaining clusters and make sure they are hanging unobstructed.
You can also griddle the main trunk to help boost sugar levels. The cut you do should done before the temperature hits high 90’s griddling prevents the vine from pulling the sugar from the maturing fruit. It’s not necessary but it helps.
As for harvesting, taste method works but not full proof. Generally once the cane has turned brown, the cluster is mature flavor wise. It’s not uncommon for flame to never fully turn red. Some times flame can have almost no color but tastes perfectly.
If you read this hope you try out what I have learned from working in the grape industry.
reply
Mr. M3447
I asked this on an older video so not a lot saw it but for those who see this I have a random question that’ll need some explaining. So my mom recently started getting into gardening and the first time we did it didn’t go fantastic but we still got some crop out of it. Now we have this metal garden plots (best way I can describe it) that we just set down and filled with soil and we set them in our front yard next to our garage so it’s covered from the sun for some parts of the day. But you see I’ve been wondering for a bit if we should actually move them into our backyard, my main reason being so that we can have more room so it’ll be easier to map out and potentially allow us to add more plots and so that animals don’t try to get in it. However whenever I bring it up my dad says that it be too hot and that they’d get too much direct sunlight, and I’m wondering how true that is. Now for context, the backyard fence are these maybe 7ft solid white plastic planks with no openings (besides the bottom where they meet the ground, and on the other side we have a bunch of trees, with some sorta standing over the fence that block out the sun in the afternoon, but besides that it’s just grass and dirt. So my question becomes is my dad right and we shouldn’t move them or is not right and putting them back there would be just fine If there’s any more information needed I’ll be happy to look into it more.
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I asked this on an older video so not a lot saw it but for those who see this I have a random question that’ll need some explaining. So my mom recently started getting into gardening and the first time we did it didn’t go fantastic but we still got some crop out of it. Now we have this metal garden plots (best way I can describe it) that we just set down and filled with soil and we set them in our front yard next to our garage so it’s covered from the sun for some parts of the day. But you see I’ve been wondering for a bit if we should actually move them into our backyard, my main reason being so that we can have more room so it’ll be easier to map out and potentially allow us to add more plots and so that animals don’t try to get in it. However whenever I bring it up my dad says that it be too hot and that they’d get too much direct sunlight, and I’m wondering how true that is. Now for context, the backyard fence are these maybe 7ft solid white plastic planks with no openings (besides the bottom where they meet the ground, and on the other side we have a bunch of trees, with some sorta standing over the fence that block out the sun in the afternoon, but besides that it’s just grass and dirt. So my question becomes is my dad right and we shouldn’t move them or is not right and putting them back there would be just fine If there’s any more information needed I’ll be happy to look into it more.
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ArcadeAndrew.
I would say that you might be a bit wrong about the they don't like wet feet grapes actually LOVE lots of water, its why they thrive on the coastal misty regions, but they dont like constant water like a swamp, but they DO want and thrive off of daily deep watering (preferably in the mornings, or the middle of the day over the summer. Grapes don't mind water in the winter BUT they dont need it, they will survive off of the winter rains alone and or weekly to bi weekly watering, once they bud then slowly increase water.
Additionally they can be grown without trellis/within a small space less than 3-4 feet apart, because they eventually can bush out and the vines start to support themselves (provided the base trunk is solid enough) after all grape trees exist.
Def wherever you are though try concords cus they taste amazing! just like the jam!
reply
I would say that you might be a bit wrong about the they don't like wet feet grapes actually LOVE lots of water, its why they thrive on the coastal misty regions, but they dont like constant water like a swamp, but they DO want and thrive off of daily deep watering (preferably in the mornings, or the middle of the day over the summer. Grapes don't mind water in the winter BUT they dont need it, they will survive off of the winter rains alone and or weekly to bi weekly watering, once they bud then slowly increase water.
Additionally they can be grown without trellis/within a small space less than 3-4 feet apart, because they eventually can bush out and the vines start to support themselves (provided the base trunk is solid enough) after all grape trees exist.
Def wherever you are though try concords cus they taste amazing! just like the jam!
reply
Jeff_PNW
My property came with multiple varieties of grapes, old growth with 6 diameter tree trunks, lol. I've got Concord, Red Flame(my all time favorite) and several other unknown varieties of seedless table grapes. I failed to prune them after last season & they're WAY overgrown right now, but they're fruiting like crazy and I estimate I'll easily harvest several hundred pounds of grapes in the Fall.
What do I do with so many grapes Well the wildlife(birds, raccoons, opossums & yellow jackets) get a lot of them. Beyond that.
Eat them fresh.
Juice the Concords for sure.
Give away lots to friends & family & coworkers.
Dehydrate the seedless ones to make the best damned raisins ever. I'm not even a raisin fan, but raisins from Red Flames are literally candy and nothing like you've ever had from a store.
reply
My property came with multiple varieties of grapes, old growth with 6 diameter tree trunks, lol. I've got Concord, Red Flame(my all time favorite) and several other unknown varieties of seedless table grapes. I failed to prune them after last season & they're WAY overgrown right now, but they're fruiting like crazy and I estimate I'll easily harvest several hundred pounds of grapes in the Fall.
What do I do with so many grapes Well the wildlife(birds, raccoons, opossums & yellow jackets) get a lot of them. Beyond that.
Eat them fresh.
Juice the Concords for sure.
Give away lots to friends & family & coworkers.
Dehydrate the seedless ones to make the best damned raisins ever. I'm not even a raisin fan, but raisins from Red Flames are literally candy and nothing like you've ever had from a store.
reply
Powerfamilygarden
This year is my year 3 of pink reliance and Venus grapes. This video is invaluable for so many reasons. I’m growing my grapes on a hog panel arch. I ended up with some black rot but I was able to correct it and save my grapes. You’re 100% correct about the sunlight and airflow. I didn’t do anything to my vines outside of put them in the ground and have a base of compost in the area. I’m going to take the advice offered here and will for certain add a cattle panel to the area so the vines have more room to spread out. Knowing they only form on first year canes is an excellent tip. I can prune more aggressively now.
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This year is my year 3 of pink reliance and Venus grapes. This video is invaluable for so many reasons. I’m growing my grapes on a hog panel arch. I ended up with some black rot but I was able to correct it and save my grapes. You’re 100% correct about the sunlight and airflow. I didn’t do anything to my vines outside of put them in the ground and have a base of compost in the area. I’m going to take the advice offered here and will for certain add a cattle panel to the area so the vines have more room to spread out. Knowing they only form on first year canes is an excellent tip. I can prune more aggressively now.
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lmullens75
So, about the shade I was lazy and didn’t get my grapes planted outside our high tunnel that has a 40% shade cloth all year last year and so far all year this year. Then it was so rainy here in Oklahoma this spring that I heard talk about grape growers losing their whole crops so I didn’t plant them out. I have had a wonderful little crop of snacking grapes under 40% shade with the reliance and Concord varieties. Anyway, it was a happy accident. We never expected to have grapes growing in pots in the High tunnel, but I will for sure get them planted out this fall because they’re taking over.
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So, about the shade I was lazy and didn’t get my grapes planted outside our high tunnel that has a 40% shade cloth all year last year and so far all year this year. Then it was so rainy here in Oklahoma this spring that I heard talk about grape growers losing their whole crops so I didn’t plant them out. I have had a wonderful little crop of snacking grapes under 40% shade with the reliance and Concord varieties. Anyway, it was a happy accident. We never expected to have grapes growing in pots in the High tunnel, but I will for sure get them planted out this fall because they’re taking over.
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growinginportland
It’s so funny three years ago I put a bunch of shipping pallets in my backyard planted a bunch of concord grapes, and just left them alone to grow. I’ve never pruned them. I just leave them alone. It’s big and bushy now it’s grown everywhere. All of the leaves are green. They look fantastic. I can go out there and snack on grapes and the only thing I do is a water occasionally that’s it. I do nothing else. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. There’s no reason why not to put grapes in your backyard.
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It’s so funny three years ago I put a bunch of shipping pallets in my backyard planted a bunch of concord grapes, and just left them alone to grow. I’ve never pruned them. I just leave them alone. It’s big and bushy now it’s grown everywhere. All of the leaves are green. They look fantastic. I can go out there and snack on grapes and the only thing I do is a water occasionally that’s it. I do nothing else. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. There’s no reason why not to put grapes in your backyard.
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NordeggSonya
Last year I bought Valient Grapes which are good to zone 3 Rocky Mountain House Alberta. Anyway they died because I don't think I watered enough. I bought two more this year and one is producing. The grapes are tiny and it is a seed. The flesh has not grow around it yet. Sour like you would't believe! Took ten minutes to straighten my face out again. I'd like to try to make wine but I'll probably make fruit leather out of it. Remember people, grapes/raisins are poisonous to your cat, I don't know about dogs.
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Last year I bought Valient Grapes which are good to zone 3 Rocky Mountain House Alberta. Anyway they died because I don't think I watered enough. I bought two more this year and one is producing. The grapes are tiny and it is a seed. The flesh has not grow around it yet. Sour like you would't believe! Took ten minutes to straighten my face out again. I'd like to try to make wine but I'll probably make fruit leather out of it. Remember people, grapes/raisins are poisonous to your cat, I don't know about dogs.
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Neenerella333
Mine are doing fine, but usually only have one or two clusters of very small pea sized grapes. They're tasty. Full, intense, 280 days of high altitude sun. Limestone soil, which most in France are. They climb up my veggie prison chicken wire side. I think they're red flames too.
Edited to add: no fungus problem, and though a few of the leaves can get skeletonized, I'm not seeing it this year.
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Mine are doing fine, but usually only have one or two clusters of very small pea sized grapes. They're tasty. Full, intense, 280 days of high altitude sun. Limestone soil, which most in France are. They climb up my veggie prison chicken wire side. I think they're red flames too.
Edited to add: no fungus problem, and though a few of the leaves can get skeletonized, I'm not seeing it this year.
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kittiew260
I have a purple concord vine 22 years old, and it's not this difficult & cumbersome. It's not the same all varieties. I make juice and wine very easy to grow. Only tip, have a fence or wire frame & prune in fall after harvest. No need to over feterlize, prune ect. They do their own thing with a little help getting off the ground.
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I have a purple concord vine 22 years old, and it's not this difficult & cumbersome. It's not the same all varieties. I make juice and wine very easy to grow. Only tip, have a fence or wire frame & prune in fall after harvest. No need to over feterlize, prune ect. They do their own thing with a little help getting off the ground.
reply
jeannamcgregor9967
I smuggled 10 seeds out of France in 2022 from an incredible pale green & blush globe eating grape and the one seedling that survived is now about 3 feet tall. It is planted on the upper edge of a retaining wall and I'm hoping the drainage is good. Next year I'll pull a trellis together!
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I smuggled 10 seeds out of France in 2022 from an incredible pale green & blush globe eating grape and the one seedling that survived is now about 3 feet tall. It is planted on the upper edge of a retaining wall and I'm hoping the drainage is good. Next year I'll pull a trellis together!
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epic_gardening
I needed this video sooooooo bad! Thank you! I bought mine from you. I think I will be trellising mine on my cattle panel that I've hooped. What are your thoughts on that I was also thinking on marking my vines somehow on first year, second year and mature as a just in case for my memory.
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I needed this video sooooooo bad! Thank you! I bought mine from you. I think I will be trellising mine on my cattle panel that I've hooped. What are your thoughts on that I was also thinking on marking my vines somehow on first year, second year and mature as a just in case for my memory.
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epic_gardening
I recommend Kishmish grapes. I purchased a cutting on FigBid. I started it indoors in May, and by August of the following year, I had my first two small bunches of some of the best seedless table grapes I have ever had! Before that, I felt Flame was the best table grape I could grow.
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I recommend Kishmish grapes. I purchased a cutting on FigBid. I started it indoors in May, and by August of the following year, I had my first two small bunches of some of the best seedless table grapes I have ever had! Before that, I felt Flame was the best table grape I could grow.
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looknom2567
6: 40 not all grape varieties are spur pruned with cordon. some varieties that are typically spur pruned is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Concord.
the other method of pruning is cane pruned some examples of that are typically Thompson Seedless, Zinfandel, Chardonnay
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6: 40 not all grape varieties are spur pruned with cordon. some varieties that are typically spur pruned is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Concord.
the other method of pruning is cane pruned some examples of that are typically Thompson Seedless, Zinfandel, Chardonnay
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joshuabaughn3734
Mine are Concord Grapes, so they have a rounder leaf. My poor vine had such a rough start.
8: 50 My problem is that the leaf edges would burn.
After some research, I found out it needed potassium, so I had to produce my own potash using wood ashes from a stove.
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Mine are Concord Grapes, so they have a rounder leaf. My poor vine had such a rough start.
8: 50 My problem is that the leaf edges would burn.
After some research, I found out it needed potassium, so I had to produce my own potash using wood ashes from a stove.
reply
70schild15
My late husband would freeze grapes. It was his favorite treat. I don't have a south facing place to plant grapes. I wish I did. I will have to think about a solution. I really want some grapes as they grow pretty nicely here in the Willamette Vally in Oregon.
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My late husband would freeze grapes. It was his favorite treat. I don't have a south facing place to plant grapes. I wish I did. I will have to think about a solution. I really want some grapes as they grow pretty nicely here in the Willamette Vally in Oregon.
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ashleecaye8114
I live in Orange County CA & we have a volunteer grape vine growing in our yard. My father in law threw out a bunch of old grapes years ago over our fence & they reseeded & grew over the years. This is the first year we got grapes from it
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I live in Orange County CA & we have a volunteer grape vine growing in our yard. My father in law threw out a bunch of old grapes years ago over our fence & they reseeded & grew over the years. This is the first year we got grapes from it
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1337Cassie
Just moved into a house that has a well established red grape vine. The grapes are coming in beautifully! They taste so much better than the store bought ones, which taste like. sour water haha. Mine are sweeeeeeet!
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Just moved into a house that has a well established red grape vine. The grapes are coming in beautifully! They taste so much better than the store bought ones, which taste like. sour water haha. Mine are sweeeeeeet!
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ianhutchison2226
epicgardening for education purposes you may want to modify this video. There are two methods of pruning (cane and spur. It's important for people to know to find out which is best for their grape variety.
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epicgardening for education purposes you may want to modify this video. There are two methods of pruning (cane and spur. It's important for people to know to find out which is best for their grape variety.
reply
cgohier2000
Here in Burgundy, we started growing. Georgian grapes! (from the Republic of Georgia) My hubby is from there so we literally brought sticks in our car in 2022. We now have a beautiful arbor with loads of grapes!
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Here in Burgundy, we started growing. Georgian grapes! (from the Republic of Georgia) My hubby is from there so we literally brought sticks in our car in 2022. We now have a beautiful arbor with loads of grapes!
reply
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