Grapevines

[TonyF]

Is there the kiwi fruit one which has male and female flowers ?

No, but there are many varieties which are autofertile - like beans are - so they don't need a pollinator, the flowers are neither male or female but are bred to be both at the same time.

[Tigger]

We planted the first phase of our 'vineyard' last autumn. The plants (and advice) came from the national collection - Edwards in Herefordshire.

We're about midway between Halfpenny Green and Wroxeter, both English vineyards with medal winning wines, so we're hoping ours will be palatable!

We've also got some eating grapes, which are more established, both in a tunnel and outside and they produce good crops.

[barrie tough]

got my kiwi at lidl only £3.49 & its self polinating

[nomad]

just got a aurore & a merlot vines plus a kiwi fruit will they grow in my plot ok,any advice would be welcome.just want to try some thing different from veg.

hey i got aurore and gargarin this year and they both bursting into life.i asked the people i got them from if they would grow ok were i am and they said they would. the other type they said i could use is boskoops glory i think i may get one next year if these definately do ok.
let us know how yours do if you do not mind.
i have aurore in the greenhouse and aurore and gagarin in the polytunnel.

[active jim]

new member here so hi to everyone
i just got an allotment this year for first time ,ive never growen anything before
but i am getting plenty of advice from the folk in plotts next to me ,many thanks to them
iv pict up some vines from lidles ,kiwi,grape also strawbs and tomatoes alsow growing vedge so any advice i can pick up on this site will be very helpfull, many thanks in advance
jim

[Berry Ridge Farm]

The book "Foundations of American Grape Culture" by Dr. T.V. Munson is an excellent reference on heirloom grape varieties, especially in North America. Reproductions of the book published about 1900 are available from the Munson Memorial Vineyard (Link The T.V. Munson Memorial Vinyard and Viticulture - Enology Center.)
Dr. Munson in Texas and a colleague in Missouri developed root stocks that saved the French vineyards in about 1900. Lots of great information from Dr. Munson and the 100+ grade varieties he developed at his vineyard in Denison, Texas.

[Jimbojones]

Hi

I'm in Manchester and it wasn't a great summer last year, but I have a 'Black Hamburg' in my greenhouse and have trained it for the last 3 years, and I let it fruit for the first time last year, we had 5 good bunches of grapes, all ripened and were absolutely lovely to eat (Dessert Type) and this year have planted a 'Sauvignon Blanc' outside and am going to train this the double guyot system so if I have any luck with this I will let you know but it will be next year before I let it produce any grapes. I was told when I first planted my 'Black Hamburg' that to get 1 gallon of wine you need at least 12lb of grapes.

[Fairy Claire]

Hi everyone,

I have inherited with a new house what i thought was a dead vine but recently it has exploded into life and is threatening to take over my greenhouse - if anyone has any advice on what i should do with it, in terms of pruning etc, I would be very grateful.

I feel it's only fair to warn you though, that I'm a complete gardening novice..!

[littlemark]

The growth your vine is putting on now will have the flowers, and therefore the grapes you'll want later in the year. The new growth will continue throughout the Summer, and you can prune much of this back if it becomes excessive without harming the vine.

As far as reducing the size of the old wood (the bit that looked dead in the winter), vines respond very well to hard pruning during the Winter. I hard prune my vines back in January, removing 90% of all the growth from the previous year. This will leave you with a permanent 'stock' which will produce plenty of new growth in the early Summer. The size of this 'stock' will determine how much growth, and therefore fruiting potential you will get. The less growth you have, the better chance you'll get good sized grapes which will ripen properly, so if grape production is most important it's often good to prune very hard back to a short stubby stock. Really huge vines are excellent for appearance, or shade over a pergola, but often struggle to ripen the grapes properly. Growing in a greenhouse will of course help in this regard.

Cheers, Mark

[Fairy Claire]

Thanks very much for your help, I'll get pruning then!

[TonyF]

The alternative is to let it grow away and just prune off the bunches that you don't want. I was at a wine tasting at a chateau locally recently (500 acres under vines, 4 types) and the owner was telling us that he keeps the vines longer than traditional Guyot pruning but removes more embryonic grapes, which makes the grapes better and reduces the time spent tending them.