When to take grapevine cutting ???

[Caro]

My Dad has a mature grapevine (an eating grape I think, maybe black hamburg?) growing in his unheated conservatory. His old gardener rooted many cuttings successfully for many friends. Unfortunately I would like a cutting now and the gardener is indisposed

So my questions are when can a cutting be taken, from where in the vine, how to root it and if I do plant it into one of the greenhouse borders is my new 10ft x 8ft greenhouse will it take over or can they successfully be tamed with pruning?

Or, would a different variety be better anyway?

Many thanks

Caro

[Jardiniere]

i know it can be done but i have never been successful .you take the cuttings when you prune it in winter ...we prune in January ...and put them in sand or sandy soil and wait til the summer to see if they have got any roots.....mine are always still sticks.....so its too late to do it this year....i'm going for new plants this time............

[FB.]

Would it be possible to dig down and cut off a medium-sized piece of root - perhaps pencil thickness and a foot long.
Plant that piece of root just below the soil, in some good compost. If you're lucky, it'll sprout a new set of leaves.
If your grape isn't grafted, then you will have reproduced the variety. If your grape is a grafted type, then you will need to take graftwood during the winter and graft onto your piece of root.
It works with fruit trees, but I don't know if it works with grapes. But my grape grows faster than a weed (and faster than my fruit trees!), so I'd say that the chance of success from root cuttings and/or subsequent grafting ought to be good.

[Caro]

Both,

Thanks for your replies. I'll perhaps try a root cutting now, and a cutting in winter and see how it goes! It will be fun to try, anyway.

Caro

[crichmond]

I took a cutting of a growing spur just beyond the last grapes. so it is about 2 foot long, it has been in the aeroponic propagator now for just over a week and is just showing root nodules growing now so I expect roots to be fully showing within the next week.

At no stage did the cuttings wilt, but other cuttings I have put into compost wilted by the following day although they dont appear to have died yet.

If I were you I would plant some cuttings in compost but also put some in a vase with water.

[mclarenpitcrew]

Another guess, but cant you take a running branch and pin it under the ground (like strawberry runners), then chop it off of the main plant when it has some roots?

[crichmond]

Another guess, but cant you take a running branch and pin it under the ground (like strawberry runners), then chop it off of the main plant when it has some roots?

Trouble is if it is in a greenhouse most people grow them along the roof.

I have taken some pics of the 4 grape vine cuttings I have in my aeroponic propagator to show the root nodules forming. One thing i will point out is that the end of the cutting will go black and a little mushy but that doesnt matter as the new roots grow above this.

[FB.]

Another guess, but cant you take a running branch and pin it under the ground (like strawberry runners), then chop it off of the main plant when it has some roots?

Most fruit plants will root during the course of a season if a stem is pinned to the ground and the pinned part buried (with leaves sticking out of either side of the buried part), so I don't see why a grape wouldn't.

[crichmond]

So my questions are when can a cutting be taken, from where in the vine, how to root it and if I do plant it into one of the greenhouse borders is my new 10ft x 8ft greenhouse will it take over or can they successfully be tamed with pruning?

Forgot to answer the questions so, the time to take a cutting is right now, and they will only take over the greenhouse if you let them, what you do is train the main stem up the side of the greenhouse and then train 1 or 2 stems along the roof of the greenhouse supported by tieing in when it reaches the wanted length along the roof of the greenhouse just snip out the growing tip. It may take a couple of years to grow the required length.
And the fruit sets on the shoots that grow of the side of these I let each side shoot set 2 bunches then I snip it after the next leaf junction.

Come winter I prune back the side shoots to 2 buds

[Caro]

Thanks everyone,

I feel much encouraged and I'm going for it! If it works, it may be more luck than skill. But that's the beauty of cuttings and propagation - there's nothing to lose!

Thanks again, and if I get a result, I'll let you know.

Caro