new to grape growing

[mary-belle]

My other half impulsively bought me a grapevine/twig from wilko's last week because he is desperate for me to grow something he actually likes to eat!

I followed the instructions on the packet and planted the root/twig. After planting I noticed a strange green waxy coating over the whole of the visible twig. It is quite brittle and broke off in parts on the stem bit but remains on the knobbly end bit.

Any ideas what this is? It is natural/normal? Is it something the seller applies to protest the stem? Or do I have a dud?

I am pretty new to this and I have never even seen a grapevine before so I am open to suggestions.

P.S - I know a pic would help but I left my camera at work

[binley100]

Am also interested in the answer to this as I bought one as well with the waxy stuff....but I must admit I hunted through them all till I found one with a couple of buds on....

[TonyF]

Hi guys

I wouldn't worry about the green waxy stuff, the twig/plant has probably been coated in wax to stop it being damaged. Here they use it on vines and roses but usually in red so you can see it better.

If you leave it on it should encourage side shoots - in my experience. I'd look back in the archives here for how to best grow a vine but as I've said previously, I live in one of the major wine growing wine regions of the world and here the vines are treated harshly and it's a place where winters have reached at least -5, usually much harsher, every year for the past 6 years.

Mary-Belle, you don't say on your details where you are (good idea to change it, helps other folk a lot) but you will need some warmth or sunshine to have the grapes fully ripen.

[Jardiniere]

i have vines in my garden which were put in at least 40 years ago and they have been savagely badly treated but they do get lots of summer sun.....having said that i grew one in SE London in a north facing garden but on the only south facing fence which never got sun after 4 in the afternoon and it grew well and produced small but edible fruit for a couple of years (moved now so dont know if its still alive).
You will need to prune it mercifully in Jan/Feb.
Keep us posted on its progress.............

[TonyF]

i have vines in my garden which were put in at least 40 years ago and they have been savagely badly treated but they do get lots of summer sun .... You will need to prune it mercifully in Jan/Feb.

Apart from the grapes that we've planted and which grow up one of the tunnels, we had one in place when we bought the house that was planted 20 years previously when the previous owners buit the house. It's big and old and is right outside the front door on the north facing terrace and every February it gets butchered, right back to the 6 main 'branches' and there's nothing else left.

But every year the green cover on the terrace means we don't need to cover it when we sit outside for lunch, we have more grapes than we can ever think of using, we throw about 35/40 kilo of green grapes away and we 'only' harvest about 20 kilo. But they're great preserved in eau de vie and make excellent dessert grapes.

Well worth growing but, like Jardiniere, we have rather different and very special climate that makes growing them - and ripening them - much easier.

[mary-belle]

Thanks guys,

I picked a bit off as it had started to flake but I will just leave it alone now

I like in yorkshire, I am going to attempt to grow it on trellis on a south facing wall.
May work, may not. As I said it was bought by my other half who has no idea about gardening but likes grapes. So we'll see what happens.

[GrapeGrower]

My vines also had some wax on when I bought them a few years ago, it hasn't done any harm and tends to just fall off as it grows. I'm sure I read somewhere that it is used to protect where it has been grafted on a rootstock, but I could be wrong

[Zenithtb]

It is my understanding it is to stop the vine from 'bleeding' from the top. No grafting involved - you just cut up an existing vine and wack it in the ground over winter - hey-presto, new vines...