Grape

[ItsEssexRob]

Saw a nice looking already fruiting grape tree for £10 at my local b and q today and wondered if it was a good plant to get? How big do the vines get and does it thrive in our climate? Does it need any special treatment?

Dont know qwhat variety it is as there wasnt any labels on it, thats why they said it was £10 from £17.

Do they need to be grown in a greenhouse?

Thanks.

Rob

[FB.]

I woudl be put off by not knowing the variety. Red? White? Indoor? Outdoor? How can you know what to do with it or how to care for it properly?

Some varieties need the warmth of a greenhouse, although a few varieties can grow successfully in the warmer parts of England when planted against a sheltered, sunny South-facing wall.

"Mature" or "semi mature" (which would be the case if it was already fruiting) might take longer to establish - perhaps it has been ripped out of the ground "bare root" and dumped into a pot, therefore possibly badly damaged roots.

Small one-year-old fruit plants of all types - especially "maiden whip" fruit trees - tend to establish within a few months of planting, and often soon out-grow and outcrop the 3-5 year old plants which can take years to establish and also cost more!

So I would always recommend planting the youngest possible. The absolute best are one-year-old maiden whips grown in containers, since their roots aren't big enough to become pot-bound (coiled and deformed; a major issue with non-establishment of container plants) and young container-grown plants don't suffer the root damage of freshly-dug-up bare root plants. Also, having been grown in isolation in a container, such plants are much less likely to have picked-up ground borne diseases such as crown rot which infest many nursery soils (I have low regard for a lot of UK nurseries due to this) and crown rot is the most common cause of "unexplained" death of young fruits trees in the 2-8 year old age range; long after any one-year plant guarantee has expired.

[hollychap]

i bought a grape this year from my local garden center it was only £7.99 black hamburgh for the greenhouse