I've had grape vines for about four years now and every year the new sprouts start at the base of the vine and the branches from the previous year are dead. I have about 3 years of dead branches on my fence..every year the grapes go a bit higher but not much..and thus I don't get grapes. well...I get a few little balls at the base but they dry out and fall off..any idea why? I live in Ontario Canada and many people I know grow grapes..??
There could be many reasons why: a. Perhaps you have a cultivar that is late and there is no time for the fruit to grow and mature and the cold temp takes the fruit... If so consider growing reliance or interlaken variety both are very early.... b. Perhaps there isn't enough nutrition to the plant so the stems are just not strong enough and they die in the winter... consider giving a lot of rotted kitchen waste... it is free, reduces your garbage output and recycles a lot of nutrients c. Perhaps the cultivar is fine, the nutrition has been given, but the weeds are eating it all up, consider, putting a big circle of Landscape paper and bark mulch near the base of the wine so that all the nutrition reaches the plant.... d. It might also be a good idea to talk to neighbours and friends and ask them which variety they have had success with... Here on west coast, I have had the best success with Reliance variety that gave 20+ bunches after being planted for one year!!
Thank you for the reply. I have many plants growing around my vines..:oS I have it as part of my flower garden...I"ll remove the plants all around my vines and hopefully in a few years I'll see some grapes..:o). I can't remember the name of the grapes (they're green) I have but they were sold in my hometown..so I figured they were safe to plant here.
Sounds like it is getting some flowers but the flowers dont set into grapes. Maybe its a female plant and needs another vine for polination. Good luck Kelly
a grape bearing cane will only grow on the previous years wood. the wood you say is dead should be trimmed and discarded or used as mulch around the base. thats why the grapes always get higher - they're on the previous years wood. before you do anything though, you should read up on the pruning methods. ( i picked the cordon method for simplicity) I bought a book on amazon.com called the grape grower by lon rombough and i learned alot from it. he really knows his stuff, and its explained in plain english. i bet if you get a book like this and learn the hows and whys, you'll be giving grapes in 2-3 years. www.bunchesgrapes.com he has a blog of his own on the site also. OH YEAH! i got an email a few days ago about a pruning video he made for 20 bucks or something. maybe that would be better. i like to see it in action. anyway, best of luck :)
sorry just realized this you say you get new growth arround the base of the vine. is it a grafted vine? maybe the top froze and the root is trying to survive or something????? crown gall?? is there an arborist in your area?
I really don't know much about what kind of vine it is..:o( But I will look into this book you talked about. I've removed all the plants that were growing around it and hopefully that will help too. thanks to all who replied..:o)
