Hi, I am new to growing grapes, I live in Coquitlam BC. I am planning on planting some and need a bit of advice on varieties. I want to be able to eat them off the vine. If I can make wine in a few years, that may be a bonus, but not my first priority. The varieties I am looking at at Art Knapps are - Pinot Gris, Flame, Niagara, Himrod, Valiant. My first question is about pollination. The Valiant say they are self pollinating, the others do not. I was told that I should put two different varieties together for pollination. Is this right? I have a trellus 10ft x 10ft - 6 ft high and the ground is quite wet so I will build two boxes about 1ft X 2ft - 1ft deep, 1 on each side, and plant two in each. Is this a good idea? So I am thinking one Pinot Gris and one Niagara in each, but I am looking for suggestions. What tastes better, grows better, earlier? Or is there a better place to buy them from? Thanks
Valiant is not a good table grape. The taste is good, but they are small, thick skinned, and very seedy. I think you need bigger boxes than that. I'd suggest 4-8 cubic feet per vine. Look at the spacing in commercial vineyards. Typically plants are up to 8 feet apart in row, and rows are 6-8 apart. That means a commercial grape is using 30-60 square feet of ground. I don't know how deep grape roots go. But look into it. If they tend to deep roots, you may be able to grow some kind of cover between them.
Grapes like soil with good drainage. If your soil is wet, as you've stated, then grapes will probably not do very well. Most fruits need soil with good drainage; the only exception that I can think of is the blueberry.
Blueberries typically grow on the surface of peat bog land. They don't like being soggy, but they don't like to dry out either. AND they have shallow root systems. They do best on a high organic soil that wicks water up from underneath. Or on a timer.
You can't go wrong with Himrod as an eating grape--prolific, tasty, and seedless. If I could only plant one table grape, it would be Himrod.
"You can't go wrong with Himrod as an eating grape--prolific, tasty, and seedless. If I could only plant one table grape, it would be Himrod. " Yep. that is true for me woodschmoe. I'm very happy. I think you recommended me to this variety a few years ago. Thanks. Delicious pink seedless grapes on a vigorous plant. Very popular with racoons, birds and granddaughters. I did get to eat about a handful this year from my 3 year old vine :)
Lysichiton, are you sure that you have a Himrod grape? I have one that I planted more than 25 years ago, and the fruit is always green, turning to golden yellow when fully ripe. If you have a pink grape, it's not likely to be Himrod.
The label said "Himrod" and the individual grapes vary from green to yellowy to mainly pink when ripe. I just looked on the net and while most pictures show them green, some show yellow and some fewer show the colour variations I experience. Perhaps the colour varies with fertilization and soil? I don't have any pictures, mainly due to predation as previously mentioned.
The pink colour is interesting; it might be due to soil conditions, but it must be quite rare. I can't find any reference to pink in any of the descriptions, and you can't trust the pictures in Google Images. I pressure can the juice of most of my Himrod grapes, and the juice turns pink from its normal yellow-green colour. But that's a chemical reaction that is unlikely to occur in nature.
Glad you took my advice, Lysichiton, and that it didn't prove to be dubious. Mine are green/gold as well, but I do note that late in the season (perhaps with a bit of cooler weather) they can begin to turn and take on a bronzy/pinkish hue....I suppose it's also possible that this was a mis-labelling by the nursery. Either way, glad you have something prolific, delicious and seedless--always the main goals with a table grape.
