is there a way to tell one grape species from the other by it leaves or vine so that i can match up male and female to produce grapes or is this not always necessary to have a male and female of grape vines to pollinate. i have a very health grape vine that i got from my mothers yard and she does not know were it came from or what Type it is
There are some fairly technical ways to ID grape vines, but (other than DNA) they require growing shoots, mature leaves, a ripe bunch and sometimes cane samples. After all that, the answers tend to be somewhat uncertain in many cases. I find the best way is to take some samples (in zip-lock bags - sealed until OK'd to open) to a local grower and ask for an opinion. A side benefit to this approach is that most growers will give a whole lot more than an ID - variety advice, growing advice, even cuttings and grapes if the time is right! In your location, Muscadine or Scuppernog would be a reasonable guess sight unseen, but some varieties need polinators, some don't. Try a comparison yourself by Googling "vitis rotundifolia" in google images. Ralph
not Muscadine or Scuppernog i have some of those it came from Maryland the leaf is pointed and has distinctive splits at the half way point almost heart shaped and larger then the Muscadine or Scuppernog leafs around the area. here are some pictures i took i have not had this vine long enough to see any grapes i was wanting to learn how to tell male from female and to see if this vine needed a mate to produce grapes. i also included a picture of the entire vine. only been growing since June and started as a tiny shoot with only half a dozen leafs and a 4 inch vine. any help will be greatly appreciated. thanks Ralph
At first sight I'm thinking native american, riparia-ish, but not quite. You can see in the pics that not all the leaves have the same exact shape, which is one of the things that makes ID's difficult. The closest I have is a rootstock called 420-A Millardet et deGrasset, which is a berlandieri-riparia hybrid, bur I can't think why anybody would grow that particular vine as a plant. 196-17 Castel has some similarity, but the hairy leaf veins tend to rule that out. If it came from Maryland, there's not much point in a local inquiry but you never know. Ralph
"420-A Millardet et deGrasset, which is a berlandieri-riparia hybrid" what type of grapes does this vine produce. red white black concord seedless ? help please. i'm a real novice at this sorry. i did not intend to grow it as a plant. i put it in a large pot to get it started better, i plan to transplant it once it goes dormant this winter. so it can grow into a normal vine this spring. i just am trying to determine if it needs both male and female to produce grapes? how do you tell the male from the female plants? any help pointing me in the right direction is welcome. thanks in advance
420-a is a rootstock. It is used to provide phylloxera resistance and earlier ripening/lower vigor roots for your preferrence of top (scion) variety which will actually produce the grapes. I don't know what it would produce for grapes on it's own. Ralph
ok mthat sounds well over my head i think you are telling me i can graf one vine on to a hearty root stock and get better grapes from a weaker vine that has a weak root system. but other wise is a good producer. now how do you tell male from female grape vines. how do i force my vine to bear fruit to see if it is worth growing for grapes or just a nice plant to look at.
Don't worry about the male/female thing now. It's very unlikely to be a problem. Prune seriously while it's dormant (January/February) (although you may not get a true dormancy in your area). Look at this: http://mtvernon.wsu.edu/frt_hort/grape_pruning_basics.htm Pruning Grapes in Home Gardens. I don't mean to convince you that you are growing 420-A; I think that is actually unlikely. On the other hand, if that is the case, you will be able to utilize the rootstock to graft a scion of some other desirable grape and still get the benefit of the root system you are currently allowing to develop. Grape vines are (in this way) similar to say bamboo and even fungi in that they develop a strong root system which remains a source of strength for the following year's growth even though the top is mostly cut away. If you need advice next year on grafting, don't hesitate to ask. Ralph
