I live in the Tacoma, Wa area. Am looking for the best ever sweetest, large, seedless red or green grape eating grape vines. Any suggestions? I know I don't want much. Have tried Interlaken, not very sweet. Thanks, J
Part of the problem for the Pacific Northwest is the lack of summer heat to fully ripen grapes. Some years Interlaken can get pretty sweet, but not as sweet as grapes grown where the summers are hotter. This last year I tasted Neptune, a green grape, grown near Bellingham; it was pretty sweet, but we had a warmer than normal summer. The other planet grapes, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, also do pretty well in Western Washington.
I have Himrod (green, seedless table) and am not overly impressed. I also have a grape I planted three or four years ago. It was advertised as a new variety - red, seedless, table. I have lost the tag but I believe the name started with an "S". Both this year and last, we have had a very large, early harvest of excellent eating grapes. They are a very dark purple/red when ripe. The individual grapes are medium to small but the bunches (don;t recall the proper name) are a good size. Compare this to Himrod which ripens about three weeks later, if at all, and the bunches are tiny and the grapes are a bit smaller. I wish I knew the name but perhaps this is enough information for someone else to identify it? I would like to have the name for my records. WCG
Thanks for all the information. I, too, have looked at the Saturn and the Mars, the sellers say thery are very good. I also bought two Interlaken and Canadice seedless a few years ago. They are not sweet to me! Twenty years ago my parents had a wonderful large purple or black seedless so sweet and was no trouble at all. They (the grapes and my parents) are gone now and I wish I knew what grape it was. Anyway thanks for the help! J
WCG - The name of Grape "V" WCG, The name of the red grape, a newer variety if it is a cooler climate grape (grows well in the northern areas, it is Vanessa. It shows the ripening to be early October. I have ordered a few for my own grape vineyard this year. Is that red grape better/sweeter than white/Interlaken, Lakemont and or Himrod? I'd also like to know the sweeter dessert varieties, hopefully before my order ships out in April. At this time it is still early enough to change my order. I have ordered all seedless varieties that include: Jupiter, Concord, Marquis, Reliance, Lakemont, Himrod & Vanessa. I ordered Interlaken but the nursery didn't have any this year. I wanted to know if it is a good tasting (sweet) variety so I can order elsewhere. If it isn't then I'll just forget about it. I hope to get some info. from this post. Thank you all so much, eaemnc@yahoo.com
Grape Vines second post I forgot to list Candadice in my list of grape vines I'm ordering for spring planting. Vanessa and Canadice are supposed to be excellent. Has anyone ever healed in grape vines due to cold climate plantings? I did a peach tree once but never grape vines. Is it hard to do in the cold north-eastern/north-western winter in doors say in a basement or root cellar? Thank you eaemnc@yahoo.com
A friend offered us grape cuttings while visiting his place. During our walk through his vineyard, he cut off about 20 two-foot sections. It started to rain and when we got back to the house, he placed the rain-soaked cuttings inside a black plastic garbage bag for us to take home. Once home (and busy), we placed the rolled up plastic bag under the tub in the laundry room and forgot about it for, I think, three weeks. On opening the bag, we discovered the grape cuttings had sprouted! Small leaves were emerging! We had to figure out which end of the cutting was "up" so that we could stick the correct end into the garden. Most of them rooted, growing slowly that entire first year. The second year they grew like mad and we installed a rail fence for support. While this process isn't "heeling in" and it wasn't done when it was cold, it sure suprised us that it was so easy to get grapes growing from cuttings. So, if you find a really sweet variety growing at a friend's...
Kia Thank you so much for that info. I was worried about roots drying out on grapes so if in a bag with a small amount of soil or if I keep the roots sprayed they will do fine if in the basement for 2 months or so. That's great!!
The plastic bag method for rain-soaked cuttings (no roots) was a total fluke, and I'm surprised they didn't get mouldy and rot from the lack of air. I actually doubt it would work with roots on the plants, but there are lots of people here far more knowledgeable than me.
