hello... i'm wondering how to winterize a grapevine. the grapevine that i planted this year in a wooden barrel on the balcony has grown well and i'm hoping it will survive the winter and return with a vengeance next year. does it need cutting back? does it need to be taken off the stake and folded to the ground? does it need to be wrapped in burlap? do i just let it go dormant all on its own? any advice would be truly appreciated! btw, i live in Toronto. thanks, A.J.
It depends what variety you bought? If it's derived from V. vinifera (wine grape), it will need siginificant winter protection, otherwise very little protection for the above ground portion of the vine is required. Check out Grapes - University of Missouri for pruning guides. Pruning would occur in spring just as buds are beginning to expand and you can tell what survived the winter. A problem though, may be the barrel. Root hardiness of most plants is MUCH less than the stems and buds. Generally the ground acts as a buffer during periods of extreme cold but a barrel, with its much smaller volume, can't afford that protection and will see huge swings in temperature that will surely kill the roots of most cultivated grapes.
You need to harden the plant off by stop watering. In Eastern Washington we slow the watering down in the middle of August and stop watering in September until there is browning of the canes or it stops growing (the end of the cane will have a leaf instead of new growth.
Along this line....when do you prune a grapevine? And how far back do you prune it? We're on the Oregon coast and have had a large vine over a trellis for about five years. We prune it back to stems over trellis every year. Otherwise it runs along the roof line and onto the phone wires. Last year was the first time we had grapes. Nothing this year. I never expected to get grapes because the soil isn't very good, but now that we have, I'm interested in getting them back again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Grapes - University of Missouri In your climate, winter injury is not a problem, prune sometime between November and March.
