Are My Grape Cuttings Still Alive?
Hi friends, I hope you had a wonderful week!
This is now the second post, where we take our 2009 growing season in retrospect and since we had some problems with cuttings we bought last year, I thought it would be a good idea to include this post.
This week I will try to answer a question I so often get from growers all over the world –
“How do I know if my grape cuttings are still alive?”
In the picture below is a cutting that looks dead; with a brown, corky bark and no signs of life. For someone with little or no grape growing experience, this will for sure be the case, but I guarantee you that it is still alive!
How can I be sure?
Take a sharp carpet or pocket-knife and scrape the bark from the cutting to reveal the cambium (the thin layer just beneath the bark). IMPORTANT: DO NOT CUT THE CUTTING, simply scrape off the bark, otherwise you may damage the grape cutting and it will not be your grape vine one day!
From the picture below, you can see that the cambium is a dark green colour. This is your proof that the cutting is still alive.
If the colour of the cambium is a pale green of brown, it means that the cutting is either dying or dead already.
Okay, I hope you find this info helpful and that from now on, you will not wonder if the cuttings you are about to plant is still alive.
Take care and happy grape growing.
Danie
P.S. Did you like this tip? This is just the tip of the iceberg!
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Tagged with: how to grow grapes
Filed under: growing grapes • how to grow grapes
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thank your danie for a very useful information which you keep mailing to us regarding growing of grapes. i am here in punjab state of india and i have a grape vine which is bearing fruits, i am trying best to follow your insructions, but i feel the berries are not of a big size, i know varieties also matter but still if you could provide me with some solutions as to how to get big barries, would be greatly appreciated.
dr. mohd. feroz sajjad.
Dear Danie
Is it possible to visit your farm for practical training
Rgds
Adham Mady
I still have no idea why my 3 yr. old seedless green grape vine only produces teeny tiny little grapes????? I am in Las Vegas NV. Can ANYONE help me with this???
Good day!
I am residing in the province of Lanao del Sur and I really become interested in planting grape vines since I found your blog for It gives me guidance on the right way. Actually, I did not plant yet, still under planning process. What makes me worry is the cold climate . The site where I am planning to plant is upland area which about 2,300 feet above sea level. What is your advice? this area has a cool and pleasant climate that falls dominantly under type F, which is distinguished by an even distribution of rainfall throughout the year. The Philippine summer is not quite distinct here. The wettest month is February and the dryest month is June. Lanao del Sur is outside of the typhoon belt
Anticipating your kind advice.
Bammy
Thanks for the info, the grapes my wife cut back are alive, the shoots are about 6 to 18 inches now. However, some main stems are black looking and have shoots coming out at each node of the branches. I hope they make, however, we are going to need to replant with some new plants, what variety would you suggest for the North Georgia mountain? Fannin county, thanks for the info on the testing of branches.
Van
Thank you for the information.
Your info is fantastic. It is the most enjoyable thing I read on the internet. I am a Chef professionally but really enjoy making wine which I learned from my father many years ago. I am thinking of a vineyard in New Jersey. What do you think? Thanks and keep it comming.
thank you my dear for your useful information, this will be helpful to know the condition of our grape vine.
Best Regards,
Dear Dr Wiuum,
I indeed getting benefitted by your lectures and modules of trellies
regards
waqar
I have your e book and have just started reading it. However, I do still enjoy your timely and useful blogs. Thank you Danie.
Hello,
While grape cuttings are one way to start a vine,how does a grape cutting grafted to a selected rootstock work?Is using a rootstock a good idea for the home grower?Can cuttings be taken from vines grafted onto a select rootstock?
Many Thanks,Dan Gledhill
Dear Danie:
You are a busy MASTER EXPERT, and I do not expect you will have time to answer this request, but I would be VERY grateful for a reply. I will not buy your book only because I am not seriously involved with grape growing—I have only ONE VINE while concentrating on BERRY plants. But you have the ONE answer I need. This is the second year of my one seedless red grape vine, whose main stalk I have trained to grow to the top of my wire trellis. It gets plenty of water, sun and sufficient food, the leaves are very healthy, and I left one bunch of grapes (about 3 doz.green little globes now about 1/4″ in diameter) just to see what fruit I would get. But the grapes, while looking healthy, do NOT seem to be increasing in size. And 2 of the 4 arms of the vine seem to have stopped extending (only 2 have reached the end of the wire). Leaves look healthy. What can I do to get my vine to continue extending its arms? Is it just too early in the summer season, or do I have to wait until next year and try to get two new arms to grow from the main stem? What is the answer professor? best wishes,MORRIS
Actually Danie this is a bit of a sore subject last year we were hit with downy mildew bcause of weather conditions then in August were hit the a hail stone storm which shredded all our vines this year its looking like that out of 403 vines only 193 survived oh well lets get planting
All the best
Glen
Thank you Danie,
I am enjoying your lessons. Your teaching techniques are really apprisable
Regards,
Mohammed