How important is the construction of a trellis or arbor really? Many home grape growers use their grape vines not only to produce grapes, but to ad that something special to their garden and that is understandable, because often grapes are referred to as “the fruit of the gods”.

When the novice home grape grower first plant a grape vine, they passionately dig a hole in the first best place they can find; water the grape vine and soon see some life as new shoots develop from the tiny buds on the canes. The fact that a grape vine is VERY adaptable and not difficult to start, makes growing grapes even more fun.

Soon, the new shoots will be a foot long, and this is even more satisfying, thinking that you have successfully started a grape vine, but then the uncertainty crawls in. What now? What should I do with the new growth? Why isn’t there grapes on my grape vine? I’ve heard about “training” a grape vine, but what on earth does “training” mean?

These are common questions a new grape grower face, and it is understandable, because there is much more to growing grapes than just planting the them!

One article is excessively short to explain the whole process of growing grapes; in fact, 50 or even a 100 articles would not be enough! Therefore, I will try to shed some light on the most common mistake of all – the trellis or arbor.

After a month or so, the newly planted grape vine grows out of control and starts looking more like a shrub than a grape vine. Because of poor airflow and sunlight exposure and the fact that the new shoots is lying on the ground, even more uncertainty crawls in, as diseases starts to take over the grape vine.

Discouraged, the new grape grower tries to save the vine by pruning away shoots and then, thinking that they have successfully managed to keep the vine in shape, they will soon find out that the “new” grape vine now grows even more vigorously. The grape vine will grow even more out of control, as side shoots (laterals) develop because of the tip action that took place.

Even more frustrated, the grape grower starts to do research, desperately seeking for a solution to his/her problem. They do research in magazines, visit some vineyards and even try the Internet (as you did) seeking for answers. They find tons and tons of information on how to grow grapes, and after weeks and weeks of sifting out all the crappy information there is out there, they finally realize that they must have some kind of trellis or arbor to grow their grapes on.

Luckily, they found the answer, but there is another problem! By this time, it is almost the end of the growing season and constructing the trellis or arbor then, will do little or no good! You see, the real disadvantage of constructing the support too late, is the fact that you will have to prune the grape vine back to two or three buds and start all over again, loosing a whole year’s growth!

The real solution to the problem is constructing the trellis or arbor beforehand, before you even plant the grape vine. You should construct the support system during winter, so when the growing season starts in spring and the grape vine starts developing shoots, the support is already in place. This will ensure that you can train and evenly spread your grape vine’s shoots on the trellis or arbor wires and minimize the time it takes for your grape vine to produce grapes!

Danie
“The Grape Guy”
http://www.my-grape-vine.com/

PS: For some detailed pergola and sun trellis plans and how to construct them, you can visit

http://www.my-grape-vine.com

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Filed under: growing grapes • how to grow grapes

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