Wine And Beer

Grape Growing Guide For Beginners

As much as you want to grow grapes, you may have no idea as to how they are planted and grown. The mere fact that grapes are grown in vast vineyards commercially might even scare you and lead you to question your ability to handle growing them in your home. If you want to grow grapes from your garden so badly, read through the following grape growing guide and you will realize that growing grapes is not that hard at all. It is only a matter of perseverance, patience, and your strict adherence to an easy step-by-step guide on grape growing.Check the availability of space in your garden:Don't get too excited. You can't visit a gardening store just yet. Take a good look at your garden first before making any rash decisions and see if there is an available space to grow grapes or if there is room to make space. Each grape vine should have a gap of 6 to 8 feet between each other, depending on a grape vine's vigor. The more vigorous they are, the more space you'll need. Make your choice in consideration of the available space in your backyard.Find out which grape varieties are well-adapted to your area:No, you still can't buy any grape vines for growing. But you can visit a nursery professional in your locality from whom you can find out which grape varieties are suited to your area. Some varieties, for example, are more resistant to frost than others. If the climate in your region is colder than usual, the nursery professional will advise you as to what grapes you can grow in an area. Who knows? He or she may turn out to be generous enough to give you a grape growing guide. You may also do some personal research by buying books or surfing the Internet for resources that will inform you of the grape vines suitable for growing in your region.Take your pick:You too should know that certain grapes are solely grown to produce wine while others are for table-eating and for making grape juice or jelly. There are also varieties that are versatile enough to be used for all these purposes. As a home grower, you should identify what you want to get out of your home-grown grapes so that you can pick out from the list of grape vines suitable to thrive in your region.Check your soil:First of all, the soil should be composed of loam or be at least sandy. Secondly, the soil should have a good, draining quality. Thirdly, it should be acidic with a pH between 5.0 and 6.5, depending on the acidity that your chosen grape vine prefers.Visit a garden store and make your purchase:Now that growing conditions for your grape vines are set, take a visit to a local garden store and purchase grape seedlings of your selected grape variety. Take them home and place them in the sunniest place of your garden (most likely facing the south) while you prepare the soil.Prepare the soil and carefully plant your grape seedlings:Prepare the soil by digging holes that are large enough for the roots of your grape seedlings. Remember to place these holes in areas where the sun shines the most. Grape roots may be damaged by squeezing them in small holes. This damage will result in delaying the growth and the maturity of your grape vine seedlings. Fertilizers can also be added into the soil if you are not confident of your soil's natural nutritional content. It is necessary that you dampen your soil at this stage.Set flexible watering schedules:Grape vines that are still too young to bear grapes need to be watered more frequently - at least once a week or more, often depending on climate conditions. As soon as your grape vines bear fruit though, watering should be done less frequently as it will only delay the ripening of the grapes.Pruning:The meticulous pruning of your grape vines will train them to bear more grapes without compensating their quality. Without it, the quantity and quality of your grapes will be poor.With the above grape growing guide, growing grapes has never been easier. Just follow each of the above steps and you are guaranteed to be successful in growing grapes from your home.