If you know someone that has grapes growing and you like the variety they are growing, this is a good way to get cuttings that you can grow to include in your garden.
Ask them ahead of time when they are pruning their grapes in the winter for some of their cutting so that you can take them home to start your own. The best way to prune the grape to get a cutting for propagating is to take a branch that you can leave 1 to 2 bud nodes and remove the branch that has at least 4 remaining nodes to use for your propagating.
What you need to propagate your own grapes
Good pair of clippers that are clean and sharp
Tall potting containers
Organic Potting Soil for seeds and seedlings
Root Tone
- PROMOTES ROOTING FROM CUTTINGS
- EASY TO USE
- WORKS ON ALL PLANT CUTTINGS
How to get a good stem for propagating
The final cutting that you will be used to propagate the grape is about 12-16 inches long with 4 buds.
It is a good idea to take several cuttings of each variety you wish to grow since some may not take.
Once you have the cuttings to be used get them ready to plant as soon as possible to ensure good propagation results.
The end that you will place in the potting soil should be cut 1 inch below the bottom bud that will be dipped in rooting hormone and buried, you should also trim off the outside bark down to green before dipping in the root tone. The other three buds will be above the top of the potting soil (These will eventually leaf out).
Use a tall container to plant the cutting to allow good root development.
Use a sharp knife to peel back the outer layer of bark leaving the green inside of the stem exposed. This is the section of the stem that you will dip in the root tone.
After dipping the bottom end in root tone place it in the container and fill it several inches above with the potting soil. Press the soil in to make sure the cutting has good contact with the soil and water generously.
It will take several months for the grape to produce strong roots that will send energy to the buds above ground to start growing.
You can either leave it in this container until next year to plant or once the buds have produced good growth of branches you can plant in the ground.
If you plant it in the ground add some rock phosphate to kick-start your grape start to produce a strong root system.
It may take a few years to get a good grape production from these starts so do not give up on them after the first 2 years.
