Can You Grow Grass Between Grape Vines?

This is a good question: Can you grow grass between grape vines?

The answer is that you should!

You see, other weeds compete with the grapes on nutrients, water and sunlight. But grass does not. It's called a cover crop if you use it between the grape rows. It will prevent soil erosion and keep balance the moisture in the soil.

Grass is a good thing but other weeds that are growing close to your grape vines has to go.

Hope this was helpful.. Take care!

How to Replant a Grape Vine

A common problem for grape growers is to take an existing grape vine and replanting it on a new location. It can be difficult because grape vines are very sensitive. But guess what! I found a great article that shows you how to replant a grape vine. It's written by a guy that owns a grape growing website and has much knowledge on the subject. Once you have finished reading the article I want you to checkout this link: www.mygrapegrowingguide.com. Here's the article..

Because so many grape growers ask this question, I though it would be a good idea to write this article as part of the "New To Growing Grapes" series of posts on my blog. The reason why so many new grape growers replant their grape vines, is poor planning, incorrect soil preparation and choosing the incorrect site or spot to plant their grape vines.

Choosing the correct site location for your vineyard, is one of the most important choices you as a new grape grower have to make as this will be the future home for your grape vines in years to come. I will not go into site location and soil preparation for your grape vines in this article, but you can get all the information for free by joining the Grape Coaching Program. The silver membership is a 10 day trial-run of what you can expect from the Grape Coaching Program.

Let's get something straight; replanting a grape vine is not ideal, especially if it is older than two years. Therefore you need to do proper planning before you establish your vineyard. So, your grape vines were not planted in the right spot or you are moving to another house and wants to take your grape vine with you - what now? Transplanting a grape vine post some risk, there is no doubt about that, but it can be done if you follow the instructions I am going to give to you now. Do not deviate from this too much as you could loose your grape vine.

The first problem with transplanting an old grape vine (2 years and older), is that the root system and structure of the vine gets bigger each year and makes the removal of the vine much harder. When transplanting these grape vines, you will eventually damage some roots, as it is impossible to take them out of the soil intact. Damaging the roots of the vines will result in the lost of moisture through the wounds and could result in the roots drying out too much and die. When taking the vines out of the soil, make sure you dig up as many of the roots as possible - the more roots you can save, the more successfully you will replant your grape vines.

The second problem with replanting a grape vine, is the loss of water through the leaves (evaporation). After replanting the grape vine, the roots of the vines are in a state of shock and for a week or two will not be able to take up water from the soil. If the climate is hot, the grape vine will loose water through the leaves which will result in too little water in the vine and the leaves will start to wither. You therefore need to minimize the apical growth in order to ensure there is enough available water in the vine itself by reducing the number of shoots to a maximum of three. I would recommend you prune back hard and leave only one strong cane from the base of the lowest cordon. You can develop the new structure of the vine from there. Rather loose one or two year's growth and have healthy vine, than trying to retain the old structure and have a dead vine!.

The third problem is planting and watering the vine. Because you have a much bigger root system than a normal rooted cutting, you will have to make a much bigger planting hole. Make the planting hole large enough to accommodate ALL the roots and do not prune back any roots to fit the planting hole - rather make the hole larger. It is important that you understand, that these vines needs allot of water the first few weeks (as explained before). After removing the vine from it's old position, place the roots of the vines in a bucket of water for at least six hours, prior to planting it in the new location. This will ensure the roots stay moist and the vine will not loose any water through the wounds on the roots.

Do not put any fertilizer in the planting hole it will damage the roots.

I have successfully transplanted 5-year-old vines this way, and there should not be any reason you cannot do it yourself, but it is always better to avoid replanting a mature vine. I hope this gave you more insight on how to relocate a mature vine - the key is:

• Keep as many of the roots as possible,
• Minimize apical growth for at least a month
• Make a large enough planting hole
• Keep the vine well watered.

Good luck Danie

For even more grape growing tips, you can visit My Grape Vine and if you would like to become a member of The Grape Coaching Program, where you will learn how to grow grapes by means of video and mp3's, visit The Grape Coaching Program - get your 10 day FREE training right now!

When Learning How to Grow a Grape Vine You Must Know This

In this post I thought about sharing a great article on grape growing. It talks about the 1 fundamental thing you have to do when learning how to grow a grape vine. A lot of people get this one wrong and therefore I think it's good that you give this article a read. Be sure that you follow all the advice given in order to set up your foundation as stable as possible. You will thank yourself later with delicious grapes as a reward.

If you are completely new to grape growing and want to know how to grow a grape vine, then you have to know ONE very fundamental thing. And that is..

Planting at the right location.

If you don't plant on the right location then it doesn't matter how well you prune the grape vine, how much you water it or how much fertilizer you add, it's not going to help a badly planted grape vine. OK so what do a grape vine need in order to grow well, and to produce large and tasty grape berries?

First, you need to find a spot that receives a lot of sunlight. They need a lot of sun and high temperature in order to develop and ripe the berries. For this you should choose a slope or wall that is facing south.

Second, the vine grows best in poor soil that doesn't have much nutrient value. You can examine the plants that are already growing at the site you are considering to evaluate the quality of the soil. If there is a lot of weeds and healthy plants then you can almost be certain that the soil is rich in nutrients.

Third, the soil has to be well drained and have a lot of access to water. The vines drinks enormous amounts of water when it's in its active stage so access to water is a must. However, too much water will spoil the quality of the grape berries and they will not have the desired quality.

The fourth and last thing to consider is the type of hole you are digging to plant the grape vine in. You have to dig a hole that is big enough to fit the roots without bending them. If there is one root that is too long then you can trim it off. Also, don't dig the hole too deep.

All of these instructions and more will become second nature to you if you follow the guide at http://www.mygrapegrowingguide.com. There are lots of tips on how to choose the right location, how to plant it, water it, fertilize it, train it, prune it, and harvest it.

If you would like to receive more information about how to grow a grape vine then visit the link and get yourself up too date with the most successful techniques.