Thank you Fruitnut, I think I have gained some clarity based on your response and on a couple of sites I found after my post. As a newbie to grapes I had no idea what buying a "3 yr old" grapevine actually meant. I was surprised that one site was selling vines in bunches of around 25 with the best prices if ordering a quantity of 50 or more. I was thinking I don't want to start a vineyard; I just want to grow grapes in my garden probably no more than my family actually consumes. The website also had a picture of the grapevines they sell with this excerpt: Grading Standards At our Vineyards 1 yr Extra - These are one year old vines that have made excellent growth the first year. Top growth is 12-18", and they have a heavy root system. 1 yr #1 - These vines are slightly smaller than 1-Extra vines, having 6-12" of top growth with a good root system to support the vine at planting. They represent the majority of the vines available. If I had received these vines in the mail I would have been like what the heck?!#@ and would certainly had been disappointed at the waste of 15.95 per vine. (not that this website asks that much for theirs but that is what I was looking at paying for a 3 yr old vine). I had to take my understanding of buying fruit trees back to the drawing board as a vine is definitely not a tree and though these plants are minuscule they are at least still a plant with roots; a lot of vendors are just selling cuttings I would then need to root myself. I then found a website that pictured more of what I wanted to know with this excerpt: Here is an illustration of two own root, (i.e. ungrafted) vines pruned ready for shipment. On the left is a one-year old and on the right a mature vine. Both types should be allowed a year to re-establish the root system which is pruned for shipment. Note that mature vines loose most of their feeding roots during lifting so they are best planted in November with mycorrhizal fungi applied to the roots to stimulate feeding root regrowth. In the spring, new growth should appear at several points on the head of the plant. Only those shoots required for the framework should be allowed to develop. The image on the left looks like a grape I purchased growing in a 1 gallon container last year from Lowes. The image on the right shows the benefit of getting a mature vine and based on their text I now understand why it will still require a year to bear fruit because most of the feeding roots are lost. I also understand (now) that a 3 yr old vine is only truly a 3 yr old vine if it is in its permanent location with root system intact. I now have a million more questions and questions for the vendor I decide to purchase from. Does the image on the right look better because, as the website says, It is a 3 yr old grape on its own root stock/ungrafted and does that mean I need to make sure the 3yr old grape I purchase is ungrafted if I want it to resemble the picture? This website suggested that it is best to plant a mature vine in November; am I too late to plant in January here in the southwest where it is kind of warm? Is there something I can do to speed the recovery of the feeding root regrowth so that there is the possibility of a small crop this year? The picture on the right is a cane with 2 shoots cut back to 2-3 buds per shoot if I have the terminology right. If I receive a plant like the pictured image, will I get vines on my 2 shoots this year and does that mean I will get 2 vines or closer to 6(a vine developing from each of the buds)???? Don't laugh, each one of you were a newbie at one point too :). My question for you experienced grape growers is what pruning method produces the most grapes? I at first only wanted 2 3 yr old grape vines to grow supported by a small trellis fence in my backyard as I don't have much space. Those two I would cane prune. After finding out that a will get very little fruit, if any, this year I am considering growing more vines and more varieties but I have very little space. If I add more vines to my order it will be 1 yr old vines that I would grow in a raised square foot garden bed with a trellis or as a container garden with a trellis. I understand that limiting the root depth will limit my fruit production. It looks to me like spur pruning produces more fruit than cane pruning so I was thinking that my extra vines that aren't directly ground planted could be spur pruned to offset a bit of the fruit loss from shallow roots. Do you think for those extra vines my pruning method will make a difference?

You absolutely can do that. There is a winery, linked below that prunes it's vines very close. Google "Head Trained" Vines. Those are vines that have one trunk and 4-5 cordons about 6" long. Canes come from those, bear fruit, and are then pruned back each year. Those vines look like little trees. Because our young vineyard is on a steep hill, we decided to head train ours. Here is a link that might be useful: Small Vines Vineyard

On clearance, I bought what looks like a 2 year old red flame seedless grapevine on a whim at the box store. There are two "trunks" growing from a pruned woody fork (1st yr growth?). I have a small yard. After fretting over the perfect location at home, the best spot for sun, air and drainage will require the mature width to remain about 6-7 feet wide. (There are young fruit trees on either side that will eventually grow wider, hence limiting the grape width. The dwarf citrus tree on the west side can be kept low to allow sun to hit the grape). Can the cordons be cropped to 3' on each side permanently? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I purchased two grape plants (Thompson and Flame) from the nursery a few weeks ago and recently put them into large pots. They each came with a bamboo stake, but I am planning to add some sort of trellis in the pot that I can tie the vines to. Should I make a simple square or fan-shaped trellis with 1x2 and stick it into the back of the pot (it is 16+in deep). This seems easier than burying 4x4s into the earth, but the redwood at my local big box is not very cheap. Any other simple suggestions? Also the first grape plant has a vine sticking out 90 degrees from the others. I'll have to bend the vine back to tie it to the trellis. Does that sound right? Also a question about pruning - They seem to be thriving with long branches and plenty of leaves, but am I supposed to be pruning all but one branch, or should I be waiting until winter when the plant becomes dormant first?