Best Time to Prune and Root Grape Vine Cuttings?

11 years ago

Hello all,

I've got a venus grape vine that I've let just grow however it wanted the last two years so that it could get well established. This year I plan on pruning it to make sure I get just the branches I want out of it.

My question is as follows:

Given that the vine is now dormant and hence the proper time to prune in general, when would be the best time to do so if I want to attempt to root the cuttings?

I suppose the answer will depend on what it takes to get the cuttings to root. I vaguely recall seeing something about taking cuttings early in the winter and putting them somewhere sheltered and cool (like the crawlspace under the house) in plastic bags and forgetting about them until spring. Is something like that what it would take, a couple months of leaving them alone before they'll root (which would mean prune now), or would it be better to prune closer to spring when the vine is waking back up since it'll be in the growing mood?

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Comments (3)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
11 years ago
I think the best time to prune in areas with freeze danger is in spring just before or as growth begins. I think this is too early in zone 7.

I'd take cuttings for rooting 2-4 weeks before growth begins. Then they may need to be buried or stored in a cool place until rooting. It depends on whether you can control temperature or are reliant on nature, they need warmth to root rapidly.

I'm not an expert on rooting grapes but have done it many times. Usually by just planting them where I wanted a vine, covering until spring, and then uncovering the top bud. This works but there are ways that result in much higher % takes.

The key to rooting them is getting callus formation first. This works best at warm temperature, just the right moisture level, and rooting hormone. The cutting needs to be fully turgid but not wet. Some experts callus them in moist sand. This months Good Fruit Grower has an article on rooting grape cuttings.

I've never used rooting hormone so that's not essential.
TheDerek
10 years ago
Some varieties root much better with hormone, others do fine without it. Best to root in a loose medium, medium to coarse sand works good. Damp, but not wet, too wet and you invite rot, heat from the bottom will root cuttings much faster than no heat, a heating pad works good if it doesnt shut off after x minutes like so do, or you can get a pad just for seedlings/cuttings.
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Grapes root very easily when they are in the mood. I've used grape sticks as garden markers and they rooted (same with fig sticks). Last winter I chopped up my grape vine prunings and used them as mulch under a fig tree - about 30 grape vines started, all from pieces 1 or 2 inches long (nodes of course). When I have wanted to start grapes from cuttings, I used dormant cuttings collected in the mid-winter prunings, and treated them exactly as I have done with figs, in containers with peatmoss and perlite, with 2 or 3 nodes in the medium, and keeping evenly moist. I tried to start one from a greenwood cutting once and failed, but I have heard that it can be done. I had some Interlaken and Canadice grape cuttings that I saved in plastic bags in a bundle, and forgot about them. They were stored in a cool moist shed on the north side of the house. Several grew roots. I see no reason why you cant try the method that you describe. There are some issues with having the right temperature for callous formation. Details from an expert are in the link below - his grape book is where I learned everything that I know about grapes. You can put extra sticks into the ground and also see if they grow. Grapes grow so prolifically, you should be able to get lots of cuttings for nothing. Backyard grapes are as addictive as figs, taste incrediblly better than store-bought, and more productive, faster, than figs (in my yard). Good luck with your new hobby. Daniel Here is a link that might be useful: Grape cutting method
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Okay, well, I placed the cuttings in pots in soil in a shady spot and watered with B-1 and Superthrive every other day. Some of the cuttings I dipped in rooting hormone and others I did not. This week some of my cuttings have started to leaf out! Yay! So I have more questions: 1. Do they need any sort of fertilizer? 2. When can I move them into the sunlight? 3. Should I plant them in the ground or overwinter them in their pots? 4. It is getting close to the time of year when grapes will start to go dormant. There is not very much time for a lot of new growth before winter (such as it is in Southern California). I am not sure if grapes lose their leaves because of the lack of light or because of cold, but what can I do to help these cuttings survive their first winter? If I had taken the cutting in May I wouldn't be wondering, but it is odd to have new growth now in mid-September. Will they go dormant and then leaf out in spring or should I treat them in a special way (heating pad, greenhouse, etc.)?
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bencjedi
10 years ago
Easiest way is to scratch and rough-up a woody, long, living vine on one side that reaches the ground in late summer, covering that 'damaged' part with soil and pointing the rest of the vine up in the air. In the spring you will have bud and leaf formation on both sides of the vine on either side of the buried part. At this point you can cut the vine, so the buried part is now its own plant. Tah-dah!

I did this a couple times and it worked great. The only caveat was the ÃÂ³ffsprung' new plant was delayed in production relative to the parent in which it was spawned off from. In the next year after the separation was made the new plant fruited about 3 weeks later after the main plant. In the following year (this year) I am noticing both parent and child are in sync. Both are forming fruit at the same time.

If you don't want to fool with cuttings and hormones than using the main plant as the host and life support system of an emerging 'child' plant is comparatively very easy.

Best Time to Prune and Root Grape Vine Cuttings?

Comments (3)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

TheDerek

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