. . . and another question about training the plant: I train one main stem to develop, going upwards. I prune it just above a bud, so that it splits into 2 arms, and train them sideways, about 3 ft above the ground. The main stem keep going up to the second wire (about 6 ft above the ground), or trellis arm, and then I prune it again to develop 2 more side shoots, which are again trained sideways. So it now looks like: ---[--- ....[ ---[--- ....[ ....[ (ground) [ = main stem -- = side stems (and ignore the ... they were just to get the spacing right) Looks kind of like a backwards F and a right shaped F right next to each other? Is this right? Then each spring, before it grows, I prune the side arms back but I never prune the main trunk? Doesn't the main trunk get old? I don't know why I'm having so much trouble picturing this, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Hello fruitnutz and thanks for your reply. I have read through the forum here and have seen many of your posts. You sound like a well experienced individual. It's awesome that this forum has knowledgeable users such as yourself that stick around and shed some insight to the many newbies and distressed gardeners that come around here. Glad to hear this is something I can fix. It'll probably be another two more weeks before I get to replant as I'm finishing up the arbor and will be installing underground irrigation for a drip system. So for the time being, they'll remain in them buckets... Any particular ammonium sulfate you would recommend? How about an organic approach to upping the nitrogen? I read that bone meal has about the same percentage of nitrogen (20% N) as the sulphate of ammonia has... although I'm not sure if this can be mixed with water and feed as you suggested with the ammonium sulfate. What do you think here? Also, should I snip those yellow leaves off at this point or would that stress out the plant even more? And should grapes normally be watered like once a week? Another question I like to ask if your familiar with this one by sight. I have another grape tree variety that I picked up about three weeks ago, the black monukka. When I first picked this up there were a few leaves scattered around that had these red spots or blotches on them. The fellow at the nursery said this was due to irregular watering so I figured wasn't a real bid deal and should get better with a consistent watering plan. We'll the first week or so I think I was also over watering this plant as I was doing with all of my other newly purchased fruit trees. Thought maybe you could tell me what does this look like is happening to this plant. Some of the upper leaves look OK with new leaves sprouting out looking nice and green to start. There are some leaves though that also don't look too happy. They seem like there not laying flat and more like there curled in as seen in the third photo. Not sure if this is normal for this type of variety but it certainly doesn't look right since some of the other leaves on this grapevine is looking flat and normal. Does it look like this may have been induced as a result of irregular watering pattern or some sort of nutrient deficiency? Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks again for your time. Richard S.

This is a fun little experiment so definitely keep us posted. I think we're all learning something here. :) Rooting under glass in this case, to me, means cutting a short section of stem, sticking it either in to a pot of good potting soil, or sticking it in to the ground, and then watering well and either covering the cutting/stem with a bell jar, glass, or plastic bag etc to make a mini-greenhouse. If you have 14 feet to work with, yes "mixing it up" would mean hacking it in to smaller pieces and trying different strategies. If it was mine, I'd cut it in to 12 inch sections (keeping track of which end was pointed to the original roots and which was pointed to the branch tip) and I'd try different strategies: rooting in water indoors, rooting in water outdoors, rooting in potting soil indoors, rooting in potting soil outdoors (covered), sticking some in soil outdoors (maybe some with, or some without, the little greenhouses), and so on, just to improve your chances for success. I bet you'll get some success from one of these methods. I wouldn't add manure etc to the soil where you're rooting them--sometings that can encourage rot or burn etc. I'm sure they'll love it once they're rooted and you're ready to plant them to their new permanent home. Keep the updates coming as I'd love to know what method succeeds for you since I've always rooted only dormant stems (and quite lazily at that with a gentle shove of the stem in to the ground or potting soil in winter). Take care and super good luck! Grant

Not sure what your climate is - however, I'll share my own experiences with Thompson and Chardonnay types. The Thompson was planted on an arbor - this is it's 3rd spring. Actually, It didn't look like it was going to survive either. Some one said they get "Pierce" disease, and I assumed that was the problem. The main vines got all spotty - and the leaves looked awful. I learned grapes need severe pruning - (90 %) - so whacked it pretty hard and said a prayer. This spring - I tossed some aged chicken manure at it - even tho it looked almost dead. Well - the sun came out - the weather got warmer and now the entire arbor is full of vines. So maybe it's just a quirk - but for now I'm hopeful. The Chardonnays are in another spot - an arbor next to the house that reflects southern sunshine - and is looking very well. My only concern is - that my location - 6 blks from the ocean - with summer fog - may not be to their liking. But who knows - perhaps this year they will be stronger. I suspect they like a lot of heat. bejay