Health & Fitness Tools

How To Grow Grapes In Nine Easy Jobs

14th December, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Reading this short article will enlighten you on how to grow grapes

Grape Growing

Growing grapes at home is a few tasks process. Some are common to all types of culture, others are specific to the vineyard.

The Land

It all begins with the land itself which will affect all other aspects of grape growing. Next is selecting the right grape vine variety that is well adapted to the climatic and environmental conditions of the region you live in. It is easy. This is no surprise, hundreds of grape types exist so some exists for your vineyard location.

The Importance Of The Soil

After selecting the land, you need to know what type of soil the land consists of. The vines find in the soil all the nutrients and the water it needs for growing. As anchorage, the soil gives the root some grounding surface. And now, the soil must be analyzed to determine the pH level and the type of nutrients needed. The grape vine at the end will have its quality defined by the land, the soil type and the general environmental conditions.

Organic Fertilizers

Adding organic foods to the plant is a good idea in our time. Grape growing industry is lucky because one of its favorite and commonly used fertilizer is manure. Manure is a natural supplement of hydrogen and can be adjusted in regards of the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium your vineyard soil needs.

Why The Cover Crops

Before planting the vine, a cover crop must be seeded before hand. First a temporary and second the permanent one. And this is for helping the vine to grow freely. The first benefice of the cover crops to the vines is in erosion prevention. A second one is reducing weed pests. A side effects is that the grape grower job will be easier.

Designing The Vineyard

Artistic aspects can be integrated in the design process making the vineyard a beautiful creation. Of course, some rules should be respected. The vines needs sunlight and a lot of it and also need good water drainage. A well thought vineyard design will orient the rows so sunlight is plenty available. A vineyard should be far from walls, trees and buildings. Some vineyard pictures show the vines planted on a hill. It is not for nothing. The vines drain well this way.

The Preferred Layout

The preferred layout for the beginners is a rectangular one.

It is common knowledge that the rectangular layout is at the end more productive. Longer budding vines in this layout just produce more grapes to harvest.

Second, the preferred rectangular layout is easier to work for the grape grower. Inspections and maintenance are easily done then. The farming machinery can also move more freely around the vines without damaging them.

Thinning The Shoots

It is better if the shoots growth is done in a way that the vines will have less leaves but more grapes. This is what grape growers do when they say that they do shoot tinning or pruning. This will help the vine growing larger. And a larger vine means more grapes. Thus for a better productivity.

The Winning Cultivar

A healthy and generous cultivar will be a winner. The best cultivar for you is the one that produce the type of grape you want or need. Do you want grapes for your table or for making wine? Do you intend to grow grapes for money or just for making your own wine. Answering those questions will help you choose the winning cultivar.

The cultivar who wins is the one giving you the most in term of quantity and quality. And the winner will be yourself and you should thank mother nature that permits such a miracle.