I planted Beta and Valiant grapes in the garden at the end of the lane. We have a 8' wire fence around the garden to keep the deer out. I think the Beta died and the Valiant grapes made it. I have two climbing up the fence.

re...Stop watering in fall...whenever God decides to turn off the rain tap and start the snow. I don't water them specifially. If they get water during the summer while other garden produce needs watering that is great.

re...Winter protection used...none

re...Start applying winter protection...never.

My grapes are planted in the middle of the open area with no protection from trees, fences or anything.

They are just loaded with grapes right now. I will see if I can post a picture(s) sometime in the next few days for you.

Brenda

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for your responde. If I'm understanding correctly you planted your grapes, later came winter and after you got grapes. Is this correct?

My concern is because I have this grape since last year in a pot. I could not planted last year because I did not have my final grade certificate. Well, I kept the plan indoor but in a big 4 gallons pot.

I did some experiments. I kept the valiant the entire last year summer outdoors in the pot. When it became a bit chilly outside a lot of the branches died right away. Therefore, I brough it in. The plant recovered inside the house really quick.

I repeated the same experiment in early spring. Same results.

I do think the plant will survive the winter but I suspect it will lose most of the new branches as well as some of the old branches.

I have read that grapes produce fruits only on last year new branches and in some old branches (can you confirm this?)

My concern is that if I lose most of the branches the plant will survive but I will not get fruits.

byt he way the plant again spent most of the spring and this summer outdoors in the 4 gallons pot. I planted it outside 2 weeks ago.
I appreciate your help. are you in Zone 2?

I'm growing Valiant grapes in Edmonton (Millwoods). Given a sunny spot, they are a weed. I grow them at the back of the veggie garden, I don't use any winter protection. Can't recall if I gave them a good soaking before freeze-up last year, but it wouldn't hurt, particularly if you just planted them in the ground a few weeks ago. You might not want to water them too heavily in September though, as you want them to start hardening up and going dormant.

Yes, they get fruit on second-year wood (not on the current season's growth). Some of the vine does die back each year because it grows pretty much up to killing frost so the end parts are tender, but so much survives the winter that fruit production should be no problem.

In a shady spot they really struggle, but in a sunny spot they grow rampant. Last year's -40 winter didn't faze them at all. The one thing that irks me about the grapes though is that they attract scads of white flies. That's the same pest you see on Virginia Creeper vines in the city too. I don't want to spray but I guess you could. Anyway, here's a few pics:

Last year's growth - growing up about a 5 foot trellis, with 4 strands of clothesline wire to climb on. They look the same this year, just a bit bigger.
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Fruit from last year. They ripen about mid-September. Kind of small and seedy fruit, tastes just like a Concord.
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Last year's harvest. I made wine out of it. Drinkable, but that's about as generous as I can be. :-)
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Mid-May 2008 - After pruning off the dead and weak growth this spring, this is what survived the winter in good shape (all of these canes were putting out strong buds right to their tips). All of this year's fruit production will be from these canes. As stated earlier, no winter protection whatsoever.
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Wow, excelent.

I live in Rutherford very close to Millwoods (just west of Calgary Trail and south of Ellerslie Road)

That's good news that means I can get mine going too.

Are you expecting more grapes this year?

thanks,

It looks to be loaded with grapes again, but right now they are greenish-purple and need a bit longer to ripen up.

Don, what's happening on the ground in the 4th pic - with the black ?plastic? with holes and bricks?

I'm attempting Valiant grapes, too, on an arbor. This was year 3. Year 1 they grew only a little. That winter all top growth died. Year 2 they started from the ground, then a late freeze zapped them, so they started again. That winter all top growth died again. This year they started from ground level again but they really, really grew this year. I'm hoping some of the vines will survive this winter.

I think my valiant might be same as yours pudge. Maybe there diferent types of valiant and some are hardier than others,

Don, thanks for posting the photos and giving hope that these can be successfully grown here without winter protection. I had planted two nice strong vines this summer and they pretty much look hardened off and "should" come through winter okay, I'm hoping.

An inlaw of mine has a selection of grape that has proven hardier than Valiant, her Valiant had died (plants were side by side) while this other grape has thrived and given fruit of better quality. I don't have this grape myself.

Terry

Pudge,
Good observation on the plastic, holes and bricks. I have a pretty big veggie garden for a city yard, and I especially like to grow warm-season crops like pumpkins, corn, winter squash, etc. So I try to cheat a bit by covering the warm-season garden area with black plastic to warm the soil (eliminates weeding too!). The holes are where I plant the corn (5 seeds to a hole, thinned later to the 2 strongest). The bricks are to hold the plastic in place, as the wind can really mess it up until the vines get growing.

You can also faintly make out some metal hoops in the photo -- those are the braces for several 6-foot long plastic mini-greenhouses that I use to cover the pumpkins and squash until they outgrow the coverings (usually by end of June). I also pre-sprout the corn and vines in sprouting jars inside so I can get them into the ground and growing while the soil is still rather cool. Then I let the vines ramble through the corn patch.

It takes a bit of planning and fussing at the start of the year, but right now my freezer is full of corn-on-the-cob, and I've got 4 big Halloween pumpkins in the basement, 8 small "Snackjack" pumpkins ready to be made into roasted pumpkin seeds, plus a half-dozen winter squash ready to be picked, so it's reward time for my spring efforts!

twrosz,
I know the Riverbank grape (native as far west as Manitoba) is hardier than Valiant, but it has tiny fruit, for decoration only. If you have access to a hardier cultivar than Valiant, that gives good quality fruit, you should see if you can't get a clone and give it a try yourself (not sure how one goes about propogating such a thing though).

For interest sake, I took a course on growing fruit in Edmonton, way back in March 1999. While there may be better varieties developed since then, the instructor of the course claimed that the only reliable grape variety for Edmonton was Valiant. He said he tasted wonderful "Freedonia" grapes in 1998 that had been grown in Edmonton, but that was a particularly hot summer and was the first time the vines had produced ripe fruit in 15 years. It seems that many grape varieties will survive the winter here, but they need more heat than we normally get in order to ripen the fruit, so Valiant gets top marks because it ripens FAR earlier than other varieties.

I have a question about my grape plant. I'm not sure where my mind was when I planted this in my veggie garden but of course now it needs to be moved. Can I move mine? It's not terrible big yet but I need to get it in the right spot. I thought I would dig it up and place where it should have gone at first. Not sure if I mine is a Valiant or what - will check but sounds about right..

Can I do this without hurting the plant?

Well all your efforts certainly seem to be working, Don. Thanks for explaining what's going on with the plastic - I've been considering doing something like that for early sunflowers.

I didn't notice the hoops. I do something similar in spring with frost cloth (remay/agribon or the like) over my 4x12 raised beds. Works like a charm.

Echoes,
You should be able to move it no problem. Might set it back a bit depending how big it is. I actually had mine growing around a pergola in the front yard for about 3 years. Wanted to grow them up and over, but the base of the structure is quite shady so they never did much, and would die back to almost ground level each winter, and never get fruit. Moved them into the back garden in a sunny spot about 3 years ago, and they took right off.

Good showing Don and for others who posted!

Have some growing from cuttings, Valiant and another, about 3 or 4 years ago out on the acreage in the nursery. Just shot some pictures today, this one is some kind of commercial Grape, it could be Concord. A few grapes this year first time but not ripe yet. Valiant is at the same stage, some grape on first time too and turning blue. Have tasted them many times before, fairly tart, a long way from a store bought grape. But nothing wrong, I'm looking forward for a good crop one year, I would use it to blend into other fruit wine, like cherry or apple. A guy I know say's, wine from this one alone doesnt' make good wine, he adds in commercial grapes.

This is the commercial grape, it could be Concord?
I lay down the vines to the ground for winter but not on the Valiant.

Konrad

Guys, in addition to my valiant I have a St. Croix and an unknown variety that gave me some grapes inside the house last year.

I also plant them outside. I know their chances of surviving in Edmonton are low but the vines have harden. They look like dry brown wood rather than green.

I want to apply winter protection to these two. I'm thinking to cover them with a 4 gallon plastic container plus a plastic garbage container on top of it. I will put some clothing in between them.

Questions:

Would this work?

When do I need to apply the winter protection?

Thanks,

Hey Don, Did yout a lot of grapes this year?

Give us an update.

Konrad,

Did you get grapes this year?

Alex

Only a few bunches....
Most of the plants are still small, first season.
Took some cuttings for rooting, ...you can't have too many of these!

Konrad

Here's a link that'll interest some of you. This guy grows all kinds of grapes, some of which will also be good for cold zone 3.

Here is a link that might be useful: Burt Dunn's cold hardy vines

Granrey, sorry for the slow update, guess I haven't been on this site for awhile. In 2007 I got about 20 lbs from 3 vines, and this year's production must have been at least equal to that. But I got lazy this year so most of them still hang from the vines -- haha, maybe I should make ice wine now! I often ate a few when I was out in the back yard this fall, and I brought in a bowl for indoor eating, but that's about it. Last year's wine didn't really seem worth the effort, so I pondered making grape juice or grape jelly from the grapes but never got around to making either. Maybe next year I'll be more ambitious. I see some rabbits have made it into our back yard this winter, so I hope they help themselves to the grapes. Funny, the birds don't seem interested in the grapes.

Hi all,

Wonderful thread!
I've been thinking about getting some grape for all winter long, now I found this post, guess I will do it this year.
My questions are:
How many roots/cuttings I should get/buy to start with to make it a safe bet to tough out the winter?
I have a lot bamboo sticks that are 8' long, can I use them make a trellis, or they are not strong enough for the fruits? lacking of ideas for now as a beginner.

My another question would be if it is ok to mix grape with clematis.

Thanks!

Some grapes came with the house. They are crowded and could do with more sun. I wanted to move the plant but decided to start new plants and move them. I used soil layering (bury part of the vine) because I have vines that needed to be pruned. Soon, I'll get to see if I have new plants.

I didn't get any blossoms last year; die back was severe.

I have no idea what variety of grape I have.

Digicam, if you grow a hardy variety like Valiant, they should all survive the winter, so you don't need to buy any more than you want in your final planting. I think if you mixed grapes and clematis the grapes might smother the clematis once the grapes got well established. But I don't think there would be any disease issues or anything like that.

I wouldn't use bamboo for your trellis. Probably not strong enough, and after a year or two it would rot. I made mine out of T-shaped iron posts (not sure what you really call them) that I pounded in with a sledge hammer. Then I drilled holes through the posts and strung clothesline as my cross-supports. I think I've posted some pics above that show the trellis.

Another update: I mentioned that I got lazy and didn't pick many grapes last year, just left them on the vine. I was just out checking the garden and since a lot of the grapes were still on the vine from last year, I decided to try them. Wow, I've got raisins!!! These are incredibly sweet and tasty, I'm shocked. They aren't dried out or chalky, they are pulpy like a raisin, and very tasty. Lots of seeds which I work out in my mouth, so eating is slow. My daughter is bolder and just chews them up. Probably more of a novelty than something you'd eat a lot of, but very cool. Anyway here's some pics.
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I haven't seen any signs of life from my grapes. Is there still hope?