Grape Propagation

The rush of spring continues.  A few weeks ago I started rooting a bunch of grape cuttings I’d ordered.  The grape propagation process is simple enough.  Make sure you get good sized sections of last years vine while they are dormant.  The sections should have at least three buds.  You can store them wrapped in a damp cloth in your fridge for a couple of months if necessary.

When you are ready to start rooting them, make a fresh cut on the base of the vine segment (buds face up), dip the base in water to get the rooting hormone to stick then dip in in your container of rooting hormone.

Push a hole in your damp potting medium with a pencil so that you can insert the base of the vine into the medium.

That’s it.  If you have bottom heat great use it.  If not, that’s ok too.  The most important thing here is that even if the base is being warmed the air should be cool so that you delay having the buds break for as long as possible.  As soon as that happens you’ll need to bring them into the light but before then then don’t need it.

While I started the process for the new varieties of vines I purchased a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to clone the Beta grapes that were growing at my folks place and took the opportunity to do a video showing just how easy the process for rooting grapes is.

Give it a try, if not this year then make sure you take the few minutes to get it done next year.