Concord Grapes

I first learned how I enjoyed Concord grapes in 2015. While competing in the 2015 TCA Thoroughbred Makeover, I went grocery shopping at local Walmart near the Kentucky Horse Park. I devoured the grapes in a matter of days. They may have been the same variety my Grandma used to make grape juice with. The desire to grow my own was fueled when I could hardly find them anywhere.

I researched online and in person. Some plants were priced as high as $40 and others as low as $8. I learned Concords were not known to produce themselves correctly via planting seeds. The best way to get new plants was by using a vine of a healthy known producing plant. In my conversations I found that a new friend at the time was willing to share cuttings of her Concord Grapes with me. I was again like with the sweet potatoes, unsure if this would really work. From reading articles online, I learned that grape cuttings could be placed in water or in soil and then would produce roots. Seems amazing doesn’t it? It was suggested to cover the cut part of the vine that was being placed in soil or water with a root hormone to help it grow. I am all about doing things as natural as possible and choose to go the tougher route without any root hormone.

A few weeks after placing my first cuttings in water I began to see changes, the stems developed what is called callouses, then roots, and eventually some leaves. I like to try new things and I think I prefer starting the cuttings in water so I can see the changes. After all, if the vine is buried in soil, I just have to wait, wait and see only looking at the vine from the surface. It is like have a horse breed and not having her checked to see if she is pregnant. She will show no outward signs for at least 7 to 8 months. While the grapes may produce leaves sooner (2-4 months), I still prefer to see the roots developing in the water.

My first time starting new grape plants from vine cuttings was a crash course for me. I only ended up with a few that made into soil. I do not remember numbers, I think I may have had 6 – 8 and perhaps one or 2 made it into a pot. I did not watch the water levels in the jars and several died when they dried up due to lack of water. At the time those that survived were ready to plant the weather was too cold to plant them outside. I must have cut the vines in October or November, if I remember correctly. I tried cutting vines again and late winter/early spring. These too, I neglected along the way and only had a couple plants to show for it. I remember thinking the temperature may have dropped to abruptly where I had the cutting sitting and caused them to die. I had several irons in the fire and in the course of my days the animals came before my ‘experiments’ with plants. I often struggled with energy levels and while the process of caring for the grapes was not exceeding difficult some days once I had finished what had to be done…I was done for. This is by no means an excuse or a pity party, simply the reason I neglected to care for the grape starts to standard. I remember not being 100% sure as to why some of them did not make it some consideration was temperature and of course hydration. I was able to share one plant with a neighbor and she has happily planted on her property. One lived for a long time and I may have either over or under watered it at one point. It did not make it.

In the late winter or early Spring of 2018, I once again trimmed vines at my friends and put them in glass jars with water.

When the weather was warmer, I determined this year (2018) I was going to get some plants in the ground this year.

Potted in the house from my first cuttings.

I think it had been potted for a year and half at least. I found a spot on our 11.7 acers where I believed the grapes would flourish the best. I researched online for info on the best place and how to plant them.

Pictured below show how much the above pictured plant grew indoors for a year and a half.

Finally!  I planted my first Concord grape plant.

About a month later my Dad planted the four that were doing well from the 2018 cuttings. These four went directly into the ground from the glass jars. This is now my preferred method as I have less of chance of forgetting to water them and it eliminates the step of potting them inside until the weather is nicer.

Here it is fall of 2018 and I wanted to help my friend prune her grapes. I hate to see anything go to waste so on the spur of the moment, I took a big bunch of the pruned vines home with me. After all she was going to burn them. Snipping and cutting the vines into smaller sections, I soon had around 40 starts in 8 glass jars with water.

My thoughts went something like this:
Oh, what was I thinking? Here I was going into winter with all these grape starts. I now needed to make sure the water levels stayed high enough or plant all that grew roots and keep those potted grapes watered properly until next spring.

My response to my thoughts and doubts went like this:
You are simply going to have to stay on top of caring for them. It is a simple matter of making it a part of your daily routine like caring for the animals. It will need to become a part of your chores. You have less places you have to be than in previous times and you’re are feeling better. This is what you do and you are going to do it!!! Have confidence that you will see this project through.

Now I do not expect every one of the 40 vine cuttings to become a plant. If I end up with 20 plants, I would be excited. It seems by my experience so far not every cutting grows roots. Perhaps I would increase my success if I used a root hormone. I recently learned from a follower on the farms FB page (A Country Girl’s Heart ~ Beats that Matter) that a willow branch is a natural growth hormone inducer and specifically with grape starts it will promote root growth. I am still researching, but I intend to try it at some point.

To date I have spent $0 on the grape project. I will be most rewarded the day I actually harvest my own grapes. I will savor that first bite!! I might make jelly or grape juice (frozen or canned).  What is your favorite way to enjoy Concord grapes?  Leave a comment.