North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

I have a grape vine that doesn't thrive for mysterious reasons, and the one 
year I got grapes they were unexciting, so I decided to replace it and see if 
some other variety might do better in the spot.  I decided I wanted to try 
either NY Muscat or Jupiter.  I have had NY Muscat and like it, and seedless 
grapes appeal to me.  Not being able to decide between them, nor finding a 
convenient source for plants, I bought cuttings of both from Lon Rombough.  
(Thanks, Lon).  He gave instructions for preparing the soil to root them in 
situ.

So I bought rooting hormone, ordered the grapes, and tucked the grapes in the 
fridge until the season turned warm enough to "plant" them.  Then I got busy 
with non-gardening things and forgot about the grape twigs.

Sometime in early August (I think) it occurred to me that I was never going 
to get around to properly preparing the soil, but if I put the twigs in the 
soil they might grow, and if I left them in the fridge they surely wouldn't.  
So I pulled out all the obvious weeds from the spot where I wanted them, 
dipped the bottoms of the cuttings in hormone mix, and buried a few inches in 
the soil, planting 3-4 each of Jupiter and NY Muscat.  It was really hot 
(which seemed good for rooting) and I made a point of watering the twigs from 
time to time.  Then I forgot about them again.

Today I notice that two of the twigs have clearly sprouted.  A Jupiter has a 
full-sized leaf, and a NY Muscat has a bit of stem growing out of two 
different nodes.  Some of the others seem to have swollen buds, and only one 
looks like it has dried up.  Tough buggers.

So . . . what are the odds that any of these will make it through the winter?

Happy gardening,
Ginda
eastern MA, zone 6, where we just caught the edge of Earl.  We needed that 
rain!