North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david liezen <chandos49@hotmail.com>]

Odds? Who knows? That's why we are called Fruit Explorers. Some young growth is tender and some are tenacious. Might as well mulch 'em well when they've gone dormant and Remember To Uncover Them Again next spring.
I've never messed with grapes, am learning to manage blueberries. A Jersey I planted when I got my ducks has barely hung on for two years until I woke up to the salad potential it poses for the ducks. After fencing away from the birds it has put on a fine spurt of growth - good root base by now. Might even get a first crop next year.
Living in hope sure beats the alternative.
 
                Dave Liezen, Spokane z6
 
> From: list@ginda.us
> Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 20:32:09 -0400
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [NAFEX] starting grapes from cuttings
>
> 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!
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