Vitis Vinifera (Grape vine)

Vitis Vinifera (Grape vine)

Grape vine, which blossoms in May and June, is a climbing plant that climbs easily and everywhere. Grow it against a fence, pergola, or wall. The plant has large hand-shaped leaves. Vitis Vinifera is naturally at home in a warm climate. In colder regions, such as northwest Europe, we need to create a sheltered spot to grow grape vine successfully. It’s best to grow this against a warm, sunny wall. You’ll have a wonderful harvest in warm and predominantly dry summers. If you have a conservatory, your harvest will be even better.

Growing your Grape vine

Grape vines originated in the countries around the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Later, people increasingly started developing and growing the plants. Now, thousands of years later, you’ll find Vitis Vinifera all over the world. And the plant can also thrive well in colder northwest European climes.

Why choose a Grape vine?

• The plant looks stunning and gives your garden a southern look.
• Vitis Vinifera is an easy plant.
• It doesn’t really need any special care.
• You can eat the grapes or make wine from them.

When should you plant your Vitis Vinifera?

It doesn’t matter when you plant your grape vine, as you can actually do this at any time of year. Do make sure that it’s not freezing though or that temperatures aren’t about to go below zero. The ground will be too hard in this case and, as well as being hard to dig, the roots will not be able to penetrate the earth properly.
If you plant the vine in spring or summer, give it plenty of water.

What’s the best way to plant your Vitis Vinifera?

Remove any weeds from the site. Loosen the soil before planting, including the deeper layers. If needed, add compost or another organic material to the hole. If the soil is too acidic, add a calcium fertilizer.
The plant hole needs to be wide enough that the roots can spread well.
Plunge the root ball in a bucket of water. This ensures that the grape vine has enough moisture. You can then water it every other day. You can reduce the watering frequency later.
Plant your Vitis Vinifera at the same depth in the soil as it was at the nursery, and fill the hole with soil.
After planting, press down on the soil around the plant carefully.
Once the soil and grape vine have settled, you can start tethering. It’s best to use a material that is easy to replace or is adjustable. Garden centres sell special adjustable binders for this.

Tips

The best spot for a grape vine is against a wall, fence, or pergola in full sun.
The long vines need to be carefully pruned and tethered. The soil needs to be fertile but, as the roots go very deep into the ground, not much moisture is needed.
The plant thrives best on slightly stony and chalky soil where no or hardly any other plants can live.
Vitis Vinifera hates having wet feet and hates heavy clay or really acidic soil. It thrives best in chalky, clay-like soils or a humus-rich sandy soil.

Positioning
Your grape vine will grow up to five metres high. Make sure it and other plants have enough space around them.

Advice and Care

Water
When you plant a grape vine, you need to make the soil very moist. After that, water your grape vine once a week. When it’s very hot, you can water it twice a week.
The soil needs to stay moist in winter too.

Fertilizer
Vitis Vinifera is a very easy-going plant. Apply some organic fertilizer in time and a little calcium in spring and your grape vine will be more than happy.

Pruning
It’s wise to prune all lateral shoots to one or two buds.

Treating common problems
Your Vitis Vinifera can suffer from pests and disease.
Pests include: scale insects, wasps, phylloxera, vine weevil, mealybugs, and spider mite. We also sometimes see the following diseases: downy mildew and grey mould (botrytis).
In principle, wasps can’t do much damage, so you can just leave these on the plant.
You can tackle pests and diseases with special products that are available from garden centres and DIY stores.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Vitis Vinifera

Advantages

• Vitis Vinifera is generally a very easy-going plant.
• It doesn’t require any special care.
• The fruit, grapes, are edible and you can make wine from them.

Disadvantages

• A grape vine doesn’t like wet feet, heavy clay, or acidic soil.
• You’ll need to tether the shoots. This can take some time but the result is worth it.

Conclusion

For that Mediterranean touch for your garden or terrace, we recommend Vitis Vinifera. This grape vine will look amazing in your garden against a wall, fence, or pergola. It will remind you of far-off, warmer climes, and your holidays.
So don’t hesitate and order your Vitis Vinifera today.
If you have any questions, or you would like more information about this plant, please contact our customer services.