Subject: New grape grower questions

From: "Darrell Davis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 17:53:16 -0400

Hello all.  I recently bought a house with an established grape vine.  It
consists of one vine that is about 3 inches in diameter at the base which
extends up 8 feet before it branches.  At 8 feet there is a 7 foot by 15ft
trellis parallel to the ground.  The vines cover the entire trellis and
are very thick.  I can see several bunches of grapes developing.  
	This is my first experience with grapes.  I have mostly stuck to simple
gardens with tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, and so forth.  I have several
questions about my new grapes.  BTW, this is in Cleveland, Ohio.

1 - Isn't this an unusually large vine?  Will it be a problem, smaller
fruit maybe?

2 - Should grape vines be regularly trimmed, and if so during what season?

3 - How do I identify the type of grapes I have?  I can scan some
photographs of the leaves and developing grapes and put them on my web
site or send them to someone if they think they can identify the variety.

4 - The developing grapes are right now a little smaller than a pepper
corn.  They are also green at this stage.  Does this mean they will be a
green variety, or will they change during the development cycle.

5 - Should I do a regular fertilizing?  What types?

6 - Are there any specific pests I should watch out for?  Will birds be a
problem when the fruits develop?

7 - Are there any Internet resources that deal with grape growing?

	Thanks if anyone can answer my questions.
-- 
Darrell Davis
Chief Engineer, Searchlight Software Inc.
http://www.searchlight.com

---

From: "counides,m" <[email-masked]>
Date: 1 Jul 1996 19:21:01 -0700

My grape vine is 4 years old and is 3 inches in diameter on the main 
trunk.  I trim it every year in late winter early spring.  There are 
formal methods but I never got the hang of it so I use the rule of two.  
On a vigorous branch of last year's growth count out two joints and cut.  
An aquaintace at the local seed and plant store uses the same rule but 
takes a slash approach an removes major hunks of ouside growth before he 
settles down to planned counting and cutting. 

Both my blue muscat and my unnamed large green are small and green right 
now. I will guess that there are thousands of varieties of grapes in the 
world.  Wait till your's are ripe and take a bunch to a good nursery. They 
may be able to help.  

Pests: Yellow Jackets- pick early in the morning or at dusk. Birds-share 
or use netting. Fungus- pruning helps.

If you get hooked on fruit- join NAFEX, North American Fruit Explorers

Naomi Counides
Associated Beefalo of Idaho