All You Need To Know About Growing Grapes

The quality of the grapes you put into wine are the greatest factor of the quality of the wine made. Basically, doing a good job of growing grapes is the key to producing great wine.

It All Starts With The Location

The first step to grape planting is planning. The most important planning phase for growing grapes that are of good quality is selecting the right area. One of the keys to a great spot is plenty of sunlight, spread equally across the grapevine. This allows your grapes to fill up with natural sugars, which will be essential for the output of alcohol in the course of the fermentation.

Selecting good soil is another important aspect of location selection. Your soil should not have sitting water. So your soil should drain properly. It is important to dig your planting holes deep to ensure the soil will be loosened for proper drainage. Also, steer clear of the common mistake of enriching your soil. You shouldn't use fertilizers at all, as these will only help the weeds. Compost should be used only if even weeds don't develop in the soil. Wine grapes need to be small, so it is essential to keep soil nutrients to the very least.

Your vines should be planted at least 6 feet apart. If you intend to have a large vineyard, 8 feet apart is even better. If you do your grape planting properly, one healthy grapevine can provide a gallon of wine. Then again, even if you do all the things right, there is the chance of losing part of your grape crop to disease, bugs, and birds. This is a good reason to do more grape planting than seems necessary.

Keys on Growing Grapes

Needless to say, grape clusters are pretty heavy and hang from vines. So these vines are gonna need to have a trellis to grow around and use for support. During the first year of growth you will need to choose the strongest shoot from each vine to tie to the trellis for guide and support. String or any other soft material is a much better choice than wire for tying, as wire can harm the shoot. The weaker shoots should be clipped. During dormant growth periods, you should prune the vines as well. When the vines start growing again, usually during the spring, select the toughest new vines out of the shoot to softly tie to the wires. These will be the vines that support the grape clusters that will be used to make wine.

Harvesting Your Grapes

A hydrometer can help you with harvest time. A wine making store will carry a hydrometer. It is going to be used to test the gravity levels of a liquid. The fundamental idea is that you want to make sure for the proper sugar content of your grapes before harvesting them. Typically, a gravity of up to 1.105 is ideal, though it can be as low as 1.095 and still be fine for harvesting.

It may take years for your hard work in grape planting to pay off, but it will be truly worth your effort when it does.

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