Things You Need To Know When Growing Grapes

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

It All Begins with The Place

The first step to grape planting is preparation. The most important planning step for growing grapes that are of good quality is choosing the right area. One of the keys to a great location is plenty of sunlight, spread evenly throughout the grapevine. This provides your grapes to fill with natural sugars, which will be essential for the production of alcohol in the course of the fermentation.

Choosing good soil is one more important factor of location choice. Your soil should not have sitting water. So your soil should drain very well. It is necessary to dig your planting holes deep so that the soil will be loosened for proper drainage. Also, avoid the typical mistake of enriching your soil. You shouldn't use fertilizers at all, as these will only benefit the weeds. Compost should be used only when even weeds don't develop in the soil. Wine grapes need to be small, so it is vital to keep soil nutrients to a minimum.

Your vines should be planted at least 6 feet separately. If you intend to have a huge vineyard, 8 feet apart is a better choice. If you do your grape planting correctly, one healthy grapevine can produce a gallon of wine. But, even if you do everything right, there is the possibility of losing part of your grape crop to disease, pests, as well as birds. This is a good point to do more grape planting than seems expected.

Tips on Growing Grapes

Needless to say, grape clusters are very heavy and hang from vines. So these vines are going to need to have a trellis to grow on and use for support. Throughout the first year of growth you should choose the strongest shoot from each vine to tie to the trellis for direction and support. String or another soft material is a much better choice than wire for tying, as wire can harm the shoot. The weaker shoots must be clipped. During inactive growth periods, you have to prune the vines as well. When the vines start growing again, typically during the spring, choose the toughest new vines out of the shoot to gently 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 will help you with harvest time. A wine making shop will carry a hydrometer. It is used to test the gravity levels of a liquid. The basic idea is that you want to check for the proper sugar content in 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 worth your effort when it does.