How Long Does it Take for a Grapevine to Grow?

Vine Growth

• Grapevines grow as quickly to maximize the amount of sunlight they can absorb, and thereby maximize the amount of food they can produce for themselves. A vine, once planted, can grow to appear quite mature inside of a single season. Thirty feet or more of vine in one year's growth is not unheard of. A first-season vine is not mature, however, in the sense that it cannot produce its optimum yield of fruit.

Foliage Growth

• Similar to the way a grapevine grows its vines, it rapidly adds leaves to its tendrils and shoots to maximize food production. This is great news for you if you are merely intending to use your vine for shade, but can present a problem if you are hoping to maximize fruit production. A grapevine will reach its potential peak foliage level inside of a season or two, but a vine left unpruned in this way will not produce as much fruit as one that has been scaled back.

Fruit Production

• A grapevine will begin putting out fruit, in the form of grape clusters, during its second year growth. This means all the vines that were new vines last year will harden over and send out shoots that will contain this year's fruit. Just because a grapevine can fruit, however, doesn't mean it should fruit. Second-year grape clusters are grown at the expense of your vine expanding its root system, and should be snipped off early in the season to allow the vine to focus its resources on bulking up its root stock.

Maximum Fruit Production

• A properly pruned vine, of a variety that is suitable to your climate, should reach its maximum grape production at about its fourth year of growth. It will have expanded its root system sufficiently to get nutrients from the soil, you will have pruned it back to focus its resources on fruit production, and your vine will be ready to produce fruit for you and your family for years to come.