Time Line for the Growth of Grapes

Yearly Timeline

• Grapes grow during spring and summer, produce flowers during mid or late summer and produce grapes during late summer and early fall, depending on the weather, grape variety and climate. Most gardeners choose hardy grapes that can survive winters in the local climate. During very cold winters grapes can sustain cold damage but climate-appropriate varieties will continue growing during the following spring.

Long-Term Timeline

• New grape plants usually take about three years to establish themselves as productive vines. During the first year, the seedlings begin to grow into small vines strong enough to survive the winter. During the second year, vines become large enough to need a support system, like a trellis, arbor or wires. By the third year, the gardener should have the vines trained to the support system and producing decent amounts of fruit.

Planting Time

• For new grape plants, gardeners in most areas should plant grapes in the early spring, as the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University suggest. Growers in warm climates, like warm parts of California can start grapes as early as January or February if the soil is workable. Gardeners who want to start new grape plants from cuttings of existing plants can take cuttings during the winter and store them wrapped in moist burlap in a cold cellar or buried completely in damp sand or soil until spring. During the spring, the cuttings will be ready for planting just like other grape starter plants.

Fruiting and Flowering

• Grapes produce flowers before they grow their fruit. During the first two years of growth, the gardener should pinch off fruit clusters to allow the vines themselves to develop healthily, as the California Master Gardener Handbook suggests. During the third and fourth years, gardeners can start leaving one cluster on each shoot. During the subsequent years, gardeners can leave all of the clusters, but should prune off the smallest canes each early spring while the plants are still dormant. Leaving only the strongest canes leads to unstressed plants with more consistent amounts of healthy fruit each year.