Care & Use of Concord Grapes

Planting

• Plant Concord grapevines in the spring, as soon as the soil has thawed enough to be worked through. Choose an area of your garden that receives at least seven hours of sunlight daily, as grapes thrive best in full sun and higher temperatures. Grapes are easily harmed by excess water, so add organic soil amendments such as compost, aged manure or peat moss to your soil--generally at a rate of one-third amendment to soil--to improve drainage and nutrient content. Space grapevines at least 6 feet apart, and bury them to the same depth they were buried when you bought them.

Support

• Without any support, grapevines would simply spread across the ground, and the vines and fruit would not receive enough sunlight, warmth or air flow to sprout properly. Therefore, you must provide a support system to hold up the grapevines to ensure proper development. Choose a trellis, arbor or pergola to add to your garden; these are commonly either wood or metal and come in a number of decorative options. Tie the vines loosely to the support every 4 inches along the vine to train them to grow that way.

Care

• Grapevines only require watering if the season is particularly dry; otherwise, they get all they need from rainfall. Only water the vines if the top 2 inches of soil around them feel dry to the touch. Feed the grapevines with a balanced fertilizer in progressing manner as they get older: 8 oz. per vine a week after planting, 1 lb. in the second year and 1½ lbs. every year after. Apply the fertilizer about 30 days before you expect new growth to begin in the spring to ensure healthy growth. When fertilizing, make sure you spread the material out evenly in the space, and keep it at least 6 inches from the actual plant to avoid burns.

Uses

• Homemade grapes can be rinsed with clean water and eaten straight from the vine or used for a variety of homemade food purposes. Many enterprising home growers use grapes to create homemade wines. This takes time, since the grapes need to age and ferment. You also can crush grapes into jams or jellies.