How to Grow Grapes at Home

Growing grapes at home is both fun and rewarding. You can harvest your own grapes for table use or for jams and jellies with the right cultivar and a few important tips. Many types of grapes are available, including Concord, muscadine, Catawba and hybrid varieties. Six grapevines produce enough grapes for an average family, according to North Carolina State University horticulturalist E.B. Poling. An important part of learning to grow grapes is determining the correct support and pruning techniques for the greatest yield.

Shovel
Grape vines
Water
Trellis or arbor wires and stakes
10-10-10 fertilizer
Fungicide

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a well-draining site that has good sun exposure for most of the day. Avoid low points that retain frost. Plant the vines away from other foliage that blocks sunlight.
- 2
  Dig a hole large enough to allow grapevine roots to spread out. Set aside the topsoil to replace over the vines. Set vines in the hole at or slightly below the level they were planted at the nursery. Place vines 8 feet apart if training on a trellis, or 4 feet apart if training on an arbor. Replace the topsoil and tamp it down firmly.
- 3
  Train vines to grow on trellises or wires as they extend by carefully tying them to the support as they reach the next length.
- 4
  Prune vines to create a strong central leader. Remove all shoots less than the diameter of a pencil. Prune vines every year after fruiting by cutting canes to 4 to 5 inches in length during the dormant season. Thin out the cluster of spurs that develop on vines.
- 5
  Apply 10-10-10 fertilizer at a rate of 8 ounces per plant on the seventh day after planting. Increase to 1 pound in the second year, and 1 1/2 pounds thereafter. Spread fertilizer evenly 6 to 12 inches from the trunk in a circle around the planting.
- 6
  Monitor grapes carefully to harvest before they become soft and overripe.

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