How Many Vines Are Needed to Grow Grapes?

Grape Types

• Most European and bull or "Concord-type" grapes are hermaphrodites--they produce male and female gendered flowers on the same plant and thus are self-fertile. A single vine pollinates itself and produces grapes from fertilized ovaries. Other grapes, such as muscadines or fox grapes, bear fruits only on female-gendered vines and then only if a male-flowering vine is nearby.

Considerations

• Only one grape vine is necessary for produce fruits for the vast majority of cultivated grapes sold at nurseries, according to Cornell University. It is very helpful to know the species or cultivar identify of the grape you are growing. Some vines need more time to mature before first flowering and producing fruits, while a wild grape from North America or Asia may be a male vine and never produce a fruit.

Insight

• Cultivated grapes are trained and pruned annually each late winter to maximize growth and production of flowers and subsequent fruits. Keep in mind a diseased plant or untimely late spring frost can kill grape flowers and prevent fruit production. Also, birds love to eat grapes and may pluck all grapes off a vine, making it seem barren.