Grape - Vitis sp.
General information:
They grow very quickly, even in bonsai pots so styling
is a bit of problem, but they are quite striking with
clusters of edible berries on them. Trunks can be most
interesting and very gnarly.
Lighting: Full sun.
Temperature: Early
frost is the big grape-killer. Grapes can handle very
cold temperatures but they need to go dormant first.
They have to be cooled down gently, never going below
freezing, and allowed to yellow all their leaves. Leaf
petioles should become swollen at the base and fall off
easily. After another week or two more they should be
able to handle subzero temperatures.
Watering: Plenty of
water
Feeding: Grape bonsai
should be heavily fertilized, especially in the fall.
Then in spring there should be clusters of flowers
coming out with the leaves. Fertilize grapes in bonsai
pots alternately with one tablespoon of Miracle-grow in
a gallon of water and one tablespoon of Miracid in a
gallon of water per week. Continue to fertilize with
Miracle-Gro once a week when the plant has flowers and
fruit.
Pruning and wiring:
Both wiring and pruning should be done in midwinter.
Prune back all existing canes to 2 or 3 buds and make
the final cuts in early spring just before budding
starts to guard against any die back. Try not to prune
it during spring. Use pinching to
control growth during the growing season.
Branches/leaves want to grow like vines - elongated
stems. One way to control overall branch and inter nodal
length is by pinching to remove most new leaves.
Defoliation usually results in more and smaller leaves.
However, the old petioles often do not fall off the
plant as (or after) the new leaves appear and mature.
Blooms appear between the 3rd and 6th leaf. The main
attraction of a grape bonsai may be the grapes. Grapes
are produced on the new shoots, so the vine needs to be
pruned back when it is dormant. To get grapes, fertilize
very heavily and protect the flowers from rain. If
grapes
form, the style will automatically be that of a weeping
tree, unless it is staked upright.
To get grapes prune during a plant's dormant time to
have two to three inter nodes on a branch. Leave about a
thumb-length stick after the last node. Following spring
it should back-bud on these nodes and make lots of
grapes. If too few inter nodes are left the result is
"growing" branch that will not flower and bear grapes.
If too many inter nodes are left, it will not have
enough growing power to develop nice healthy looking
grapes.
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