Grapes almost ready for harvest

[wetfeet101b]

Here's our solitary grape vine in the backyard. I wanted to plant more, but seeing the yield this year, I think one vine is enough.








Culling and pruning will begin next season when the plant is stronger.

[clintdawley]

I'm jealous. I have a friend that is studying viticulture and I'm going to send her these pics!

[clintdawley]

also..

What kind of grapes are those? Are they hard to grow in the heat? The Mustang grapes in my back yard taste icky, so I was wondering if there are any grape cultivars that grow well in TX.

[wetfeet101b]

I will have to check if the tag is still on the plant. I believe this is one of the generic "flame seedless" varieties that are available at garden centers.

I bought the plant about 2 years ago and it seems to have adjusted nicely to our weather.
It did not produce any fruits on the first year after it was planted, which I guess is expected considering how challenging it is to acclimate in our area.

I was concerned that it would die during the winter frost but it just went dormant and bounced back to life when it got warmer.
It did ok during its first summer last year. I just needed to cover the ground with mulch to help the soil retain moisture.

I have sampled some of the fruit and it looks (or tastes) promising. Nothing spectacular, they are sweet with just a hint of tart. Thats all I could ask for in a backyard table-grape

I once had a dark blue grape variety before in our old house that had perfectly shaped, large fruits. But even when ripe they tasted like biting into a raw lemon.
I stopped wasting water on that plant shortly after the first harvest

[Brutal_Dreamer]

John, that looks great. I live near Altus, Arkansas and there are lots of vineyards around here. I did a wine tasting tour of three or four of them a few weeks ago with some out of town friends. The grapes here are so small compared to the ones you posted. Maybe we are later season with the grapes here. In any case, yours are beautiful.

Cheers,
BD

[ntgerald]

I once had a dark blue grape variety before in our old house that had perfectly shaped, large fruits. But even when ripe they tasted like biting into a raw lemon.
I stopped wasting water on that plant shortly after the first harvest

it was Vitis mustangensis also, the mustang grape already mentioned. Or it could be Vitis rotundifolia, also native to southeastern US, like Vitis mustangensis. On the other hand, schupernnong grapes belonging to Vitis rotundifolia can be very sweet, but there are a bit sour cultivars.

With fruits, it may be important to withold a bit of water when they are already near the size for ripening. If you water a plant that is fruiting it will go on taking up a lot of water, and hence the sugars in the fruits are diluted very much. Very juicy, but not sweet.

I speak from experience with pineapples. tomatoes, siniguelas the Philippine plum, duhat the reddish-black fruit of the tree with the same name, lanzones, rambutan, cantaloupes, and watermelons. I believe the latter two plants are not even watered when they start showing fruits, no matter how small.