Grapes galore

[BarleySugar]

My grapevine, planted as a cutting 3 years ago, has loads of tiny grape flower bunches on it. Some laterals have 3 bunches! Last week I tied all the laterals in to the trellis, but I'll now need to go out and prune each one back. It seems a bit harsh, but Hessayon says with a young vine to limit bunches to 1 per lateral, so I'll have to bite the bullet.
The vine has 2 main rods growing horizontally about 9 inches from the ground. Last year I retained some of the vertical grow, and its from these that the fruiting shoots are growing. It covers a 6ft square heavy duty trellis placed in front of my greenhouse, the idea being natural shade in the summer when it's needed, and in the winter the light gets in becasue there are no leaves on the vine. The only problem is that I have trouble reaching the top, as I'm only 4ft 11! The wooden step stool from Ikea comes into use in the garden as well as the kitchen
The grape is Himrod, a seedless white, which ripens outside about the end of Sept. I bought the parent around 18 years ago, and it has moved with me, in the guise of cuttings, ever since. The original was planted in a 12 by 8 greenhose, and we used to get loads of grapes. Hopefully we will be more settled now, and this one can get really established.

[Snadger]

Well done BarleySugar! I too have a couple of vines, one of which has small bunches of what I asume are flowers? Not having grown grapes before do I need to assist pollination in any way?

The vine is Cabernet Sauvignon and it's in the greenhouse in a large container with three lengths of last years wood about six foot long!

[BarleySugar]

I've never had any problems with pollination, even in the greenhouse. I don't know if they are insect pollinated or wind, but if you want to be on the safe side you could do the paint brush or tap the branches to disperse pollen. It can be hard to tell when the flowers open, I usually only realise they have once I see very small grapes peeping out! Maybe someone who knows a bit more about grapes can give a better answer.

[Mr Griff]

Hi,
I have never thought of growing grapes and the idea quite appeals, is it possible to grow in an outdoor fruit frame at all? I dont have a green house.
Cheers
Mr Griff

[BarleySugar]

Mine is outside, although I am in the south. I think it depends a bit on the variety too. If you want dessert grapes I think you would need to look carefully at varieties, an early one should give time for the grapes to ripen before any frosts. They can be container grown as well, which would give you a bit more chance to protect it. They are hardy outside, it's more the time needed to ripen the fruit I think.