How to Stake Grape Plants
Whether you are growing grapes at home for winemaking or for eating, you'll need to stake the vines to ensure proper plant health. The keys to a successful grape harvest are making sure the plant receives adequate light, pruning annually, harvesting the grapes when the sugar has ripened sufficiently and providing the plant with proper support while growing. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Place the garden stake in the soil beside your grape vines, being careful not to crowd an established root system. If you are staking old vines that have grown out of control, heavily prune back all growth except the main shoot before you stake the vine.
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Using the twine, tether the vine to the stake.
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Sink posts in the ground on either side of your grape patch. If you already have another structure in place, such as a trellis, column or even two trees, you can substitute these for the posts.
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Loop the wire around the first post at a height of 36 inches off the ground, then trail the wire to the second post and tie it tightly.
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Repeat the above step with a second wire at a height of 60 inches.
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As the vine grows, attach it to the wires when it reaches 36 and 60 inches in height, making sure to keep the vine growing straight. Allow tendrils to wrap along the length of wire and reinforce the vertical trajectory of the grape vine by tying off the stake at higher points as the vine continues to grow.
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Tips & Warnings
Taste one to two table grapes before you complete your harvest, then let the grapes ripen on the vine if they do not taste sufficiently sweet.
Prune back 75 percent of the vine annually after harvest so the plant does not grow out of control.
