The most common way to grow grapes is through root planting using grapevine cuttings/slips, about 8-10 inches long with at least two nodes for leaves/buds emergence. A grapevine is a perennial plant whose cuttings are planted in well-drained and watered soil in the dormant season when they have no leaves or active growth. The annual life cycle of grapevines can be divided into growth stages namely, bud burst, shoot and leaf growth, flowering, fruit/berry set, veraison, harvesting, dormancy, and pruning. Grapes are used to make wine, raisins, grape juice, and grape jam. They are also a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, antioxidants resveratrol, and flavonoids, and are low in calories and fats.
Grape planting method
Grape is one of the most popular fruit crops that grow in clusters of 10s-100s and can be purple, green, red, black, or even pink depending on the variety. Most domesticated grapes come from cultivars of Vitis Vinifera, a grapevine native to the Mediterranean in Central Asia. It is possible to grow grapefruits from seeds but it is not the recommended method since it takes several years to produce fruit. The most common way to grow grapes is through root planting using grapevine cuttings/slips, about 8-10 inches long with at least two nodes for leaves/buds emergence. Grapevine is a perennial plant whose cuttings are planted in well-drained and watered soil in the dormant season (late winter/early spring) when they have no leaves or active growth. It takes about 3 years for the first grape harvesting from the initial brand-new grapevine planting.
Grape life cycle growth stages
The first stage is the bud burst stage where tiny buds that rest between the vine stem and the leaf stem petiole start to swell, green leaves start to appear, and eventually shoots begin to grow from the buds. The second stage is the shoot and leaf growth stage which is slow at first after the bud burst, but as the temperature rises, shoot growth and elongation accelerate and photosynthesis occurs as soon as there is a green tissue on the shoots. The third stage is the flowering stage which begins with small cluster flowers/inflorescences appearing on the tips of the young shoot 40-80 days after the bud burst. The fourth stage is the fruit/berry set stage where the fertilized flower begins to develop seeds and grape berries to protect the seeds. Fifth is the veraison stage where the berries build up sugars and begin to soften, which signals the beginning of the ripening process which takes place around 40-50 days after the fruit set stage. The sixth stage is harvesting which is done either by hand or by machine depending on the vineyard. This stage is followed by the dormancy period, then pruning.
