Grape Vine: Simply Divine [Gardening][Bonsai]

creativetruth (67)in #bonsai • 5 years ago (edited)

If I had to pick one type of fruit to grow, grape would be my choice.

Let me start out by talking about the delicious fruit itself. It's seedless. It's sweet. It comes in many flavors. It produces abundantly. It has the same great flavor every year. It does not have to be harvested right away, and can be left on the vine to continue ripening in flavor. The fruit will even dry out on the vine and become delicious dried fruit (raisins).

This type of fruit is always best to grow from a grafted stalk from a reputable nursery. Do not try to grow it from seed. It might not make fruit or have good health. Trust me, it is always best to grow a grape vine that will have a flavor that you know you will love. Whether it be a wine grape, a juice grape, a table grape, or a raisin grape. Nobody ever regrets growing a grape with a flavor they adore.

This is my grape vine. In the morning light, it looks absolutely enchanting. With its charming tendril tips, the gentle wind causes it to paw playfully with the fence and trellis like a cat.

Little by little, each day it grows to take on a new shape without ever letting me see it change position.

Ever seen Little Groot play this game with Drax the Destroyer in Gaurdians of the Galaxy? Sometimes I feel like Drax. If I turn around at the right moment, I might find it dancing to the disco beats of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Instead I find it frozen in time like a Greek God statue.

Two tiny screws on the fence exist a bit too conveniently. I gently nudged the tendrils around the screws, encouraging it to grab hold. When the branch becomes firmly secured, it becomes stronger and healthier, able to bear the weight of fruit.

Even though the leaves are shaped like sails, the small slits between the lobes allow the air to pass through. No wind poses any threat.

Natural selection at its finest had created a plant that can expand quickly with life without worry of having its fragile green leaves torn apart.

The tip of the tendril stretches and elongates into a curved finger. As the daylight moves, the vine twists and turns as it follows the light. Night air causes it to shrink and contract around any nearby surface.

This causes the corkscrew tight curves. The vine hardens into wood, fixing it tightly attached to whatever it manages to hold onto.

Last year this is the branch that produced a delicious bunch of grapes. It was the first year it made fruit. Plum red and dessert sweet. Fresh grapes are always much better than anything trucked in to the local grocery stores.

Two branches are climbing up the trellis on the other side. Maybe I will get more grapes this year.

One small warning!

All grape plants have an invasive tendency. Their roots and vines will go crazy if left unchecked. Do not plant it into the ground if you have a fence, house, sidewalk, pipes, or driveway nearby. As the wood grows thicker, it can develop Schwarzenegger sizes and rip concrete apart faster than Bruce Lee. Pruning the vines won't help because little suckers will emerge from the soil yards away.

Any idiot can plant a grape vine. Planted in the wrong spot, and it will soon become a disaster zone as the idiot gardener spends hours in the summer months digging up invasive roots between the utility pipes, fiber optic cables, and sprinkler system.

Unless a gardener has a large open field where the roots and vines will not damage anything, it is wise to consider planting the grapevine in the largest manageable pot size available. Make sure it is sturdy enough to last many years. Grapes need lots of root space and excellent drainage to survive in a pot (I used mostly sand, wood chips, and coconut coir as a potting medium). I even stack a concrete block underneath my pot to make sure the roots do not intrude into the earth.

In a way, this tree is a bonsai. It grows in a container, and I keep it small so it does not become overgrown and destroy our fragile fence. Each year I trim back the current year's growth late in the winter, leaving only a few growth nodes on the branches. Those buds will become next year's branches where fruit can grow from.

I've read books and watched videos on the traditional methods for growing successful grapes. I am not a professional grape grower. Instead, I grow them for the fun of it, as a backyard novelty.

Initially I trained my vine to have a bit of a zig-zag curving shape up the trunk, leaning against conventional wisdom. Mainly, I did not want to have a boring looking T-shaped trunk. I wanted my vine to also have some of my own personality into its shape.

Another factor in the design I planned was to not develop a dependency on a trellis, using it like a crutch to strangle around. This is extremely against conventional wisdom. Every book I read teaches to train the vine onto a wire or trellis to maximize its exposure to sunlight, so it can grow grapes as quickly as possible.

Experts all say the same thing, because they have read the same books, or because they are growing grapes commercially to earn maximum profits. All of the research I have done has shown me that these methods are designed to increase fruit production, and trunk design is not meant to be for aesthetic importance. Instead, my goal has been to create a beautiful trunk base that is strong and developed, that will be able to bear the weight of several pounds of fruit.

Here I am writing my own book of how to bonsai a grape vine and also get good fruit. I don't think there are any books on this subject. As long as I am happy with the results, can you say I am wrong in my techniques?

So it may not be a true cordon or espalier shape, and it may not be a true bonsai either. It is what is is, and it brings me joy to watch it develop with more life, sweetness, and beauty every year.

This article completes my week-long series. I have presented close-up photos of all of my fruit style bonsai trees in my collection this week.

Here is a complete list of all my recent bonsai articles:

Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.

Find me on discord and chat with other tree growers, bonsai enthusiasts, and gardeners. We have quite a few accredited experts filling out our ranks, and a helpful Spanish-speaking community.