How to grow grapes

Grapevines are available in garden centres and from many online gardening retailers. Specialist fruit suppliers offer the widest choice and will be able to advise on suitable varieties and rootstocks for your needs. Grapevines are often sold as grafted plants, but rooted cuttings are also available. If you intend to plant a large number of vines, to start a small vineyard for example, buy vines grafted on a rootstock best suited to your soil type. A selection of suitable rootstocks for different soil types are:

• Deep, fertile, non-chalky soils – 125AA, 5C and SO4
• Deep, fertile, chalky soils – 5BB, 125AA, 5C and SO4 
• Shallow, poor, stony, dry soils – 5BB and 125AA
• Heavy clay soils – 5BB, 125AA and SO4
• Heavy, chalky clays or on chalk – SO4

Vines are sold as young plants, usually 30–60cm (1–2ft) tall, either container-grown or bare-root. Potted plants are available for most of the year, while bare-root vines are only available during the dormant season, from November to March, mainly from mail-order suppliers. Bare-root plants are usually cheaper than potted plants but need to be planted immediately. 

If you want to grow a grapevine under glass, it’s best to plant it just outside the greenhouse with its trunk and stems trained inside through a gap near ground level. Vines grown in this way rarely need extra watering. They can also be planted inside, directly into a greenhouse border or in a large container (see below).

When planting inside, the best position is at the far end, so the stems can be trained along the side of the greenhouse, parallel to the roof ridge, running towards the door. One vine is plenty for a small greenhouse – if planting more in a larger greenhouse, space them at least 1m (3½ft) apart.

When space is tight, you can plant a grapevine in a large container and train it as a standard, shaped like a small tree with one main stem and a rounded head – see our guide to training grapes as a standard for more details. Choose a pot at least 30cm (12in) wide and deep, and use soil-based peat-free compost. Position the pot in your warmest, sunniest spot outdoors or keep it in a greenhouse or conservatory. To fruit successfully, grapevines need a cool period. If your greenhouse or conservatory is heated, place the container outside for four to six weeks during winter.
 

Water newly planted grapevines during dry spells in their first growing season to help them settle in. Once established, vines grown with their roots outside shouldn't need any additional watering. Although vines trained against walls or fences may require some additional watering if they’re in a rain-shadow – where the wall or fence reduces the amount of rainfall they receive. Grapevines planted inside a greenhouse or in containers require regular watering during the growing season.  

With outdoor vines, apply a mulch of organic matter, such as garden compost, in late winter or early spring. Aim to apply a layer 5–7.5cm (2–3in) deep. Mulching will improve your soil, help to retain moisture and suppress weeds. With a greenhouse vine, mulch the rooting area just before growth starts in spring. Mulch should not touch the stem, as this may lead to rotting. 

Grapevines growing in regularly mulched soil shouldn't need any additional feeding. However, if harvests are particularly poor, or your plant is showing signs of nutrient deficiency, apply a granular fertiliser to the soil in early spring. Use our page on nutrient deficiencies to work out what is lacking and apply the recommended feed, following instructions on the packet.

With greenhouse vines and those in containers, start feeding a month after growth starts in spring, using a high-potassium liquid feed every two to three weeks. If growth is poor, use a high-nitrogen or balanced liquid feed. Stop feeding when the grapes start to ripen and colour up, as extra feeding at this time may spoil their flavour.
 

With newly planted grapevines, for the first two years after planting, remove all the flowers so the plant’s energy goes into getting well established. Then, in the third year, allow only three bunches of grapes to grow, and in the fourth year allow about five – or slightly more if the plant is growing well. After that, the vine should be well established and can crop fully. 

You can improve the size, sweetness and quality of grapes by reducing the number of bunches on each stem, and even the number of grapes per bunch. The ideal amount of bunches per plant depends on the age of the vine and the training system you use, see Pruning and training below. Reducing the number of grapes in a bunch encourages even ripening and improves air circulation, which reduces fungal diseases. But it’s a fiddly job, so is usually only worth doing on dessert greenhouse vines. Use vine scissors, which have long, narrow blades, or nail scissors, and carefully snip off about one in three grapes per bunch. Afterwards, check the bunches two or three times a week and remove any grapes that are diseased or damaged. 

If you thin out dense bunches, the remaining grapes should develop and ripen better

Ventilation and temperature 

Grapevines like well-ventilated, warm, dry conditions, to deter fungal diseases and improve pollination. So keep the vents open in summer and autumn, especially around flowering and fruiting time.

In September, gradually remove the leaves to expose the branches to sunlight and improve air circulation. Some varieties, such as ‘Muscat of Alexandria’, benefit from extra heat, so for these place a small fan heater in the greenhouse in spring (to aid growth) and in autumn (to aid fruit ripening). In winter, don’t heat the greenhouse and ventilate it freely in still, cold, dry weather until early spring, as vines need a period of chilling to initiate flowering.

Improving pollination

Almost all grape varieties are self-fertile and mostly pollinated by wind, though insects may also contribute to pollen transfer. Greenhouse vines often benefit from some additional help with pollination. During flowering, at about midday on a sunny day when the atmosphere is dry and the greenhouse is well-ventilated, either shake the stems or stroke a cupped hand over each bunch of flowers, to transfer pollen between them. The latter is a more reliable method for early season Muscat-type grapes, where pollination can be temperamental.

Removing tendrils

Consider removing the tendrils of indoor vines as soon as they appear, as they tend to get tangled up with the fruits and they help shoots to scramble off in wayward directions, making pruning and training more fiddly.

Grapevines can be grown from hardwood cuttings taken in late autumn or winter. Softwood and semi-ripe cuttings can also be taken from late spring to mid-summer. Commercially, grapevines are often propagated by whip-and-tongue grafting on a rootstock.

While it is also possible to grow grapevines from seeds (pips), it’s a slow process and the resulting plant is likely to produce lower quality fruit than its parents. There are also biosecurity risks associated with growing from the seed of supermarket-bought fruits, so this should be avoided.