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bart1_gw

Table grapes vs. Wine grapes

17 years ago

I have about 40 wine-vines planted about half are 4 years old and the rest are 3 years old. I've read a lot about pruning and spraying these wine grapes and I think I know what I'm doing.

When it comes to the table grapes, I feel a little bit lost. Should I train, prune and spray them like I'm doing for my wine grapes? Or do they need a different method?

I'm in Northern VA where it's difficult/impossible to get vinifera grapes to ripen and not rot without spraying so I've been spraying mine and have had some decent success in bringing in a harvest. Do table grapes require the same spray program or are they more resistant to black rot?

I'm growing Reliance, Candice and Jupiter.

Thanks!

Bart

Comments (6)

  • 17 years ago

    Bart, the primary difference in the grapes you mention is your wine grapes are pure vinafera and the table grapes are hybrid vinafera/american. There is some difference in table vs wine but the vinafera/hybrid difference is bigger. Most hybrid grapes are much more resistant to diseases but it does vary from variety to variety. I am a primarily organic grower and I found vinafera a huge pain which took up way too much of my time so I pulled out my wine grapes this spring. I now have primarily hybrids and just a couple vinafera table grapes. Usually by now I have had to do 4-5 sprays but this year I have done only one and the grapes still look fine (even the couple vinafera look fine - their neighbors are all un-diseased and that must help). So, a rough guide is half or fewer sprays are needed; save your tank leftovers for them. As far as pruning goes I used the same for all types but I am not in to all of the subtle stuff of grape pruning. Some table varieties are considered better pruned to canes and other pruned to spurs, but I always used spur pruning for all my grapes.

    Scott

  • 17 years ago

    Bart1, Of those three table grapes, Reliance, Candice and Jupiter which is the best tasting.

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks Scott!

    Aceofspades.... don't know yet. I just planted them last year and haven't gotten a harvest yet. This year it looks like I may get some fruit off each of them. Ask me again in the fall!!

    Bart

  • 17 years ago

    This subject came up at winepress.us forum, and because I live in Table Grape Town USA (Coachella Valley, CA)we took a ton of photos of how they are trellised.

    I only grow wine grapes because of my winemaking hobby, and I can't believe Scott pulled out his winegrapes this spring. I wish I had em!! What a sad thing to do!

    The salesman at VintageNurseries told me not to use those grapes as an example for my wine grapes because they are much differently treated. A good link to a forum on this subject is here: http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=35391&hl=table+grapes and within that forum, someone posted this link: http://web2.msue.msu.edu/bulletins/Bulletin/PDF/E2774.pdf

    I took a photo of the table grape vine, and the link is here:

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:114096}}

  • 17 years ago

    Your training method depend on the cultivar to some extent, but grapes are prety trainable to most pruning styles and trelis types. The comercial outfits are probably pruning for ease of maintenance and harvesting more than anything. I list two personal examples below.

    My family grows table grapes interspaced within the vineyard, so the pruning and spraying is exactly the same as the wine grapes. I would say that there are about 15 table grape vines among 1000 wine vines. It is nice actually because the critters go after the table grapes first.

    We also grow table grapes on an overhead pergola that covers a car park and are spur pruned intead of cane pruned. These grapes ´receive about half of the sulfur applications as the vineyard.

    I think you can pick how you want to train the plants, but the key to quality is limiting the number of bunches to each plant. I will say though that the table grapes are cropped much more heavily that the wine grapes though.

    Cheers
    Sam

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks everyone!

    Great info.

    Bart