How to propagate your own grape vines

Propagating grapes from dormant hardwood cuttings is a realistic venture for anyone with access to grape vines. Since grapes should have 80 – 90% of their vines removed every year, you just need to find someone who is already growing grapes nearby and they should have lots of available material for cuttings. Grape plants should either be a variety known to grow in your hardiness zone or be already growing and producing fruit in your area. Make sure they produce fruit and not just vines. Grapes are only produced on vines that grew the prior year. Some grape varieties may grow healthy vines in our climate every year but produce little to no fruit.

Select one-year-old growth slightly larger than a pencil. Collect long, straight vines from which to make cuttings. The cuttings must be oriented right side up or they will not root. An easy way to remember which end is up is to cut the base of the cutting flat and the top of the cutting at an angle. The cuttings should be roughly 12 inches long and contain 3-4 buds. Two or three of the buds should be placed underground with just one bud left out of the soil. 

If you wait until ground thaws, you may choose to set cuttings 6 inches apart in well-drained, tilled soil outside. You can also use 1-gallon pots containing potting mix, sand, pumice, or perlite. Pots must have drain holes.

If you plant outside, cuttings must be protected from heavy frost. Cover the top of the cutting with soil and mulch. Carefully remove this material to expose the top bud once the danger of frost is passed. Buds will break and shoots will grow slightly before root development.

If you’re like me and get anxious this time of year, you may choose to take your cuttings and plant them now in a pot inside. Ideally the pot should be placed on a heat mat around 80 degrees and the cutting be kept cool. An alternative location may be the top of a refrigerator or in a sunny window.

Undifferentiated callus growth will form at the basal end of the cutting first, followed by roots and shoot growth. Light is not necessary until after shoots emerge.

Irrigate, when necessary, to maintain adequate and consistent soil moisture levels. Rooted cuttings can stay in the nursery bed until you transplant them to their permanent location, before growth begins next year. If you propagate in containers now, transplant well-rooted plants in spring after the risk of frost has passed. Pots using only sand, pumice, or perlite as the rooting media may require a little fertilizer to keep starts healthy until transplanting.

Grapes can be susceptible to iron deficiency in high pH soils, which are common in southeast Idaho. A good solution to this is the use of an EDDHA iron chelate like Miller’s Ferriplus or Sequestrene 138. EDDHA is an acronym for a chelating agent that makes iron available in soils above pH 7.5. Grapes are also very sensitive to broadleaf herbicides like 2,4-D. Do not use broadleaf herbicides anywhere near where grapes are growing.