Grapevines can be grown in two ways, either from cuttings or by grafting.
A ‘cutting’ is a section of a grown plant - such a leaf, steam, or root - that can grow into a new plant! Grafting is when a shoot or bud is cut from one growing plant and attached to another plant. The two plants then grow together as one.
As the grapes develop, they grow in bunches on woody vines.
Grapes need to grow two years before the first grapes are ready to harvest. As the grape vines grow, they need to be supported on stakes or trellises to keep the heavy bunches of fruit off of the ground. The trellises also make harvesting the grapes easier.
Grape growing, or viticulture, is a year-round job. The Life Cycle of viticulture has 5 stages.
- Stage 1: Grape vines are pruned during the winter months to ensure that the correct number of fruiting canes will sprout the following year.
- Stage 2: In early spring, a cut is made around the base of each vine, which is called "girdling." This is done to rechannel the nutrients from the vines and roots to the fruit.
- Stage 3: This stage is called "bud break," and is followed by a burst in leaf growth.
- Stage 4: The branches, or caneshoots, grow rapidly, "flower clusters" come out, and blooming occurs with warm temperatures.
- Stage 5: Finally, young "green berries" (or grapes) appear in place of the flowers, and ripen into clusters.
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