Grape Seedlings

Description

Grapes are often ignored in home gardens, and yet are one of the most widely produced fruit in the world—as well as beautiful ornamental plants. We have plenty of tips for growing grapes in your homestead.
Grapevines not only produce sweet and versatile fruits but also add an element of drama to a garden or landscape. They are vigorous growers, and with the proper pruning, they will produce fruit with ease and can last longer than 30 years.
The crop prefers warm to hot temperatures; during fruiting, the weather must be sunny and dry. Warm environmental temperatures during fruit ripening are important in increasing the sugar content of berries while reducing their acidity. This explains why grapes grown under irrigation in hot deserts or semi-deserts are sweeter than those from cold humid areas.
The crop can grow in any soil, from sandy to heavy clays but the soil should be deep and well-drained. Where the rainfall is scant, supplement it with irrigation of 500 mm of water during the cropping season. In Kenya, the grapes cropping season is September to March.
Irrigation should be withheld after the long rains so as to force the crop to go dormant.
From August to September, fruit buds form thus it is important to keep the plant healthy and well manured.
There are plenty of health benefits in consuming grapes for they are a rich source of Vitamins- A, C, K and minerals such as iron, copper, manganese.