Grapes are one of the easiest plants to propagate at home. Each year, grapes need to be pruned back in the late fall and winter to ensure a good crop the following year. Those cuttings are often thrown away, but with just a bit of effort, you can turn those discards into hundreds of new plants. In many cases, just taking a dormant cutting with a few buds attached and sticking it in the ground will suffice to start a whole new plant.
While propagating grapes from hardwood cuttings is by far the easiest and most economical way, there are five different ways to successfully propagate grapes. I’m going to take you through all 5 methods, and explain why you would choose each method.
A tray of grafted grapevines breaking bud for the first time. By Grafted Vines (CCBYSA)
The five ways to propagate grapes include:
- Hardwood Cuttings – Using dormant wood pruned off in the fall or winter.
- Greenwood Cuttings – Best used in the growing season to multiply plants quickly.
- Grafting – Used by vineyards when specialized rootstock is required for disease resistance.
- Layering – Used to fill in blank spots in a row or by home gardeners to expand a grape patch.
- Growing from Seed – Not used commercially because grape varieties don’t come true to seed, but it can be a fun to experiment and create new varieties.
Propagating Grapes from Hardwood Cuttings
Hardwood propagation is the most common method, though there are a select few types of grapes that cannot be propagated using hardwood cuttings, like muscadine grapes. Each year during the dormant season, grapes should be pruned to ensure a healthy crop the following year. Grape vines can get leggy, and if the ratio of top wood to roots is too high, then the roots will not be able to feed all the grapes. By pruning the vines, you ensure that the grapes produced are large, healthy and sweet.
The discarded cuttings from a single vine can be used to produce dozens of new plants each year.
Propagation of grape vines by hardwood cuttings. Photo by Mark Shirley (CCBY)
Cuttings 12-18 inches in length with 3 or more buds are taken from dormant plants in the fall or winter. The hardwood cuttings are stored in a cold moist environment until the beginning of the growing season.
Shortly before the beginning of the growing season, the grape cuttings are either calloused to induce root growth or simply dipped in rooting hormone and placed in the soil.
To callus the cuttings, they’re exposed to prolonged moist heat to cause the cut base to begin to heal and generate stemcell like tissue that can develop into roots. This can be tricky, and if done incorrectly the cuttings can either mold or sprout prematurely. For better results, dip them into rooting hormone before planting them 2 to 3 inches deep in moist potting soil.
Keep the soil moist, and you should see sprouts within a few weeks. Allow your cuttings to get established and firmly rooted in pots before transplanting them outdoors in the early to mid-summer.
Cuttings using dormant wood should have an 80% or greater success rate.
Greenwood breaking bud on a grapevine
Propagating Grapes from Greenwood Cuttings
Greenwood cuttings, or cuttings from actively growing vines, can also be used for propagation. Greenwood cuttings have the potential to dry out and are a less reliable method for beginners. There are a few reasons why you might choose to propagate from greenwood cuttings:
- You want to begin propagation and it’s the summer
- A friend or neighbor offers you greenwood cuttings during the growing season
- You want to propagate a lot of grapes in a single year (once established and growing you can take cuttings from your cuttings and produce literally thousands of individual plants in a single year)
- You’re trying to grow a type of grape that doesn’t grow successfully from hardwood cuttings. Some examples include muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) or pigeon grapes (Vitis aestivalis) which have a 1-2% success rate from dormant cuttings but roughly 70% success rate from green cuttings)
Cuttings about 4-6 inches long should be taken during the late spring until late summer from healthy grape vines. All but a single leaf is removed to minimize water loss. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone, and plant the greenwood cutting in potting soil. Keep your plant in a warm, humid environment.
Grape plants started from greenwood cuttings should begin to develop roots in 1-2 weeks.
Propagating Grapes by Layering
Layering means burying a portion of an established grapevine until it takes root. It’s a quick way to produce a few new vines during the growing season, and maybe the easiest method for the home gardener just wanting 2 or 3 new plants. Layering is occasionally used in a commercial setting to use a neighboring vine to replace a dead vine within a row.
Choose a parent grape plant and bend a young, still flexible 1 to 3-year-old vine near the ground level until it reaches the ground. Burry a portion of the vine beneath the soil, ensuring that you bury at least 1 node. The nodes are where new roots are most likely to form when buried. Make sure that the end of the vine is left above ground to continue growing.
The new grape plant should form roots within a few months and can be separated from the parent plant once it is well rooted.
A tray of grafted grapevines breaking bud for the first time. By Grafted Vines (CCBYSA)
Propagating Grapes by Grafting
Graft union on grafted grape vines. Photo By W. Carter (CCBYSA)
Growing Grapes from Seed
Grapes are generally propagated “clonally” so that they are “true to type.” Grapes can be propagated from seed, but they will not be identical to the parent plant. Growing grapes from seed is an important tool for grape breeders and those interested in developing their own variety or grape. It can also be a fun experiment for the home gardener, because you never quite know what you’ll get.
Red wine grape pomace after pressing is full of viable seeds. Photo By davitydave (CCBY)
Grape seeds can be collected from seeded grapes, cleaned and stored in a moist paper towel or directly in soil in the refrigerator for 3 months. After cold stratification in the fridge, the grape seed can be planted in the spring and will germinate into new plants.
Upadhyay
I have started grape cutting by simply putting them in seaweed extract water. In a week time, There is no sign of roots at the bottom but the bud above the water has sprouted and I can see leaves growing. The leaves seem to be growing vigorously. Should I let the leaf grow or remove them if they will affect root formation. Will these leaves when grow fully will lessen the moisture or sugar in the stem and make the cutting die? After 7 days I have transferred them to vermicompost, perlite, vermiculite mix.
Ashley Adamant
So in seaweed extract water, it’s not at risk of drying out since it’s getting as much water as it needs. If it’s not wilting and still looking healthy now that you’ve transferred it, I’d leave it as it is. If the end was fresh and not calloused it may not be stimulated to root, but grapes are pretty resilient. They’re very good at growing and propagating with pretty minimal care. At this point, it’s just a tough balance between keeping it from wilting and keeping it so wet that it molds instead of taking root. With rooting hormone or callosing, it’s easier but you have a good chance anyway with what you’ve done. Good luck!
Mardy
Good day..im living in tropical countries….how can the beginners grow that grapesvine
Ashley Adamant
I cant speak to tropical countries specifically since Vermont is a cold climate. But generally, grapes are very easy to grow.
Marie
I’m in coastal Togo, West Africa, and bought rooted cuttings back in October 2017. They are now producing gazillions of grapes, which I can’t wait to see ripening. How exciting! you wouldn’t even have me believe grapes could be grown in such a warm climate a year ago. Now I’ve read they need the dormant stage, which does make sense. It seems that in countries where there is no winter, they are chemically altered to mimic winter and induce dormancy. I’m curious to see how it will work without this chemically induced dormancy stage. I’m told some people here do grow grape, although it’s not sold on the market so I guess it may not be possible to produce it in commercial quantities, due to the above limitations (the grapes we buy here are imported from South Africa, which has more marked seasons).
Cyril Oppong
Hi Marie,
im Cyril from Ghana. i am interested in starting grape farming in Ghana. can you assist me in getting some cuttings?
Ashley Adamant
I wouldn’t know the first thing about the legality of shipping grape cuttings anywhere, so I’m sorry I cant help. Anything that does well in our cold climate would likely have trouble in Ghana. Good luck though!
Jennifer
Hey
I was wondering what I should do with my little cutting for the winter. It is basically a little stick with a few leaves at this point and it’s almost fall. We get harsh winters here. I rooted him in water and have just recently planted him in soil in a pot. I feel like it is too little to plant outside but am not sure what to do with it indoors as I keep reading that they need the winter to sleep and recoup.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ashley Adamant
A couple of options. It’s cold here in winter too, but you can “heel in” the pots in soil, basically plant the pots, and then mulch them heavily in straw. That’ll keep them insulated from the cold, and then you can pull them up in the late spring after thaw. Or, if you have a cold basement or garage that stays cool all winter you can bring them indoors in the late fall and overwinter them there. They do need to go dormant in the winter, so treating them like a houseplant indoors won’t work. They need dark and cool conditions.
Paula
One more reason for using a green cutting: you were cutting down all sorts of unwanted plants and accidentally cut the volunteer Grapevine you have in your yard.
john angenent
read jour blog en i have bin very interested in what els jou have to offer .
I am a man from 67 jears old en i live in Holland
i have a littel glashouse in my backjarden end a am a grape entusiast
This jear (jan) i have imported
severel grape seeds from japan Roman ruby
And i have bekom 4 plants from thoos seeds the growing well and the are 1.5 meters toll.
IN total have i now 10 grape veraities planted so there is( glenora) ( lakemont)(()
(Katharina)( black alicantte)( ( souvenir) ( nero) (solaris) and( frankenthler)
I am curius wat kind of grapes the wil give. within 2jears from now. I have allso kyoho vines imported in (jan) from singapore and there are also growing well and the are 1.80 meters toll . So i am a pensionado and have lots of time for my hobby.Excusses for my gramatica I have never laerned englisch on school!.
Ashley Adamant
Wow John, it sounds like you’ll have quite the crop coming in shortly! Thanks for sharing, and I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog =)
Teresita m. Baniog
Hi ashley. I’m from the philippines and recently retired from the service. I am now pursuing my childhood dream, to plant grapes. I have collected several cuttings but i kack the knowledge of grape planting, they easily died after a leaf or two. But i do not lose hope that one day, i would see and hold a bunch of grapes from my garden. Thank you very much for your in put and i wish to learn more!!!!
David Burks
Hi Ashley,
Using the green steam method, should I plant the new rooted stock during the same summer of the cutting, or hold them over to spring? I live in Colorado and winters can be quite cold.
Thinking about rooting them in a 3″ biodegradable pots to make the planting in the vinyard less stressful on the plant. Thoughts?
Thanks so much.
Ashley Adamant
Good question. I have the most experience with dormant cuttings and layering methods, less so with greenwood cuttings. I’d think they’d have rooted well enough if you start early and give them several months to put in roots, but I could be wrong. It may be better to just keep them in pots in a basement or unheated garage over winter… I’m sorry I don’t have a definitive answer. Personally, I’d plant them in fall because then there’s less chance of them drying out, molding or having issues they might have if I tried to store them in my basement (but I’m likely to forget them, and that may not be the correct answer if you’re dilligent.)
George
Hi,
About 5 years ago, I took several single leaf cuttings. I planted 4-5 in pots. Only one survived. It grew a tiny leaf (about the size of a penny) in year 1. In year 2, roughly 2 leafs, again in the penny to quarter size range. Year, 3 about 5 leaves all relatively tiny. By the end of year 3, I had a plant ~ 10 inches high. Since animals kept pulling it, I planted in in the ground and put a fence around it. Now 2 years later, I have a relatively tiny plant, with only a few dozen or so leaves and the biggest of which is about 3-4″. The base is a stem that is ~ 1/4″ (although that may be generous). I have added manure compost, earth around it. It is in a sunny, well draining place. I have even tried chicken manure tea.
Any idea of why I seem to have a bonsai tree??? Yes, the soil is principally clay with only the upper part being proper earth. So, yes, the roots are most likely not all that deep. But would they not propagate laterally? and is that the reason behind the “miniaturized” plant? 5 years later, I had hoped to have a much larger plant. the source of the cuttings/leaves is a plant at a friend’s home. It was (before I cut it down) a good 5 x 10 yards in area. Mine is about 10-12 inches!
Ashley Adamant
My goodness, that is a small one. Ours grow about 10-12 feet in a year if un-trimmed! (After the first year, where they grew just maybe 3 feet). There’s something wrong with the fertility there, though I don’t know enough about grape needs to guess as to what…
will zimm
Helo
i lve in south florida and have srarted a grape tree for about 5 years
it is about 30 ft long and has lots of leaves , the main trunk is about 2 thik and it spread very nice
But sadly i do not get any grapes only many healty leaves
Is it because its to big or because it bears no fruit
Administrator
Are you pruning it in the fall or winter?