Xtremehorticulture

Grape Vine Killed by Winter Cold

Q. I
planted two vines in my backyard  3 year ago and it sprouted and grew very
quickly but as you can see this year it has not done anything with the
exception of the few countable leaves and the three new shoots.  I do
notice some holes in the few leaves.  I live in Montreal Canada.

A. You are a little bit out of my climate zone but I’m
going to take a stab at it. I am guessing, from the looks of it, it had some
winter cold damage. There is a difference in cold tolerance among grapes. Those
with some vinifera genetics in them (most of the European wine grapes are
vinifera types) are less cold hardy than some of the American hybrids.

For
instance Thompson seedless grape has vinifera in it and is less cold hardy than
Concord, an American grape. I don’t know where you got your particular grape
and whether it was grafted onto a rootstock or not but if it was grown on its
own roots than any suckers which could grow from it could be used to replace
the dead vine.

Suckers growing from it should be extremely vigorous because of
the already larger root system. It could be back up on top easily this growing
season if you remove all but the strongest sucker. As it grows longer, tie it
to the post. Strip all of the leaves and shoots off of this sucker until it
finally gets on top. This way it will grow faster and you will direct the
growth.

Give it a little extra water and nitrogen fertilizer and it will grow
faster when the temperatures are warm. That’s my best guess at it given the
information I have and pictures. I saw one strong shoot coming from close to
the ground in one of your pictures. You would cut it just above the strongest
growth to reestablish it.

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