Xtremehorticulture

Nice vine, bitter grapes

Q. I have sent three
pictures of our grape vines.  We have
been getting a few bunches of grapes but they are small and bitter. How do we
get them to get larger and sweeter?


A. Many grapes do well in
the Mojave desert climate. Some perform better than others. Some perform Much better
than others. A problem we have with grapes is uneven ripening of the berries in
a cluster. This means that some of the berries will be ripe earlier than
others. We see the ripening of the berries as a change in its color.
Technically this is called veraison



Uneven ripening is still a problem with grapes in general but climates with
high temperatures it is more of a problem. In cooler climates, particularly
with cooler nights, berries mature much more evenly. 



Make sure that you have a
variety of grape that performs well here. I noticed you did not mention which
variety you have which makes me a little suspicious. All of the grapes that
will do well here will mature, turn color (green grapes turn a light green or
yellowish green while red or black grapes turn their respective colors; the
yellow green grapes in the second picture look ripe to me) in the correct
season. This can range from June through August or September depending on the
variety. Your vines look healthy but healthy vines do not necessarily deliver a
delicious grape. Make sure you wait long enough so that the fruit fully
matures. In our climate grapes perform better with aced surface mulch of wood
chips covering our desert soils. My suspicion is either the wrong variety or
you are not waiting long enough until they mature when you’re harvesting. The
individual berries in the grape clusters do not all ripen at the same time. I
usually have to harvest them when a few of the berries are actually overripe.
Once grapes have been harvested, they will no longer improve in flavor or
sweetness, unlike plums, peaches and even bananas.

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