The most important point in caring for your grapevines is to provide them with adequate water during establishment. Begin by soaking the roots in a bucket of water for a few hours or even overnight before planting.
Dig a hole wider and deeper than necessary to spread the roots without crowding or bending them. If necessary, extremely long roots can be trimmed back to fit the hole, but avoid excessive root pruning since the roots are the plant's energy storage.
If the soil is heavy and has a high clay content, mix in a soil amendment such as peat moss in a 1 to 1 mix with the soil.
Place the plant in the hole and fill it with loose soil to within 2 inches of the top. Fill the hole with water and let the soil settle then finish filling the hole.
Trim the vine back to 3-4 buds.
No fertilizer is required the year of planting.
Keep the vines watered well during the summer and keeps weeds under control.
It is best to tie up canes as they grow and keep them off the ground. This will help reduce disease and improve vine training. The use of grow tubes is very helpful in early training.
Good Luck and call if you have any questions.
Etiolated Shoots
Etiolated shoots are white shoots that begin to grow in storage when the vines break dormancy as spring arrives. Grapevines have a compound bud, with primary, secondary and tertiary bud. There are also many latent buds on the plant that can push. As you plant these vines to the field some of these shoots may break off or be burned off by the sun. These are the primary buds. After this secondary buds will push and grow to produce shoots for the season. This is similar to what would happen if there was a frost in the spring. This is not cause for concern, the plants will grow normally.
