Thirty-one of the grape vines that we planted were taken from cuttings the
previous year and fifteen were from one year old vines that had been grown for a
year and then pruned down to just one or two buds. When I picked up the vines,
although the one year vines had a leaf or two, they were in a similar state.
However, because the one year vines had a more mature root system, they should
grow more quickly. This series of pictures shows side-by-side the growth of the
vines at different time points.
We'll update this page periodically when there is dramatic change
or just to show the differences. While the pictures will not always be of the
same vines; they will show a vine that is characteristic of the leading vines of
that category.
Grapevines grown from cuttings
One Year-Old Grapevines
At the time of planting, the one year old
vines (as shown on the right) appeared to be just slightly ahead of the
cuttings. They showed a couple of leaves instead of just the one bud. This
particular picture shows one of the vines that was the furthest along. On
the other hand, the cutting really looks like a twig sticking out of the
ground; it is only about 2-3 inches tall.
After one week, leaf had just started to
emerge from the bud on the cutting as shown at left. The one year old vine,
on the other hand, had really started to open up.
After two weeks, the one year old vines were
continuing to accelerate in their growth. The cuttings however, as shown at
left, weren't doing that badly. At this time, it's worth noting that these
pictures were not taken to the same scale; this particular cutting is probably four
inches high while the vine at right is probably 9-10 inches.
At four weeks, the cutting (at left) looks
very similar to the one-year old vine about one week after planting as shown in the first set
of pictures above. The one year old vine, however, has really started to
accelerate and is now somewhere close to fifteen inches tall. By this time,
we started to tie the vine to the bamboo stake in order to help ensure that
it is growing straight up.
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