I have spent the last week in the south of France with
a bunch of vintners. The consenses is that grapes
will not take well to being a bonsai.
I know this can be done and I have some 80 year old
muscat grapes dug late last fall. They are sprouting.
I need all the bonsi advice I can get on having these
plants survive.
Thanks,
I've had Vitus rotundifolia, our native Muscadine grape in a pot
as a semi-cascade for several years (2001) now. Dunno how mine
would compare to "muscat" grapes.
On mine, leaf reduction is not ideal, so a fairly large bonsai
is called for. Mine has a 24-inch-when-last-measured "tail"
(probably 20, now, since I broke 4 inches off the tip, last week
in an ill-considered test of flexibility). They wire VERY
poorly since grape "wood" is pithy-fibrous and stiff, so if you
wire do it on newer branches. Pinch new growth rigorously, and
removal of the larger leaves _does_ result in the next crop of
leaves being smaller. I have successfully defoliated mine..
Mine has yet to flower or fruit, even though it is from an older
vine. I dug it from my woods, which is filled with them -- some
of them quite large and which climb into the tops of the tallest
trees.
Normal bonsai soil seems to work, but grapes need watering
often. Mine is in a very deep pot, which stays wet longer. I
give it Miracle-Gro and/or fish emulsion on an every-two-week-in-
the-growing-season basis.
Don Zieman, who lives I believe, up in the N. California grape
country has considerable experience with grapes as bonsai. He
posts regularly on the gallery (and occasionally here) but I
don't have his e-mail address.
Enjoy them. Mine is still in the fresh-new-leaves stages, but
I'll take a pic in a week or two and post on the gallery.
Jim Lewis -
- Tallahassee, FL - People,
when Columbus discovered this country, it was plum full of nuts
and berries. And I'm right here to tell you (that) the berries
are just about all gone. -- Uncle Dave Macon, musician
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