Topic: grape vine?

[gardentg44]

been up allotment this morning and noticed that1

of the grapevines in the greenhouse as started to bud.

will this cold wheather kill it off or stop it from fruiting

in the summer? ??? ???

[saddad]

It knows best... as long as it isn't in full leaf and we have a severe -15 frost they are tougher than they look, it's only the fruit that needs hot wether to develop. In Continental Europe eg Hugary/Bulgaria the winter temps can be very low indeed...  :-\

[Eristic]

But in Bulgaria they dig the vines up and bury them to keep them alive over the winter.

[laurieuk]

If your vine has started to break new buds it does mean that no more pruning can be done. If you prune after the sap has started to flow it can be very difficult to stop it bleeding. There is a wine produced in Germany that is made form grapes that have been frosted, it gives a very special taste to the wine. We did live next door to the son of the wine grower who first found out about this after a very early frost in the autumn.

[saddad]

Eiswein is lovely... I didn't know that Eristic!  :)

[Eristic]

Well I've only got one Bulgarian gardener's word for it but I was assured that is the way it is done. I assured them that it is not neccesary but we appear to have a stand-off. Theirs are 2ft underground and mine are 4ft overground. In this country we rarely get the long sizzling hot summers to get a crop their way and they probably rely on a high planting density to get a worthwile yield.