Grape preparations

So a little history about this grape vine. Although it now looks like this:

December 30, 2015

The early days:

I purchased it from Home Depot three, maybe even four, years ago. It started out as a 2 year old (according to the package) woody stalk, no more than three feet tall including the small pot it came with. I moved it into a larger pot, at about 10 or 15 gallons, using potting soil from the UH greenhouse. It proceeded to grow and under varying degrees of care until I graduated in May 2015. 

The uprooting:

By then, the pot had been moved out of doors for about a season and roots had plummeted out of the pot and into the earth around it. I wanted to bring the grape home with me since we were moving into an apartment where we would have a patio (partially pictured in the photo above). So I dug out a circle around the pot, adding about 2ft to the diameter of the root system I would claim. I did have to cut some of the roots, even the one I suspected to be the main tap root. But, I think under the circumstances I did an ok job. I then immediately went to Home Depot and purchased potting soil and the pot pictured above. I would say that's about a 20-30 gallon pot, although it is plastic. I may transfer the plant/soil to a new ceramic pot in March. (I have many many such plans "for the Spring.")

The dilemma:

Should I cut it back? How much? I know grapes require pruning. But exactly how much? and when should I do it? Did I already miss the window by allowing so much woody growth?

And so today I set out to do an extensive internet search.

According to the internet:

• "...15 to 20 gallons of potting mix. ... pots that are at least 24 inches wide and 16 inches deep ..." (Site #1)
• "Grape vines appreciate having full-sun... By late winter, after the big frost but a bit before it starts growing again, it is time to the first big pruning. ... make a diagonal cut away of the bud, just a little over the [bud] ... The goal here is to trim your plant so only the two lower healthy buds remain." (Site #2)
• This website also continues on with a good explanation about a space-saving training technique, but I will leave that for another time.
• "In the first winter, ...keep the strongest stem. ... [Second winter]...a straight trunk and a set of side branches. ... leaving about 10-15 buds in each arm during the winter of the third year." (Site #3)
• "Umbrella Kniffen training method ... select the strongest cane...remove the rest. Cut the cane back so that there are only two or three buds left. New shoots will emerge from these buds. ... shoots reach 6 to 10 inches in length, select the best one and remove the others." (Site #4)
• Wall of text I couldn't bring myself to read: Site #5
• "remove the majority of wood produced the previous season – until about 90 percent is pruned off... from January through the first of March, when the grapes are dormant. ... Grapes are produced from buds that will grow into shoots on one-year old canes. [Canes are] thicker than a pencil in width and as close to the trunk as possible (when cane pruned)." (Site #6)
• There are two types of grape pruning—cane pruning and spur pruning. Mature plants should be pruned yearly to remove all growth except new one-year-old fruiting canes and renewal spurs.
• To cane prune, select two to four new fruiting canes per vine. ...leave about 15 buds per cane. ...leave about 30 buds per plant. ... Leave a one-or two-bud spur cane near the fruiting cane with one or two buds each. These "renewal spurs" will produce the fruiting canes for the following year and thus maintain fruiting close to the trunk. All other cane growth should be pruned off.
• To spur prune, prune along main canes to leave two- to three- bud spurs, each four to six inches apart. Leave no more than 20 to 80 buds per plant, depending on the type of grape. Remove all other one-year-old wood.
• "The key to pruning grapes is understanding their fruiting habit. Grapes produce the most fruit on shoots growing off of one-year-old canes. If you have too many old canes (from no pruning), then you’ll get fewer grapes. If you prune back your vines completely each year, then you get lots of new growth, but again, few grapes." (Site #7)

So, I think I still have much to learn. I wish I could find more photos.

But the take home lesson today is: Prune heavily between February and March, and give some serious thought to my grape-shape-plan before I make my final cuts... Also, move it into a sunnier place, haha.

Also, I should get a fan for air circulation.

Also, one more site before I go: http://www.gardenguides.com/86085-plant-grapes-texas.html

Broccoli update, and new plant plans

Ok so the broccoli has gotten very big. Tape measure time!

November 1st, 2015

December 8th, 2015

December 29th, 2015

Here are the close-ups of two of the smallest and largest ones next to a tape measure.
About 7" and 11" tall, respectively.
In the overview photo you can see they are 2 - 3 times bigger than when we planted them.

Review of what the tag for the broccoli says:
So I've got a Packman Hybrid type of Broccoli from Bonnie Plants that I got from Home Depot. According to the tag, the requirements are:
+ Light: Full sun, 6+ hrs daily
+ Spacing: 18" apart
+ Planting depth: container deep
+ Maturity: 45-55 days after planting
+ Feed regularly for best results / www.bonnieplants.com

Admittedly, it probably gets less than the full 6 hours of sun a day in that spot. The view in all of these photos is pointed at the south wall, and the plot is essentially closed in by walls on three sides. This leaves blocks a lot of the critical east/west sunlight it would ideally get.
They are also spaced closer than 18" apart, which means I need to be more careful about keeping each of them healthy. One diseased plant could spell the end for the whole "crop." I have noticed some yellowing of leaves on handful of the plants. You can see examples of this in the 7" measuring tape photo above.
I haven't been feeding them regularly, but I did put in fresh soil when they were planted. 

When I think I should be seeing broccoli buds:

So it's been 30+29 days = 59 days. This brings me to the question: what does Bonnie Plants mean by maturity? I thought it would be til harvest, but unless my sun-deprived plants are severed stunted, I don't think that's the case.
After reading Bonnie's broccoli page, I think I should try liquid feeding them some nitrogen. I'd love to add more earthworms, too, so maybe a quick trip to the bait section of Academy is in order.
So I'll start feeding them and hope to see buds in the next month at least.

My best friend's sister got us ALL THESE COOL SEEDS
and I am going to plant ALL of them! :D

Ok, well... There's a LOT of them. So maybe not all?? We'll see if I have to pick and choose which are the coolest and tastiest to actually grow this year.

 

In the psychedelic salad:
1. Red Lettuce
2. Golden beet seeds
3. Fiesta blend radishes
4. Round lemon cucumbers (DEFINITELY these!)
5. Red globe onions.

Ok so that's not a crazy number of species, so maybe I can do this.
But if I did it in the ground, it would probably take all of the garden space (maybe even more?) and leave none for the strawberries that I know I want. I wonder if doing a half of each seed packet...? Each seed packet comes with 20 seeds. Maybe a fourth of each seed packet then?
5 plants * 5 species * 12" apart = 5ft x 5ft, right? Hmmm... Need to do some more measuring.

But wait, there's more!

 

Omg, there's so many species in this one.
Chives, cilantro, curly parsley, dill, genovese basil (what?! so delish), mint, and thai basil.
That's SEVEN in total.
I am definitely gonna look into these AeroGarden things. I wonder if I could do them in the house without creating bugs that would bother my best friend...

Strawberries, strawberries everywhere.
We are also doing at least FIVE strawberry plants, I've decided. Maybe they will be container, maybe not. I must stew on this issue...

Side update on the other outdoor plants:

Rose needs to be separated, coleus trimmed, and grape pruned.

Grape! Soon to be the highlight of an upcoming blog post.

 More coming soon...

Travel post

I'm writing this from the Chicago airport, so there won't be any relatable photos.

But some un relatable. :)

Out of the garden plants that we talked about last post, the broccoli are showing signs of being firmly rooted and happy. Leaves are perked up and look thick. I am severely miffed by the pest bites showing in the foliage. The same thing getting into the ivy is eating slowly at the broccoli leaves. I think it's snails. What's a good home remedy for keeping snails off of stuff?

The brussell sprouts, however, are not doing so well. They are also getting munched on, and are a little wilt y almost. This might have to do with their position. They both have the same recommended light requirements, but sprouts may be more sensitive to lack of light. Or maybe it's the dampness. Or something about the soil... I wanted to have a multi culture, but maybe I cut my losses and just try to focus on broccoli for our first fall growing season.

Then of course there's the plans for the larger, beautiful, unexpected planting area that I got through the hard work of my best friend. 

Also, hooray for air planes with guest power outlets!

</post cut short 'cause I never finished it, LAWL>