Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Planting out grape cuttings

Some cuttings had fantastic root development.

Some had root development that was not as far along and some had no visible development at all.
The best development came from this set-up.  A tub filled with potting soil that had been put in the sun and was not in contact with the ground.  That is, the one that had the warmest soil.  The poorest root development was in the individual cups.  The heat of the sun on the side of the tub was not able to get to the rooting zones of the individual cups.

Dig a hole.
Add water
Mrs ERJ asked why I plant the cuttings on a 45 degree angle.  Part of the reason is due to my shallow top soil.  I want the emerging roots to be in the top soil, not the less fertile sub-soil.

I have an additional reason for grafted vines.  Sometimes the bud is higher on the vine than I like.  I want that bud to be close to the ground to increase the odds that it will be protected by snow.  One way to lower the bud is to tilt the  cutting.  While I could plant the grafted vine lower, that increases the odds of the scion rooting and that partially defeats the advantages of a grafted vine.

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