Hi everyone,

We have a large grape vine in our garden. Last year it had a few small bunches of grapes but stayed hard and sour. This year we have about 30 bunches and they are just turning red. Have tried some and they are lovely!!

I didnt think we could grow grapes up ere. When I prep'd the garden for winter last year I cut back loads, I must have done OK but did it without knowing what I was doing. To make sure we get grapes again next year please give me proper advise on what/when to do it.

Is there anything else I can do to help grapes again next year. Anyone have a magic ingredient they add to the soil or anything?

Cheers.

That's a coincidence. We were cleaning out the greenhouse that's on our allotment and found a grapevine growing in it. Had the allotment a year and neer noticed the grapevine. Any information gladly recieved here too.

Although we live in Bulgaria we have just taken the grapes off and in the process of making wine.
We dont cut the vine back until march/april time . The vine will drip water when cut back, this is normal .
Cut back to three buds from the main branch. let it grow. When you have enough bunches of baby grapes growing on a length/stem/branch and all you have after that is leaf, then thats where you cut for the second time, after the last bunch . You would be growing leaves otherwise and all the goodness needed for the grapes goes into the leaf. It will need spraying a couple of time relevant to the parasites in your area and the time of year the parasites are around. We get blue vine beetle here
Hope its helped.

Renishaw Hall used to be in the Guinness Book of Records as the most northerly vineyard in the world, producing a small quantity of decent wine every year. The vineyard still runs, but has now been superceded as the most northerly. So growing grapes in Sheffield is nothing new!

(ok, Derbyshire)