Grapes can be grown in the backyard, but trellises will be needed to support them. American varieties are hardier and more suited for table use than European types. Grapes require severe annual pruning early each spring to remain productive. Grapes flower and produce fruit only on one-year-old canes. The most productive wood is on the 6 to 8 buds closest to the base of the cane. Canes with moderate vigor and about the diameter of a pencil are most productive. So pruning is needed to encourage new canes to develop, eliminate unproductive canes, train fruiting canes, and limit the number of buds on the vine. When done properly, pruning often removes 80 to 90 percent of the wood. Pruning is suggested after the coldest part of winter but before buds swell. February and early March are good times. Various training systems can be followed when pruning, with the Four-Cane Kniffin one of the more popular. This system ends up with a central trunk and four one-year-old lateral canes, or arms, supported by trellis wires. Each arm has 6 to 12 buds, for a total of 35 or more buds on the entire plant. Each bud produces two or three clusters of grapes. Two renewal spurs are left at each trellis wire for future fruiting canes. All other growth essentially is removed each year to leave this framework.  

There are various types of grapes: European types, American types, muscadine (grown mainly in the southern states of US), and French hybrids. Grapes are utilized as table grapes, wine grapes, raisins, and for making jelly.

Table and juice grape varieties: Alden, Alwood, Beta, Blueball, Buffalo, Caco, Concord, Edelweiss, Festivee, Fredonia, Moored, New York Muscat, Ontario, Price, St. Croix, Schulyer, Seneca, Sheridan, Stueben, Swenson Red, Urbana, Valiant, Van Buren, Vinered, Worden, and Yates.

Seedless table grapes: Canadice, Challenger, Concord seedless, Glenora, Himrod, Interlaken, Lakemont, Mars, Einset, Reliance, Remaily, Romulus, Saturn, Suffolk Red, Vanessa, and Venus.

Wine grape varieties: Catawba, Cayuga White, Delaware, diamond, Dutchess, Elvira, Horizon, Isabella, Ives, Melody, Niagara, Veeblanc, Ventura, Chambourcin, Chancellor, De Chaunac, Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Rosette, Rougeon, and Seyval.

 

0 Feet (Variable depending with the training system)

0 Feet (Variable depending with the length of vines)

Late summer to fall depending on the varieties

 

5 - 9 

Moist, Well-Drained
 

Full Sun
 

Fresh
Jellies & Jams
Juice
Wine Making
 

Green
Purple
Red
White
Yellow
 

Animal Damage

• Voles (Microtus spp.)

Bacterial Disease

• Bacterial Leaf Scorch (Xyllela fastidiosa)

Environmental Damage

• Drought
• Drowning and Edema

Fungal Disease

• Dieback/Canker (Nectria spp., Phomopsis spp., Botryosphaeria spp., Tubercularia spp., Phytophthora spp.)
• Verticillium Wilt [Small Fruit Plants] (Verticillium albo-atrum and V. dahliae)

Herbicide Injury

• Plant Growth Regulator (PGR) Herbicide Injury

Insect Damage

• Japanese Beetle (Popilla japonica)

Additional pests and problems that may affect this plant:

Insect pests:

• Leafhopper
• Leafroller
• Leaf skeletonizer
• Grape phylloxera
• Thrips
• Grape mealybug
• Cutworms
• Grape bud beetle
• Branch and twig borer

Diseases:

• Powdery mildew (Uncinula necator)
• Downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola)
• Black rot (Guignardia bidwellii)
• Phomopsis cane and leaf spot (Phomopsis viticola)
• Eutypa dieback (Eutypa lata)
• Crown gall (Agrobacterium tumefasciens)
• Botrytis bunch rot and blight (Botrytis cinerea)
• Armillaria root rot (Armillaria mellea)
• Anthracnose (Elsinoe ampelina)
• Bitter rot (Greeneria uvicola)
• Ripe rot (Colletotrichum gloeosporoides)
• Macrophama Rot (Botryosphaeria dothidea)
• Viruses (Fanleaf, Tomato Ringspot, Tobacco Ringspot)
• Nematodes (Root-Knot Nematodes, Dagger Nematode, Lesion Nematode,...)

Rootstocks are widely used in grape production. Rootstocks that are commonly used are tolerant or resistant to phylloxera and nematode attack. Some rootstocks may be selected because they can tolerate too high soil pH while others can tolerate drought.

 

Home, Yard & Garden Pest Guide
The Home, Yard & Garden Pest Guide (C1391) provides is written for homeowners and other residents and provides nonchemical and current chemical recommendations for controlling pests associated with trees, shrubs, turf, flowers, groundcovers, vegetables, fruit, and houses. In addition, you'll find detailed information about integrated pest management, pesticide safety, and pesticide application and calibration techniques. This publication may be purchased at your local University of Illinois Extension Unit office, or by calling 800-345-6087, or by placing an order online (search for "C1391").
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U of IL - Distance Diagnosis through Digital Imaging
A free plant, weed, insect and disease identification service available through your local University of Illinois Extension office. Center Educators or State Specialists review & respond to information and digital images submitted by local Extension office personnel. Some samples may require further examination or culture work (nominal fee involved) at the U of IL Plant Clinic.
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U of IL - Plant Clinic
Services include plant and insect identification, diagnosis of disease, insect, weed and chemical injury (chemical injury on field crops only), nematode assays, and help with nutrient related problems, as well as recommendations involving these diagnoses. Microscopic examinations, laboratory culturing, virus assays, and nematode assays are some of the techniques used in the clinic.
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