The older this bonsai becomes, the more aged and magnificent it looks. For this reason, artisans will work for more than 10 years to cultivate and train these trees.
It is a deciduous tree, so it will have some fall color and go dormant for the winter. It wakes up from its winter sleep in the spring, just like they do in the warm California vineyards.
As far as the wine goes, Cabernet is the classic full-bodied red from France that gives hints of pepper and cedar flavors, along with loads of fruit.
Placement
Like all deciduous trees, a wine grape cabernet bonsai should remain outdoors all year long.
It must stay cool or cold during the winter [about 3 months], but should be protected from harsh freezes. In the late fall, protect your tree by burying your tree, or mulch over the pot in the ground. The tree should be protected from strong wind and sun [but not snow or rain] throughout the winter. If you must, it can be placed in an unheated garage or shed.
Do not forget to water your tree in the winter!
In the early spring, when the chance of freezing is gone, it can be placed back in its normal location.
For the rest of the year, the tree should be outside with a few hours of sun [morning sun, with afternoon shade is best.]
Watering
Never let the soil completely dry out. Whenever the soil seems dry, thoroughly water your tree until the water runs clear from the bottom. In the growing season, this can be daily.
If you need help, a good moisture meter will guide you.
Humidity
If you ever need to take your cabernet bonsai tree inside, including into a garage for the winter, using a humidity tray is recommended. It will prevent the water from running on the floor, and can help keep the tree somewhat moist in the dry season.
Fertilizing
Since your cabernet grape bonsai is in a small pot, and not the ground, it needs nutrients. A slow release [pellet based] fertilizer is perfect for this, and can be added sparingly every 1-2 months during the growing season.
If you plan on eating the fruit of this bonsai tree, use a food-safe fertilizer that you're comfortable with diluted to at least half the labeled strength.
Pruning & Trimming
Trim back the new growth to the farthest safe point that looks good to you — but never remove all of the new growth.
A regular trim will help keep your cabernet grape bonsai tree short, while helping the trunk grow thicker.
Repotting
Repotting must be performed periodically on your bonsai, cabernet included, when its root system has filled the pot. If you can clearly see the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, it’s time to repot your bonsai.
Generally, this means every 2-3 years for a deciduous tree and every 4-5 years for an evergreen.
Repotting should be done in mid-summer, when the tree is at it’s least fragile state.
The grape bonsai tree, along with all of its soil, should be removed from the pot. From there, you can trim away no more than 1/3rd of the root mass [1/4th is preferred.]
Then you can repot the tree in the same pot, or give it a newer / bigger pot to thrive in.
After repotting, your cabernet bonsai should be thoroughly watered.
Diseases, Insects & Other Pests
Your cabernet bonsai can be treated for pests like a normal cabernet sauvignon plant. Just remember, your tree is miniature and will need a much smaller and more gentile dose of treatment.
Would you like to SEE these instructions as a series of videos, instead of just reading them?If you want to demystify the art of bonsai so you can become a master of this relaxing hobby in just a few days, you need the right training. I’ve built a digital video course that mixes classroom style instructional videos with “over the shoulder” style training videos to make bonsai simple to understand, and easy to start.
Growing grapes from cuttings is the most popular method for propagating grapes, but there are other simple methods for growing grapes worth considering.
I’ll talk you through 5 methods for propagating grapes from start to finish.
Grapes are one of the easiest plants to propagate at home, and they readily root from either hardwood or softwood cuttings. All you need is a few inches of grapevine, trimmed to include viable buds, and you’re well on your way to growing grapes from cuttings.
Each year, grapes need to be pruned back in the late fall and winter to ensure a good crop the following year. Those cuttings are often thrown away, but with just a bit of effort, you can turn those discards into hundreds of new plants.
In many cases, just taking a dormant cutting with a few buds attached and sticking it in the ground will suffice to start a whole new plant.
While propagating grapes from hardwood cuttings is by far the easiest and most economical way, there are five different ways to successfully propagate grapes. I’m going to take you through all 5 methods, and explain why you would choose each method.
The five ways to propagate grapes include:
- Hardwood Cuttings – Using dormant wood pruned off in the fall or winter.
- Greenwood Cuttings – Best used in the growing season to multiply plants quickly.
- Grafting – Used by vineyards when a specialized rootstock is required for disease resistance.
- Layering – Used to fill in blank spots in a row or by home gardeners to expand a grape patch.
- Growing from Seed – Not used commercially because grape varieties don’t come true to seed, but it can be a fun to experiment and create new varieties.
Growing Grapes from Cuttings
Since grapes are prolific growers, it’s easy to get a hold of cuttings. In the growing season, when the plants are actively putting out new shoots they’re called “greenwood” cuttings.
During the offseason, when plants are dormant, you’ll be growing grapes from “hardwood” cuttings.
Both methods have their benefits, but growing grapes from hardwood cuttings is the most common method since grapes are generally pruned while dormant.
How to Grow Grapes from Hardwood Cuttings
Hardwood propagation is the most common method, though there are a select few types of grapes that cannot be propagated using hardwood cuttings, like muscadine grapes.
Each year during the dormant season, grapes should be pruned to ensure a healthy crop the following year.
Grape vines can get leggy, and if the ratio of top wood to roots is too high, then the roots will not be able to feed all the grapes.
By pruning the vines, you ensure that the grapes produced are large, healthy and sweet.
The discarded cuttings from a single vine can be used to produce dozens of new plants each year.
Propagation of grapevines by hardwood cuttings. Photo by Mark Shirley [CCBY]
Cuttings 12-18 inches in length with 3 or more buds are taken from dormant plants in the fall or winter. The hardwood cuttings are stored in a cold moist environment until the beginning of the growing season.
Shortly before the beginning of the growing season, the grape cuttings are either calloused to induce root growth or simply dipped in rooting hormone and placed in the soil.
To callus the cuttings, they’re exposed to prolonged moist heat to cause the cut base to begin to heal and generate stemcell like tissue that can develop into roots. This can be tricky, and if done incorrectly the cuttings can either mold or sprout prematurely.
For better results, dip them into rooting hormone before planting them 2 to 3 inches deep in moist potting soil.
Keep the soil moist, and you should see sprouts within a few weeks. Allow your cuttings to get established and firmly rooted in pots before transplanting them outdoors in the early to mid-summer.
Cuttings using dormant wood should have an 80% or greater success rate.
Greenwood breaking bud on a grapevine
Growing Grapes from Greenwood Cuttings
Greenwood cuttings, or cuttings from actively growing vines, can also be used for propagation. Greenwood cuttings have the potential to dry out and are a less reliable method for beginners.
There are a few reasons why you might choose to propagate from greenwood cuttings:
- You want to begin propagation and it’s the summer
- A friend or neighbor offers you greenwood cuttings during the growing season
- You want to propagate a lot of grapes in a single year [once established and growing you can take cuttings from your cuttings and produce literally thousands of individual plants in a single year]
- You’re trying to grow a type of grape that doesn’t grow successfully from hardwood cuttings. Some examples include muscadine grapes [Vitis rotundifolia] or pigeon grapes [Vitis aestivalis] which have a 1-2% success rate from dormant cuttings but roughly 70% success rate from green cuttings]
Cuttings about 4-6 inches long should be taken during the late spring until late summer from healthy grapevines.
All but a single leaf is removed to minimize water loss through the leaf pores. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone, and plant the greenwood cutting in potting soil. Keep your plant in a warm, humid environment.
Grape plants started from greenwood cuttings should begin to develop roots in 1-2 weeks.
Propagating Grapes by Layering
Layering means burying a portion of an established grapevine until it takes root. It’s a quick way to produce a few new vines during the growing season, and maybe the easiest method for the home gardener just wanting 2 or 3 new plants.
Layering is occasionally used in a commercial setting to use a neighboring vine to replace a dead vine within a row.
Choose a parent grape plant and bend a young, still flexible 1 to 3-year-old vine near the ground level until it reaches the ground.
Burry a portion of the vine beneath the soil, ensuring that you bury at least 1 node. The nodes are where new roots are most likely to form when buried. Make sure that the end of the vine is left above ground to continue growing.
The new grape plant should form roots within a few months and can be separated from the parent plant once it is well-rooted.
Propagating Grapes by Grafting
Since grapes are willing to root from cuttings, grafting is not often used by home growers. There are occasions when a commercial grower has a particularly desirable grape variety and wants to establish them on a more vigorous or disease-resistant rootstock.
Grafting can also be a good way to quickly replace an established vine with a more desirable variety. If you have an established grapevine but don’t like the taste, cut it back to the ground and graft on new dormant grape wood.
A tray of grafted grapevines breaking bud for the first time. By Grafted Vines [CCBYSA]
This process is a lot like propagating from hardwood cuttings, but instead of placing the cutting in the ground, you’re taping it onto a cut portion of an existing grapevine.
Use grafting tape to attach the cut end of your new grape cutting to an established root. If your rootstock has several wounds, you can try grafting a number of pieces of grape wood onto the same rootstock as is shown below.
Graft union on grafted grapevines. Photo By W. Carter [CCBYSA]
Growing Grapes from Seed
Grapes can be propagated from seed, but they will not be identical to the parent plant.
Generally, growing grapes from seed isn’t recommended, not because they won’t sprout, but because the new grapevines won’t be the same variety as the parents.
Grapes are generally propagated “clonally” so that they are “true to type.” When you plant grape seeds, they’re likely be somewhat like the parents, but they can vary considerably. Just as children only resemble their parents, grape seedlings may be bitter when the parent is sweet.
Growing grapes from seed is an important tool for grape breeders and those interested in developing their own variety of grape. It can also be a fun experiment for the home gardener, because you never quite know what you’ll get.
How do you grow a bonsai grapevine?
The grapevine bonsai needs between eight and 10 hours of indirect sunlight each day, and good air circulation. The plant must be protected from extreme cold. When grown indoors, the plant should be kept a few feet from the window to prevent leaf burn.
Can grape vine cuttings be rooted?
Cuttings should be soaked in water for a several hours before placing them in the nursery. It is not necessary to use any type of root-promoting substance; in fact, these materials may actually reduce grape rooting. Plant the vines in prepared soil in rows in the nursery.
Can you regrow a grape stem?
Grapes can be propagated in several ways, but perhaps the most common method is through dormant cuttings. Wait until after the vines have gone dormant to collect propagation material. Select one-year-old growth slightly larger than a pencil. Collect long, straight shoots from which to make cuttings.
Can you propagate grape vines in water?
In this video, we will show you another very effective way to root grape cuttings. Rooting of cuttings takes place not only in water, but also in moist air. For the entire time of rooting, you do not need to watch the water level in the cups and as a result you get a 100% result!