# I think I killed my grape vines! help!



## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

some of them dried up and are dead looking due to lack of water. oops. (they were doing well just a month ago) will they come back at all or are they lost?


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

they can be fairly resiliant. i wouldn't give up hope...and yet i wouldn't hold my breath. if they were new plants you just put in, i would think your chances are not great. if they were established, there may be hope.


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## windsng225 (May 25, 2007)

I don't have any experience with growing grapes, but I have started some this year for the first time. If it were me, I would give them a shot of homemade fertilizer consisting of ... mollassis, epson salts, water and beer. This should give them a boost, don't give up yet. You have nothing to loose. 
joyce


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## Horse Fork Farm (Jan 3, 2006)

Old grapes are hard to kill from lack of water because they have a huge tap- like root that can go down for several feet. If they were newly planted little guys then they are probably toast. :Bawling: But keep watering anyway- they may not be dead yet! I just moved one of my vines from my old house and my hubby dug out a root that was 5 feet long!!! On old vines you can sometimes dig down and find green in the root and make new starts from cuttings (never tried this- just read about it). Wishing you good luck, I'd hate to lose my grapes!! Kathy


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## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

they were planted last November. they did already leaf out once AND had lots of the beginnings of grape clusters (my rooster ate those!). I am just going to water like crazy and hope for the best! it got really hot and I got lax on watering for a couple of weeks. oops. learned my lesson the hard way! definitly hooking up drip hoses today!


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

It could be that part of the vine will die. keep watering and watching for new growth especially near the trunk or ground. If you have new growth, next winter every thing above that new growth should be pruned off, But right now do nothing but water and pray. :shrug:


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## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

do you think it would hurt if I put compost mixed with a little fertilizer on them?


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## peekin (Apr 11, 2006)

Just water them. It's possible the vines you planted just weren't that great. That's happened to me. A good vine, though, is almost impossible to kill. I've never fertilized mine and have had them die back for various reasons, mostly late freezes. The good ones come back stronger than ever.

Also, it takes time for them to make new leaves. Give them a few weeks and some water, and see what happens. If nothing happens in a month, start looking for new vines to plant.


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## VALENT (Dec 6, 2004)

it may not be entirely the lack of water. Some of the vines you purchase are just not that good. I bought a dozen blackberry vines last fall. About 6 showed signs of life and I planted them. Only two seem to still be alive. And they have had good care.


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## moopups (May 12, 2002)

Scrape away a tiny bit of bark near the bottom of the vine, about pencil eraser size. If there is a green perimeter around the scraping there is life.


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## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

actually they were great to begin with this spring! they all (but one) had leafed out about a foot! (until I killed them) though, 2 are still green. I planted 12 I am pretty mad at myself right now! ugh!

I inspected them really closley this morning but I can't tell? now I will just have to wait and see!





peekin said:


> Just water them. It's possible the vines you planted just weren't that great. That's happened to me. A good vine, though, is almost impossible to kill. I've never fertilized mine and have had them die back for various reasons, mostly late freezes. The good ones come back stronger than ever.
> 
> Also, it takes time for them to make new leaves. Give them a few weeks and some water, and see what happens. If nothing happens in a month, start looking for new vines to plant.


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## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

moopups said:


> Scrape away a tiny bit of bark near the bottom of the vine, about pencil eraser size. If there is a green perimeter around the scraping there is life.



I will try this!


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## peekin (Apr 11, 2006)

I had a couple die back like you describe a year or so ago. They have never really come back. They get the exact same care as a few others I have which are growing like crazy, and this is the third or fourth year they're in the ground.

They came from a different supplier than the ones which seem to be unkillable. One of them seems to have just upped and died completely this year, and the other has leaves, but not really.

I've decided they're just lousy vines or not suited for the conditions here. No matter, I've given up on them and will be replacing them this fall.

My point is, it is possible to get lousy vines or vines which will just never do that well no matter what you do. You can give them another year, but if they're still limping along next year, replace them.


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## rainbowmoon (Apr 8, 2007)

I did not get a chance to scrape the bottoms yet..I think they may just come back though! when I was watering I noticed the oleanders I thought were beyond dead are coming back too! we got snow this past winter and it seemed to have killed them all- I was waiting to get new ones to dig up the old as I don't want to have to redig the holes (our soild is rocky and hard!)


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