[corynsboy]

It's April and whilst all my other fruit plants & trees have been growing and putting on leaves and buds for the last few weeks I have two apparently dead sticks where I should have sprouting vines.

One was planted in autumn 2008 straight out of the Ken Muir box (in a sunny sheltered position) has shown no signs of life. I think it’s a gonner but there are no signs of rot and it appears firm in the ground still. 

The other was planted in November 2007 again from Ken Muir and put on some growth last year but has failed to emerge from winter.  This was planted in a more exposed site but the roots were well protected. 

Am I being impatient or have I just spent £30 on two dead sticks?

(If this helps I have quite sandy soil but it holds on to moisture reasonably well.  I followed the instructions to the letter when planting and have not fed either vine with manure.)

I'm not knocking Ken Muir everything else I've had from them has been smashing.

[tam]

Our grapevine is in a very sheltered spot and just has tiny buds so far (apple tree has mini leaves) so it might be you just need to wait a bit longer

[woodburner]

One of my cheapo recued from dead vines (bought last spring and planted in big pots with half clay soil, half home-made compost) has been outside all winter and is just about showing signs of life, despite the cold and wet, the other has been left in the unheated conservatory, totally dry until it started to shoot a couple of weeks ago. If they can survive that I reckon they can survive anything! So I would say that your one that was growing last year is unlikely to be dead, and they are probably both simply still dormant.

[MrsD]

Hello

My vine appeared to be dead up until a week ago, and now there are lots of small buds on it ! I was worrying that it hadn't survived the winter as we moved it last Autumn, but it has proved me wrong.  Hope yours does the same ! 

[JulesJ]

Be patient - our established vine is only just starting to show some buds. I thought it had died this past winter.

[Remy]

My vine has only started sprouting about a week ago but is going like mad now. It is against the fence in a very sunny spot. Just a quick tip, plant a rose bush nearby as disease will attack the rose before the vine so it gives you some time to act on it.

[Babstreefern]

Hi Remy, read your post.  You don't have to plant any roses near vines because that disease has now been eradicated.  In years gone by, it was true that a pest could destroy a whole vineyard and to stop it, you grew roses which would attract the pest.  But now all vines are grown onto a rootstock that is American bred, and which does not attract this particular pest.

When you see roses in French vineyards now, its more for show, also, or so we were told when we visited a vineyard, if there are red roses, the vines produce red wines and yellow roses show white wines - its now a tradition to have them flowering there.

But back to my vine, I bought mine in France a couple of years ago, and I assumed it had died, and was pretty upset about it .  Anyway, I didn't have the patience you guys have and bought another one from my local nursery.  Its now took off.  But when I took out my old vine, I twisted the main branch and it didn't snap, henceforth I think it was still living. .  So yes, be a bit patient, and I think yours will come to life, after all, we did have a very cold winter this year.

[exvmremf]

I have just planted a vine in the greenhouse (I know the plant should be outside but it was too much hassle disturbing the glass) and it is covered in waxy stuff.

I have two shoots already so I am hopeful that it will grow.

I was also told to bury a dead dog under it!

Never had a dog, alive or dead, so I used manure.

[Trillium]

Grapes are almost the last plant to show life as they're very particular about their growing weather. Many a gardener has been fooled. Mine don't show life until the end of May.

[elibump]

My vines have only shown any sign of life in the past week - and I'm a bit further south than you - so hold on a bit longer.

The original fungus that eradicated all the vineyards may have gone now but a rose still shows you if there is air-bourne fungus likely to hit the vines and give you time to sort it out.  Less necessary than before but still used as a very heavy indicator around these parts by those who grow a tad more organically than chemically.

Carolyn xx

[corynsboy]

Thanks everyone.  I'll sit on my hands for a few more weeks.

[elibump]

PS:  The gaffer has just informed me that in fact downy mildew is still around and going strong, it hasn't been eradicated.

Bordeaux mixture is still on sale here in the supermarkets against such fungi.

Downy mildew is still around, yes, but Phylloxera (the reason behind the American root stock) is an insect pest of vines and is still around but nowhere near the threat it was.

Roses are still used to indicate that there might be a fungal infection coming to the vines,  so local winegrowers tell us, although they may rely more on the internet these days for their blight warnings.

Carolyn  xx

[SpudtheBinx]

The american rootstock is resistant to vineweevil, and all the really old most valuable vinyards are not on this stock as the vines are approaching 100 years old. As others say, the roses are an early warning for fungal infection which can destroy a crop, or in some case managed if it is botrytis to create a super sweet wine from what is known as 'noble rot' 

[p00rstudent]

i know of some wine growers who purposely cause bortytis on their grapes to get a particular flavour for their wine.

[Jay Dubya]

Hi, PS nice to hear from you hope your vinyard is going well, what you were refering to is Noble Rot which will make desert wine.
The phylloxera virus along with powdery mildew was brought to us from north east america, but has been eradicated in the UK as some one said with american root stocks. Powdery mildew unfortunately is still with us.
I grow a wine grape called Seyval Blanc which has two benefits, it dosn't need a rootstock so can be increased by cuttings and two it is said to be discese free so can be grown organicly. Hope to get my first crop this year from these three year old vines, it seems a long while but it's sped by.

Keep you posted on the non spraying.