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Cold Hardy Grapes and Vines: Summer Field Notes

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Field note · June 2026

valiant grapes from hardwood collect in early spring

Oak Summit Nursery · Southern Manitoba

valiant grapes from hardwood collect in early spring, these were on bottom heat for a month in the root cellar, then moved onto the mist bench to start hardening off. now at about six weeks they have enough roots to pot up. about half are going to stay in bins to root in bulk and I'll sort out the largest as bare root plants at the end of the season, for this same potting mix in a bulb crate topped with the medium they rooted in, a method that's growing on me, using the black bulb crates like a small air pruning bed, easy to move around and reuse. grapes can be propagated from softwood, but this hardwood method produces bigger plants and makes good use of what you prune off, the trick is a heat mat to get them to callous and some mild conditions for the top growth, here I'm going from a humid root cellar to a humid greenhouse under shade, and eventually they'll go outside.