Grapes in pots?

[bigpepperplant]

Hi, has anyone had success with growing grapes in containers? If so, does it have to be a really big pot? Would love to know. Thanks in advance, Alex

[Primrose]

Some years ago we had friends who grew a grape vine in a huge empty wooden beer barrel. I don't know how deep the roots went into the barrel but they get several bunches of grapes from it every year. The only problem was they had it located on a large patio area and were continually having to prune the shoots back as they tend to grow very quickly and straggle out in all directions, so most of the tiny grape clusters ended up being pruned off to keep the plant tidy.
I'm sure that if you located your large container up against a fence or wall where you have wires to tie the shoots in, you could keep the shoots longer, under control, and get more grapes, although I can imagine there would be a time when the plant might eventually become root bound, even in a big container.

[PLUMPUDDING]

You can get a few bunches of lovely grapes if you grow your vine as a standard. I've got mine in a 15 inch pot that is 1 foot deep. Put a strongish post in when you are planting it and use good rich compost and plenty of drainage. If you train one strong shoot up to about four feet in the first year and tie that to the post, then take off all the buds up the stem the next year leaving four to develop at the top of the stem.
Encourage these to grow fairly equally spaced and prune these back each winter, leaving more buds at the base of these shoots.

I've seen something like an upside down hanging basket, or umbrella spoke type thing attached to the top of the post as a framework for the shoots, but mine looks OK without. Don't let too many shoots grow or you will only get very small grapes. You can trim the ends off about 6 inches to a foot after the flowers to keep it neat.

Grapes fruit on the new season's growth, so you just have to keep pruning back to the main stem while they are dormant and keeping enough buds on to grow the following year.

I got nine bunches off mine last year.

The good thing about growing them in pots is that you can bring them indoors if it is a poor summer, or if they need more warmth to ripen them up in autumn.

[bigpepperplant]

wow, thanks for that, it's really helpful to know. And training them as a standard doesn't sound too difficult at all. I was planning on growing them up a wall, but maybe I'll rethink. Thanks.