# Reliance grapes



## Larryh86GT

I have room in my backyard for a couple more grapevines and am leaning towards the Reliance grape. It's a seedless table grape that I can also make wine from. Anybody growing these?


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## wvbrewer

I searched a little on Reliance grapes and found this from a brew store website. E.C. Kraus Home Wine and Beer Supplies.

This was under graper varities:

European Wine Grapes (Vitis Vinifera): These are grapes such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pinot Chardonnay and many others that were brought over from Europe. Hybrid grapes such as Reliance, Foch, Chambourcin and Vignoles are also considered to be in this group. Only on occasion are these grapes too sharp or acidic in flavor and their sugar content is generally higher than that of native wine grapes and much higher than that of wild grapes. 

It sounds like they will make a good wine.

This maybe helpful too.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1423.html

It has a lot of info.


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## Brian

Great I just planted 4 of these vines.. In a couple of years I will be making wine from them instead of just eating and making jelly!!!


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## Larryh86GT

I ordered 3 vines today. I think this grape will work very nicely in the back yard for a snack or makeing wine.


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## n2tazmania

I also have 2 on order from Ison's. So, you guys can tell me if I need to cut them down in a few years.


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## Larryh86GT

n2tazmania said:


> I also have 2 on order from Ison's. So, you guys can tell me if I need to cut them down in a few years.



I'm going to let you take the point on finding out how to prune these.


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## wvbrewer

I did some looking online and come up with a few things.

Grapes require severe annual pruning early each spring to remain productive. Grapes flower and produce fruit only on one-year-old canes. The most productive wood is on the 6 to 8 buds closest to the base of the cane. Canes with moderate vigor and about the diameter of a pencil are most productive. So pruning is needed to encourage new canes to develop, eliminate unproductive canes, train fruiting canes, and limit the number of buds on the vine. When done properly, pruning often removes 80 to 90 percent of the wood. Pruning is suggested after the coldest part of winter but before buds swell. February and early March are good times. 

From http://urbanext.illinois.edu/fruit/grapes.cfm?section=small

One more.

Pruning and Canopy Management
Proper pruning results in vines with good vigor, large clusters and large berries. If the vines are too vegetative, the crop will be short and fruit quality will be low due to shading year after year. On the other hand, if over-cropping is allowed to occur, the fruit will be low quality, harvest will be late, and in extreme cases, the vine can die. Unfortunately, there is no simple rule for pruning table grapes; each vine needs to be pruned to maintain the delicate balance between vine vigor and fruit production. This is not easy and is often misunderstood even by professional horticulturists and commercial grape growers. Factors to consider in controlling vine vigor include: climate, soil, variety, rootstock, irrigation, weed control, trellis, cluster thinning and other forms of management.

Sunlight is also a major consideration for the table grape grower because it controls fruit quality and fruit bud initiation for next year's crop. Light must contact the developing buds in the leaf axils on the lower end of a shoot during May and June each year. This sunlight is essential for the initiation of fruit buds for next year's crop. If lower buds on this year's shoot are shaded by more than three leaf layers, next year's crop will be low with fewer clusters and fewer berries in each cluster. Therefore, the grape grower needs to manage vine vigor so that sunlight can adequately reach developing buds. Fruit thinning by hand is necessary to produce large cluster and berries.

Optimum vigor shoots will be 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter and contain 15 to 22 healthy leaves in July when the fruit are developing and ripening. Every vine must be managed by pruning to the correct number of buds so that the shoots will have the vigor and sunlight. Vines which make excess growth one year will need to be pruned to leave more buds the following year. Vines which are weak need to be pruned harder, leaving fewer buds to increase vigor. Each vine should be evaluated every year to determine the proper number of buds to leave on the vine after pruning.

The Cane Count rule can be used to estimate the proper number of buds to leave after pruning. Using the Cane Count rule, if a vine produces 40 healthy canes measuring 3/8 inch in diameter, leave a bud for every cane minus 10 percent, leaving a total of 36 buds on the vine after pruning. Using this rule, the table grape grower can determine the exact number of buds to leave on the vine after pruning. If pruning is ignored, and the vine is allowed to grow unmanaged, excess vigor, poor quality, over-cropping, late harvest, and potential vine death will result.

Pruning Systems
Numerous systems are used around the world to obtain the proper balance between grapevine vigor and fruiting. Table grapes are pruned to the Bilateral Cordon or the Double-T Cane system.

Cane. The Double-T cane pruning system is useful when growing table grapes because of the balance achieved between fruit and vegetation and because of bud count flexibility. Sun canes from renewal spur buds are both vigorous and fruitful from year to year. Vines can be pruned to 8 or 24 buds with only 2 canes, or to 16 or 32 buds on a 4 cane system. Since new canes are selected each year, long term loss from hail or freeze is reduced. If excess vigor is a problem, more buds are left on the vine. The total bud count per vine can be used to dramatically increase cluster and berry size. Large cluster varieties can be pruned to fewer buds per cane on mature vines, producing fruit far superior to that obtained on a bilateral cordon vine. All varieties can be cane pruned.

Bilateral Cordon. The Bilateral Cordon is the most common pruning system currently in use for wine grapes in Texas, and it will also work for table grapes. Vine vigor and production are well-balanced with 28 to 32 total buds on 14 spurs. The bilateral cordon is very difficult to train during the second and third years of vineyard establishment, but is extremely easy to prune thereafter. Hail and freeze damage to the horizontal cordons has caused some growers to shift to a cane system with temporary canes rather than permanent cordons.

The Bilateral Cordon system is well-designed for leaf pruning and for exact fungicide placement to control black rot and bunch rot. All varieties except Thompson Seedless can produce good crops using the bilateral cordon if over-cropping or excess vigor is not a problem.

Trellis
Table grapes need to be vigorous with the canopy positioned for maximum sunlight absorption. A Double-T Lyre trellis is best. The Double-T trellis should have 12-gauge wires spaced at 18 inches for the drip irrigation line, 42 inches for the main wire, two cane wires at 52 inches spaced 12 to 18 inches apart, and top wires at 66 inches spaced 24 to 36 inches apart (Figures 1, 2 and 3).

In situations where climate, soil and site may potentially reduce vine vigor, the Bilateral Cordon can be used. The cordon trellis has vertical wires at 18, 42, 52, and 66 inches (Figure 4).

In Texas, standard metal fence posts with welded cross arms are used as stakes at each vine. End posts should be at least 6 inches in diameter, should be sunk to a depth of 36 inches in the ground, and should be pressure treated. Intermediate posts should be 4 inches in diameter, sunk to 24 inches in the ground, and spaced at every 10 vines down the row.

From http://winegrapes.tamu.edu/grow/tablegrapes.html


I hope this was not too much.

Dave


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## grapeman

Reliance grapes are a tasty table grape and are seedless. They can make wine, but as a red, they are lacking any tannins because of the lack of seeds. If you want a good eating grape, they are fine, but are less than perfect when making wine. They also need to be picked immediately when ripe as they are very prone to skin splitting.


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## broadan

I have a 3 year old vine that produced 45 pounds of grapes this year!! 1 vine only!


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## Bossbaby

broadan said:


> I have a 3 year old vine that produced 45 pounds of grapes this year!! 1 vine only!


How is that reliance vine doing to date? just purchased a couple vines to possibly make wine with for fun..


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