# How many vines to start with



## tatd69 (Mar 24, 2014)

I am going to put out at some vines. My question is for someone that has no real experience in growing grape is 100 vines to much to start with? Should I stick with one white grape and one red grape? Should I get more than 2 types? Do I want them to be ready at the same time?
Thanks


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## mgmarty (Mar 24, 2014)

You started to answer your own question there at the end. How many grapes can you harvest in one day? How many bottles do you want to wash and sterilize on bottling day? How much do you want this hobby to turn into work, or still be fun? My thoughts were the same as yours, so I based my plantings on the room I have for fermenters and barrels. It's a lot of work! Good luck! 


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## lawrstin (Mar 24, 2014)

100 vines is a lot of work. What type of equipment do you have and help? 


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## blumentopferde (Mar 25, 2014)

I'd rather start with 10 or 20 of one variety, you can still go up to 100 and other varieties next year, if you have the capacity...


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## FTC Wines (Mar 25, 2014)

I had 16 Merlot vines in No. Georgia, was disappointed with the yields year 4&5, then sold property. So I would plant min 25-50 to start. Then add from there. Roy


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## grapeman (Mar 25, 2014)

One of the big questions you need to ask is how much time do you have that you want to devote to tending those vines? Generally speaking 10 to 25 vines could be cared for well without being a burden. 100 vines will take up a lot of your time as there are many more chores than you forsee in gkeeping them in good shape. What equipment do you have for both the grape growing and winemaking? 25 vines can be done in a couple brutes and then transferred to carboys. 100 vines will take 6-8 brutes and you will need about 15 carboys for them. It would be next to impossible to hand destem that many. And it goes on and on. You need to really want them bad to give up most of any free time you have for 100 vines.


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## ibglowin (Mar 25, 2014)

Plant what grows well in your area (do some research) as well as what you like to drink!


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## tatd69 (Mar 25, 2014)

I have the equipment for planting the vines and putting the trellis up. The property was a tobacco farm so the soil has been checked. 
I don't plan on making wine out of all the grapes. I plan on selling the majority of them. 
My thoughts for grapes are:
norton-cynthiana
Vidal Blanc 
Chancellor 
Concord
Niagara 
I want to ensure I understand the process of growing before I do this on a big scale. I don't want to go to fast but I don't want to move to slow. 
My long term plan is to have ten acres of vines. 
I have 3 boys so I have labor. LOL


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## blumentopferde (Mar 25, 2014)

A small calculation:
10 Acres would make 10000-15000 vines, maybe even more. If you plant 100 each year it would take you 100-150 years to complete your vineyard. So does it really make a difference whether you start with 10 or 100 vines? 

I think that the learning curve won't be steeper with more vines. You'll need to learn how to prune and spray them correctly, when to harvest, how to make wine. I'd suggest to start with baby steps. Once you know what you're doing you can - and you have to - make bigger leaps.


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## tatd69 (Mar 25, 2014)

It comes down to cost, if I buy 50 vines or more the price drops from $6 a vine to $2 a vine. 
Plus I have a spot that is perfect for 100 vines. So to build a trellis for that area is cheaper that adding to it later. 
That is why I came up with 100 vines. 



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## garymc (Mar 26, 2014)

Unlike almost every other person posting in this thread, you don't have your location listed. But the hint about growing tobacco indicates you could be in muscadine territory. You could plant 30 or 40 muscadines in the same space with a similar production. In that case, you might get away without much of a spraying program. I haven't had problems with birds bothering my muscadines either. Just a thought.


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## ibglowin (Mar 26, 2014)

Looks like somewhere close to Georgetown, KY



garymc said:


> Unlike almost every other person posting in this thread, you don't have your location listed.


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## blumentopferde (Mar 26, 2014)

tatd69 said:


> It comes down to cost, if I buy 50 vines or more the price drops from $6 a vine to $2 a vine.
> Plus I have a spot that is perfect for 100 vines. So to build a trellis for that area is cheaper that adding to it later.
> That is why I came up with 100 vines.
> 
> ...



I don't want to talk you out of planting 100 vines, as you obviously have good reason for planting that number. 
It's definitely manageable, but it is still almost 5 times as much work as 20 vines. And if you do something wrong you'll do it wrong 5 times as often


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## Crown_King_Robb (Mar 26, 2014)

I started with 20; put them in, and then decided I had space for 50 and made another order and got them. Now going into my second year . If you can do 20 I think you can do 50 labor wise and economy of scale, if the site is convenient and you can go out and putter around anytime you please. I have other things going on besides the vines so as one poster said above, you can go from a hobby to having a second job pretty quick.

In my situation, at the end of the day its "me, myself and I" as the caretaker of it all. I have volunteers for future harvests, but who knows if they can make it when needed. And my kids may not be interested either. If the deer get a few of my grapes Im not going to care too much. 

As a one-man operation, 50 - 75 would be my limit, and again that depends on location and harvest goals. I find 50 to be pretty good balance but I think I could do 75 and not burn out or get overwhelmed. 100 would be too much for me, in my situation.


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## tatd69 (Mar 28, 2014)

I am in Harrison County Kentucky. North of Georgetown. 
I have decided on 60 vines 10 Niagara and 10 concord. 20 Vidal Blank and 20 Norton-Cynthia. 
I was wanting table grapes that's why the concord and Niagara. 


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