Moving - should I try to transplant my vines?

[Mcjeff]

We are moving in May. I have vines that are 3 and 4 years old and the new owner is not interested in the vines, so I would like to transplant them. I figure that it is spring and my vines are fairly young so they might have a chance. My vines are Cayuga, chambourcin, Marquette and Noiret hybrids. Any thoughts, suggestions, experience?

 

[GreginND]

You could certainly try. It may work, but not guaranteed. But, I would also take cuttings of them and root new vines. Many times once the root system is developed in the first couple of years, cutting that root system weakens the vine and they don't flourish well after that. Starting new vines from the cuttings will ensure you establish a good root structure in your new place.

That being said, grapes are weeds and hard to kill.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Grapes are weeds,,,, yup!
If you get a reasonable amount of root they should survive. To give it the best chance I would trim back to the support wires such that you are basically moving the trunk with no fruiting tissue. I have seen northern hybrids moved when the tasting room had to be moved,,, and done it with 1 wild grape that was on land I cleared.

 

[BigH]

Research how much of the plant you should retain above the ground. I have no experience with this, but if it is anything like planting new vines or fruit trees, then you would want to reduce the amount of vegetation above ground that the damaged root system is trying to support.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably start from cuttings like Greg suggested. Might take longer, but hey, you could enjoy the next few summers a little more.

H

 

[Mcjeff]

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to give it a try. I’m hoping it will get me to grapes quicker than starting over and I just hate to see them go to waste.

 

[Sage]

I've moved plants a number of times. The same plants 3X to my present vineyard. Get as much root as you can, cut the top way back.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

What Sage said. I've moved many vines and always make sure the tops are pruned back. Since grape vines usually have extensive root systems, you be pruned them by default. I would make sure that the roots are cleaning pruned. I have a device that I made for the back of the tractor for moving small trees, vines, and blueberrys. It allows me to lift the item to be moved and inspect the cut roots prior to replanting. I suppose the basic rule is to match the tops to the bottoms, and to ask someone nearby to 'hold my beer'..

 

[OilnH2O]

All good advice, above - the only thing I haven't read is to keep the roots wet/damp - don't let them dry out. Bare root vines always have the roots wrapped in something that keeps the roots wet. Re-plant as quickly as possible.
You'd want to tag each vine with the varietal, since you have so many different ones. Amazing how two vines can look alike when they are in a different place! And, I encourage you to "report back" on your experience!

 

[Dennis Griffith]

One last thing to consider. Maybe doing a trench drench with Actinovate while moving to inoculate for fungus. I'm starting to think biological fungicides are a good supplement to other treatments. It may one day be the only way to go.

 

[Obbnw]

I've moved some around too with mostly good results. I did kill one but I also tried to move in during the growing season and based on previous successes was probably to cavalier in how I moved it and tended to it post move.

 

[Lando545]

I moved my Cayuga vine once but it was during its dormant period. I just Cut the roots with a spade in a wide circle and then put it in its new spot.

 

[Cynewulf]

How did it work out, @Mcjeff ? I don’t have any plans to move but am interested for future reference if you were successful.

 

[SheridanVines]

I experimented last year moving some random 2 year old Riesling vines that survived a harsh winter in order to replant with some more hardy varietals. I didn’t have trunks established so I pruned them back a bit and hoped for the best. By the end of summer every one had some growth. I pruned back a lot of old wood and the new growth to 2-3 buds this spring and they looked healthy. I’m hopeful I can establish a trunk this year on them.

 

[Mcjeff]

How did it work out, @Mcjeff ? I don’t have any plans to move but am interested for future reference if you were successful.

Sorry I don’t have an example for you. In the end I didn’t move them. The new owner ended up deciding to turn my place into an air bnb type of country house and liked the vines after all. I’m hoping to start over again.

 

[Vern]

I moved 60 vines, used a 42" tree spade, 3 years ago. They all lived and apear to be thriving. I did prune back and only allowed a small first year crop. Last fall I harvested 15 lbs. per vine.

 

[JustJoe]

It seems to me that vines are nearly indestructible. My son knew someone who was eliminating his vineyard and had dug as little as he could before just pulling the vines out. So. my son picked out four of the less damaged stumps and brought them to me. There were none of the smaller roots left, only a couple feet of the main root and a couple os broken off stubs.
These were Marquette vines and I was planning to get some anyway so I tried to see if I could save them. I cut the tops off a few inches above the ground line, dug a big hole and put the root in it and filled it with a mixture of garden soil and compost. I watered it generously and kept it reasonably damp for a couple of weeks and new buds appeared and grew for the rest of the summer.
That was last year. Now the canes are budding and look like they are all alive and well.