Sprouting a seed is a way to better understand how nature works and this is valid for the big and the small. To germinate a grape seed from a supermarket, you just have to follow a few steps that we will give you here!
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Before sprouting a grape from the store
Table grapes are not grapes used to produce wine. It depends, of course, on your taste and what you expect from such a harvest, but generally the grapes for the mouth are nutmeg or chasselas.
How to sprout a grape seed from store bought grapes?
Once you’ve duly tasted your supermarket grapes and set aside their seeds, you can keep a good dozen of them to maximize your chances of having a vine. Before starting the germination process, take in a bowl filled with water: throw away the pips that float and recover those at the bottom. Rinse them with clear water and rub them with a cloth to dry them briefly.
1. Place the grape seeds between cotton
Take a small cup at the bottom of which you will lay out cotton, preferably organic to avoid any negative interaction between germination and chemical residues.
Moisten the whole well then lay out your pips on top before covering them with another piece of cotton which you will have fragmented to facilitate the coming breakthrough of the young plants. Moisten again.
Do the operation on several cups in case a fungus settles during the operation, and to limit the risks of losing everything.
Another way to germinate grape seeds is to place the seeds in a peat bag instead of cotton (peat limits the development of this type of fungus).
2. Put everything in the refrigerator
Nuclei, seeds and other seeds all have an envelope that surrounds them. This envelope has a protective role and reacts according to the seasons and the external conditions, allowing or not the germination of the seedling.
In the case of grape seeds, this envelope is quite resistant and needs to be sent a message. The easiest way is to put the seeds in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 days, making sure to keep the cotton always moist.
3. Finally, a hot shot for the seeds
Most of the time the seeds will develop in your refrigerator but it is possible that the variety you have chosen will take a little longer. To help it and after at least two months, take out your cup(s) and place it at more or less 68°F in a very bright place but not necessarily in full sun while keeping the whole continuously humid. The seedlings will soon appear.
4. Place the germinated seeds in a pot
The young seedlings that appear after 2 to 8 weeks are very fragile, especially since they have not been exposed to external stresses such as wind. Start by planting them in a good size pot (a height of 30 centimeters is ideal, the diameter being less important) with an ordinary potting soil or a mixture of potting soil and the soil that your future vine will know, by arranging small gravels or clay balls at the bottom.
Use tweezers to take the seedling by the shell and bury it in a small hole previously made in your potting soil. Do not dig in more than two centimeters and water copiously before putting in the sun. You now have a grape shoot, which comes directly from a store-bought grape!
How to plant a sprouted grape seed (From pot to field)
Let your vine grow until it reaches 25 to 30 centimeters before planting it in the fall.
Make sure to find a place with a maximum of sunlight and where, at least at the beginning and especially if you do not make it go up in height, it will not be too much competed by other plants.
It will take another 4 years of patience before you harvest the first fruits, but what a joy to see such a plant growing thanks to your care!
