How to Make a Grape Bonsai and Its Care Tips

Cultivating the Stock for a Potted Grape

You can grow it from seedlings or from an old stump. If you use a seedling, you need to shape it: pinch out the growing tip when the seedling has 3 or 4 leaves, then use the secondary shoots sprouting from the leaf buds to develop two or three fruiting branches, and on each branch keep 3-5 buds, then plant it in the ground so it quickly grows into a vine before potting it up. If you use the old stump method, decide on the training form according to how the stump divides and its overall shape and posture, make certain choices about which branches to keep and cut back the rest, then dig out the old stump and transplant it into a flower pot.

Making the Potted Grape

The most suitable time to pot it up is winter, when the grape is dormant. Remove some of the old soil from the stump, shape and prune its branches and roots appropriately, choose the best viewing orientation, and then pot it up.

Growing the Potted Grape

Developing Short-Jointed Branches

Prune it regularly, and moderate the tree's vigour by tying and bending the branches; while shaping the form, you need to repeatedly pinch out the growing tips of the vegetative shoots.

Tying and Shaping

When making a grape bonsai, the branches are generally tied into a horizontal or weeping posture, giving it an S-shape or a wandering-dragon curve. For tying, you can use wire: insert one end into the soil and wind the other end around the trunk at a 45-degree angle, taking care to keep it wrapped tightly. You can make the grape into different forms to suit your preference, such as a slanting trunk, waterside style or cascade style.

Caring for the Grape Bonsai

In summer, water promptly to keep the soil moist, and also spray the leaves with water frequently. In the earlier stage of the grape's growth, you can apply a suitable topdressing of nitrogen fertilizer. In autumn, after the grape bonsai has shed its leaves, repot it promptly, remove about 1/3 of the old soil, prune the roots and remove dead roots, and apply a base fertilizer when changing the soil. As for pruning the branches, this can be done after leaf fall and before the buds sprout the following spring.