Transplanting Vines
TroubleShooting
Joe Melfi — Thornville, Ohio asks,
We are planning to build a pole barn where we have four small grapevines planted and I am wondering if I can cut the plants down to a little off the ground and move the plants this time of year?
Depending on the age of the grapevine, and it sounds like it could still be young since you say it’s “small,” it is indeed possible to transplant grapevines. It takes a lot of care and often takes a lot of time and elbow grease, however. Grapevines quickly establish very deep, wide-reaching root systems and the older they are the bigger those root systems become. When you do dig out the vines, be sure to initially dig at least three feet away from the stump in order to find the rootball, dig around and under it, and move as much as you can of it. Be sure that the hole into which you move the transplant is similarly large — you may be digging a lot longer, deeper and wider than you had planned on. The roots develop many little “micro hairs” and complex and very thin root pieces that are critical for the plant’s health and are often disrupted during the move. When you do get the rootball back underground, be sure to water much more than you normally would