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Growers often would like to increase the number of vines in their vineyards by using their own cuttings. In this way, they can select healthy vines for making cuttings, also saving them money.
In areas like the eastern states where there is an abundance of rainfall and high humidity, many growers start new vineyards by planting cuttings in place. In New Mexico where we do not enjoy that luxury, it is best to grow the cuttings for one year in a nursery and then put them in the permanent location the following year.
The best time for selecting the vines to be used for cuttings is at harvest or just prior to it. Select vines that are well cropped but do not appear to be over-cropped, as overcropping will prevent the wood from being fully matured; the cuttings may take poorly as a result. Mark the vines from which you will be making cuttings.
While cuttings can be made any time after vines are completely dormant, the best time is when the vineyard is being pruned. Plant cuttings in a nursery so they will form roots for one year before planting them in a permanent site. The cuttings are known as rootings after they develop roots.
The cutting should be five or six buds long. Do not use cane tips and do not make more than two cuttings from a cane. Wood at the tip of the cane is often less mature and more prone to winter injury, resulting in poor or no root development. On the other hand, old wood has more stored nutrients and will produce more vigorous rootings.
Slant cut at the top; make the one on the bottom straight across, because after cuttings are stored, it is sometimes difficult to tell the top of a cutting from the bottom. If you are making only a few cuttings, it is best to make only mallet cuttings.
The same process is used for making grafting sticks if you plan to do some top-working, but grafting cuttings should be made slightly longer.
Tie the cuttings in the size bundles that are convenient for your operation. If you are making cuttings from more than one variety, make sure all the bundles are well tagged. Store cuttings in a cold place at temperatures slightly above freezing.
Use moist shavings or peat moss to keep cuttings moist. First wet them well, then drain them enough to remove excess moisture. Generally, moisture is adequate when squeezing a handful of peat moss or shavings leaves your hand moist, not wet.
Lay a piece of plastic on a flat surface, spread a thin layer of shavings, place the cuttings on the shavings, then add another layer of shavings. Roll the package up, folding the sides toward the middle. When the bundle is complete, tie the package.
The packages can be stored in a refrigerator or buried on the north side of a building where water from storm drains does not collect.
If you prefer, cuttings can be buried upside down either in bundles or the wrapped packages. If there is good drainage, you can bury them on the north side of a building--the coldest side. As the soil warms closer to the surface, it aids in callusing the bottoms of cuttings, which will be located near the surface.
If there are a number of cuttings to be stored and you do not have access to a walk-in box or a large refrigerator, cutting pits in the soil work well. Use the procedure mentioned above, but take some extra precautions because of the extreme cold often encountered in New Mexico and cover the cuttings with several inches of soil. As an extra precaution against freezing, loose straw can be placed over the pit to further insulate cuttings against the cold. Remove the straw when the possibility of severe cold weather has passed.
If you have access to a walk-in box, cuttings can be stored in a deep box, packing them well in the drained shavings. Often large bundles are made using plastic and moist shavings instead of bins or boxes.
For grafting, it is better to pack the bundles in shavings rather than soil, because the soil particles that stick to the cuttings can quickly dull a knife when the buds are being removed.
In the spring after the soil shows signs of warming, cuttings can be placed in the nursery. If they are to be used for grafting, continue storing them until you are ready to do the grafting. At no time should they be allowed to dry out.
The nursery should be in a location with accessible water. The soil should be well drained and not receive a lot of runoff water from buildings. If possible, work compost or well-rotted manure into the soil. Some shade is acceptable, but the site should have plenty of sunlight.
If possible the soil should be sterilized by solar heating the soil with a black plastic covering--a process called "solarization." Cultivate the site well and water it well. When the soil is drained, cover the area with 4 mil black plastic if possible. Wet the soil before laying the plastic, as moist heat is much more effective for sterilizating the soil. Seal the cover around the edges with soil; this will help retain the heat, but more importantly the cover will remain through the New Mexico winds. The minimum time for a good solarization is two weeks, but if time allows, leave it for a month or more. The heat generated under the plastic will be sufficient to kill most of the weed seeds in the soil, as well as common pathogenic organisms.
Cuttings should be soaked in water for a short time before putting them in the nursery. It is not necessary to use any type of root promoting substance; in fact, these materials may actually reduce grape rooting.
Place the vines in rows in the nursery. The rows should be spaced far enough apart so they can be easily tilled. Place individual cuttings about 4" apart in the row, making sure the cuttings have the slanted cut up.
Use whichever irrigation method is easiest. Sprinklers, furrow, flood, or drip--all work well. The important thing is to give cuttings adequate moisture so they will produce good rootings.
When dealing with purchased cuttings or rootings, check them as soon as you receive them to make sure they have not suffered from drying out. If necessary re-wet the sawdust or peat moss if you are not yet ready to plant.
Cuttings or rootings can be stored either by placing the bundles in a cold room or by burying them on the north side of a building in a place that is well drained.
 1. Reisling Sylvander |
Over the winter months and early spring you can propagate shrubs, trees and vines using hardwood cuttings. Grape vines are a good example of propagating using hardwood cuttings. For the best new plants, only healthy pencil-thick stems of the vine that have been ripened during the previous summer should be selected for propagation. Stems that are not ripe, green or weak will rot when propagated by themselves and should not be used. Also avoid stems that have black lumps on the outside; they indicate winter spore clusters of botryis mildew. These infected stems should be discarded and destroyed. Hardwood cuttings can be propagated indoors or out. Of course only hardy varieties can be propagated outdoors in areas subject to frost, but these varieties may be propagated indoors along with non-hardy varieties to obtain quicker results. |
| Vine shown in (picture 1) is a hardy outdoor grape vine whose grapes are used to make wine. | ||||
November-February. Choose healthy well-ripened stems. |
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| The healthy, well ripened stems should be carefully chosen and cut with cutters from the vine, or selected from those cut off the vine when carrying out the winter pruning. Each stem should have three or four buds and be ideally between 9 in (22 cm) and 12 in (30 cm) long (picture 2). Making a sloping cut, trim the stem just above and below the top and bottom buds respectively. |  2. Cut stem with 3 or 4 buds. |
 3. Wet and dip into rooting powder. |
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Propagating Stems Outdoors. |
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 4. Line trench with sand. |
 5. Place stems evenly apart. |
 6. Leave just the tops of the stems with a bud exposed. |
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| Outdoors
make a V-shaped trench, with the back wall vertical. Fill the bottom
couple of inches of the trench with sharp sand to ensure good drainage (picture
4). Before planting, dip the bottom end of each cutting into water
and then into hormone rooting powder (picture 3). Lay each
cutting against the vertical wall of the trench with the bottom end of
the cutting in the sand (picture 5). Plant the cuttings about 4
in (10 cm) apart. When one row has been planted fill the trench in.
Leave only the bud exposed above the surface of the ground (picture
6)
Carefully firm the stems in, by treading alongside each stem. Only an inch (2.5 cm) or so of the stem with one bud should be showing above the ground. Label each row to show the variety. By the following winter they will be ready for planting out in their permanent positions. |
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Propagating Indoors.Indoors, grape vines can be propagated just as easily. While it may be difficult to propagate large numbers here, it is the best way to ensure good results for special and unusual varieties, as well as being extremely interesting to watch. Indoor propagation also enables the stems to build up a larger plant quicker than those planted outside. |
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 7. Use John Innes Potting compost No.1 |
 8. Place stems evenly apart. |
 9. Cover cuttings |
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| A
5 in (12.5 cm) pot is a convenient size in which to propagate several
stems. Use potting compost No. 1 as the growing medium (picture 7).
Half-fill each pot with the potting compost. Dip the bottom of each stem
in turn, first into water and then into hormone rooting powder (picture
3). Plant the stems so that they lie at an equal distance around the
edge of the pot. Normally six stems can be planted per pot (picture
8).
When the stems are in, fill up the remainder of the pot with potting compost, leaving the top bud of each stem above the compost. The pots should be covered to keep them surrounded with moisture. They can be covered with a plastic bag or dome (picture 9) or placed in a propagating frame. If bottom heat is not available, the stems will still root well but take slightly longer. The pots should be placed in a cold frame, greenhouse or on a widow sill in a warm position. Shade the stems from direct sunlight. Ensure that the soil is kept moist but not wet. The top bud should be showing signs of growth within a few weeks. |
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| When the top bud has grown a shoot about 9 in (22.5 cm) long, with five or six leaves, remove the plant from the pot (picture 10). It can now be potted up into its own 5 in (12.5 cm) pot of potting compost No. 1 (picture 11) and labeled with the name of the variety. Continue to grow the plant in this pot in the greenhouse or in a sheltered position on the patio. |  10. Cutting showing good roots. |
 11. Cover cuttings |
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 12. Ready to plant out |
Plants
started off in January or February under heat should by June have grown
a stem 5 to 6 ft long (picture 12) and they will be ready for
planting out in the greenhouse border or hardened off on the patio or in
a sheltered place before going to their permanent position in the
garden.
Those plants started later or without heat will take a month or so longer before being ready for planting out. Ensure that the vine is well watered in when being planted outside to prevent a dry spell from dehydrating the plant. Before planting out, dig the ground over and incorporate plenty of well-rotted compost and manure. A couple of handfuls of bone meal per plant forked in as well will promote a good rooting system. |
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If you wish to continue growing the vine in a pot in the greenhouse pot it up to a 9 in (22.5 cm) pot and use Compost as the growing medium. During the following winter pot the plant on into a 12 in (30 cm) pot using Compost again. |
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