[Oxankle]

I have a Marechal Foch grape vine in my garden. It is small and struggling after three years, having been left to its own devices in the weeds after planting. I've dug it out of the weeds and am giving it a new start.

Is anyone familiar with this grape? Is it worth saving? (IK've read the catalogue hype--I'm looking for someone who has tasted the grape.)
Ox

 

[Steve L.]

Hello, Oxankle. Where are you located, and are you intending to make wine?

 

[Oxankle]

Steve;
Yes and in Oklahoma.

I understand that this is a pretty good wine grape, but the reason that I bought it is that it is supposed to make juice that tastes like cherries.
Ox

 

[Steve L.]

Quote -

"it is supposed to make juice that tastes like cherries"​

Well, many wine snobs like to think that they "get cherries in the nose" (and I more or less agree with them), but they're talking about the wine. You'll have to decide for yourself concerning the juice. Since I must have picked Foch some time in the past 25 years, I must have tasted it (I'm an irrepressible taster). However, I have no recollection of having ever tasted a grape that really made me think 'cherry'. I guess I'll just have to make a point of tasting some this fall. Maybe you'd like to remind me around the first of Sept.?

Anyway, a 3 year old plant in OK (even if neglected) has probably established at least a modest amount of roots. Keep as big an area around the vine as weed free as you can (minimun 4' dia., point of diminishing returns probably reached at 8' to 10'dia.). By 'weed free' I mean no other plants, including grass. Keep it adequately watered (1" to 1.5" of deep watering per week, natural and/or artificial), and, if you don't have 12" to 18" of new growth by mid June, give it a moderate shot of N.

If you have even a half dozen or so buds that were exposed to sunlight last summer, you're likely to have some fruit to taste this fall.

How big is your vine?

 

[Oxankle]

Steve;

The vine is puny, 4 or 5 shoots, none bigger than a pencil. It was growing in grass and weeds and at one point the cattle grazed it off. It started reviving when I cleared the garden again last year and protected it. I pruned it down to two good canes this afternoon and noticed that it had buds swelling. It did not bleed however, and it is probably still two or three weeks from bud. There are three other grapes out there, and I will have to get out my records to see what they are. I am in the process of doubling the size of that enclosure, to will put down stakes for these vines this year. Up until now I worked close to them with a tiller and did not have a trellis.
Ox

 

[Steve L.]

Quote -

"The vine is puny, 4 or 5 shoots, none bigger than a pencil."​

So, are these 'shoots' (really canes) less than 2 ft, with fewer than 15 nodes?
Quote -

"I pruned it down to two good canes"​

How many nodes did you keep?