How to Feed a Grape Vine

Grape vines add elegance and a beautiful ambiance to any backyard. Not only do the vines look fantastic, grapes are a delicious snack too! Once the grape vines have started grow, keeping them fed is vital to their health. According to the National Gardening Association Editors, there are several things to do to ensure the grape vines are not only healthy and growing, but to also make sure they are producing grapes as well.

Pruning shears

Spade or garden fork

1/4 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer

Prune the vines in the early springtime. If the vines are not pruned, grape buds will be very few.

Cultivate the soil with the spade or gardening fork, but be careful not to go deeper than 4 inches. The grapevine's roots tend to stay near the surface of the soil. When cultivating, do not go deep into the soil; this could damage the roots. Cultivate within a 4-foot circle around each vine.

Fertilize the soil once in early spring; this type of fertilizer (10-10-10) is very common and can be purchased at your local nursery. Apply the fertilizer in a circle around the vines once every two years. Overfertilizing can produce too many leaves and reduce the yeild of fruit.

Enjoy the grapes on the vine! Grapes do not ripen once taken from the vine, so remember to pick them when they are fully ripened.

Fertilizers: what does 10-10-10 mean? With fertilizers, there are always three numbers on the bag. Those numbers represent the percent of the ingredients nitrogen, phosphate and potash, in that order. So, for a bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer, that would mean there is 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphate and 10 percent potash!