When propagating grape vines, many gardeners prefer to propagate grapes from vine cuttings rather than seeds. A vine cutting produces a grape vine that is similar in nature to the parent vine. This is especially important when dealing with hybrid vines. Hybrid grape seeds do not produce plants that are identical to the parent plant. Instead, hybrid seeds produce a plant that is like the original grandparent. Propagating vines from cuttings is relatively simple.
Select a shoot from your parent vine that is healthy and vigorous so that it will pass these genetic traits onto the new plant. Cutting vines should be intermediate size and neither too green nor too woody.
Remove the entire shoot where it connects to the vine with a pair of pruning shears. Cut off the last 6 inches from the tip of the shoot and discard.
Divide the shoot into 6-inch sections, cutting just below the point where a leaf emerges from the plant. Strip the bottom two leaves off of each section. Place the cuttings into a bucket of lukewarm water to hold them until you can plant them to prevent the cuttings from drying out.
Mix a potting mix of 1 part peat moss, 1 part sand and 1 part bark. Fill a planting tray full of the mix. Mist with a plant mister until moss is saturated to the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.
Dip the end of the cuttings from which you have stripped the leaves in rooting powder. Stick this end of the cutting into the peat moss tray until it is buried halfway.
Mist the cuttings and cover them with plastic. Place them in a sunny location or under a set of grow lights until the plants produce roots.
Check plants daily to ensure that they do not dry out. The leaves and potting soil should both remain moist, with no standing water in the tray.
Transplant the vines to a larger container when they sprout roots. Plants should be moved to their permanent location in six months, or when the vines have grown to about 5 feet in length.
