which black and very very sweet grape to grow?

hallo,

i have finally got a sort-of glasshouse and would like to grow a grapevine but a really sweet black variety --- am in portsmouth, south england --- second question, is it too late to stick it in the ground now in may?
thanks, karaman

 

You can plant your grape vine whenever the ground ist Frost-free. So now would be the perfect timing.

As for the choice of which kind to grow - no luck here. I personally own a Vanessa and a Venus. The first is rosé and the second one is now in the first year where I can expect a harvest (over 40 grape bundles growing).

 

I grow a variety (dessert grape) Suffolk Red and its seedless ... its a great variety as its less prone to get mildew and ideal for a greenhouse in the UK

Grape 'Suffolk Red'.

Spruce

 

The old favourite was always Black Hamburg.
I've got one called Muscat Bleu growing outside, even outside it is early. It has a nice grapey flavour.

Are you going to plant the roots outside and bring the stems into the greenhouse low down.

You can plant pot grown plants any time.

 

If you'd settle for a red variety, I can recommend 'Fragola', the strawberry grape. I planted one out of doors here in London and last year it produced its first crop - the ripe grapes were small but have a lovely flavour. Should think they'd be larger and more abundant under glass.

The Great Vine at Hampton Court is a Black Hamburg, planted in 1768. That still crops heavily within its own dedicated greenhouse, and has its roots growing out of doors as @pete describes.

 

I think what a lot of people don't realise is that to get good quality eating grapes you need the patience of a saint regarding thinning out.

Not a job I have ever mastered, it's just too fiddly.