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I am planning to grow grapes on the roof of my house. I am living in rainy environment and also with cloudy weather. Is it possible to cultivate grape in such kind of environment?

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My grapes appear to be thriving and we've had more rain than 90 year old men can remember ever seeing. We're averaging 10 inches per month and in July we received 15 inches. My Pink Reliance and Concords are packed with grapes.

The cloudy weather may affect the sweetness of the grapes since sunlight is needed to make sugars.

But to ask is it possible to grow them, yes, its possible.

With increased rainfall its important to monitor calcium levels in the soil since rain heavily leaches calcium and grapes do appreciate a fair amount of calcium. I fertilize with calcium nitrate.

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  • nice one..can I use any fertilizer instead of calcium nitrate?
    – Dineshcool
    Aug 5, 2013 at 1:42
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    The problem is calcium is not easy to dissolve in water. Yes, you can use lime or gypsum, but it takes longer to get into usable form for the plants. A bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer will only have N, P and K. Not Ca or even Mg. Furthermore, the K in the bag is almost certainly KCl and plants don't care for Cl. The P in the bag is in rock form and will take forever to dissolve into the ground since it depends on acid from the rain. All this still doesn't address the calcium, which is the one thing you need most of.
    – Randy
    Aug 5, 2013 at 1:48
  • fine. In India we will use natural fertilizers.is there any database available in net about fertilizer details, plantation details?
    – Dineshcool
    Aug 5, 2013 at 1:56
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    Natural fertilizers which contain calcium would include bones (bone meal), shells, possibly algae and things from the sea. Also, ashes from hardwood trees with deep roots often contain much calcium. There are many lists of fertilizer on the net, what exactly are you looking for?
    – Randy
    Aug 5, 2013 at 2:35
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    Calcium nitrate is not a "chemical" in the bad sense of the word. Plants "eat" calcium and nitrate just like monkeys eat bananas. Would you say a banana is a chemical? Soil infection will not result from fertilizer. Most fertilzer salts are less toxic than table salt (NaCl). You can use leaves if that's all you have at hand. See what happens. All I can say is its not the optimal method nor the best source of calcium, but may work somewhat and yield average results.
    – Randy
    Aug 5, 2013 at 3:27
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Bordeaux, France is surprisingly rainy but produces excellent wines. Though, their 'better' year's are often in times of lower than average rainfall.

Grapes do not require much in the way of mineral nutrition, with the exception of some initial nitrogen amendments, but this really is dependent upon your soil type.

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  • What kind of soil is require to cultivate that?
    – Dineshcool
    Aug 8, 2013 at 2:07
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    Yup, lower than average rainfall = higher calcium levels in the ground (less leaching) = better grapes. Its nothing to do with the amount of water, but the amount of calcium.
    – Randy
    Aug 8, 2013 at 2:50

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