It is possible to grow dessert and wine grapes inside as well as outside. With the proper care and attention, you should be able to get healthy crops year after year. When grown inside, grapes should be in a greenhouse or in a building that is open and in full sunlight.

It is sometimes best to plant the vine outside the greenhouse and then train it to grow through small gaps in the wall near ground level. If, however, this can not be done, the grapevines can be planted at the very edge of the greenhouse but more irrigation may be required in order to insure maximum growth. To start of with, double dig the ground and mix in a small amount of well rotted manure or good compost, and then add John Innes base fertilizer at approximately, 90g per sq m. You should check to make sure the soil is not waterlogged before you start and if it is, dig a hole 75-90cm deep and then create a 15cm drainage layer out of brick rubble or gravel along the base of the hole.

You should plant the grapevines at the opposite end of the greenhouse to where the door is. The stems should be trained to grow along the side of the building or along the roof running parallel to the ridge of the roof towards the door. It is best to plant the vines during November to December as the vines can be pruned back easily without them losing any nutrients from bleeding. The plants should be planted at the same depth to which they were in the pot. As when planting outside, the roots must be teased out and spread evenly in the hole.

In the spring, just before the growth of the vine begins, it is best if you evenly distribute John Innes base fertilizer around the rooting area as well as dried blood at a rate of 120g per sq m each. During the seasons in which the vines are growing you should add an occasional sprinkling of dried blood at 30g per sq m at approximately every 4-5 weeks. When the grapevines begin to grow at the start of spring, you should feed them with a high potassium fertilizer such as tomato fertilizer once every three weeks. This should be increased to every week once the vines are in full leaf. You should stop feeding the vines when the grapes begin to ripen and colour as too much fertilizer may spoil the fruit’s flavour.

The grapevines must be kept watered throughout the growing season so it is necessary to do this every 7-10 days. When the roots of a vine are inside a greenhouse, they will tend to need more watering than those that are outside due to the lack of natural watering that normally comes from the rain. When dealing with vines outside, try to water only in dry weather spells and let the rain do the rest of the work.