Vitis vinifera -Common Grapevine, Cipro Nero (Mavro)

Mavro (Greek: μαύρο, meaning "black") is an indigenous red grape cultivated on the island of Cyprus.
Cyprus belongs to the old world of wine producing countries and the grapevine below collected from one very old vineyard. The owner estimated the grapevine age to be 150-200 years!! I am not sure if he is right but if you consider that the owner is 90 years old and the vineyard was propably planted by his grandfather or grand grandfather(he wasnt sure) then is a very old specimen for sure.
The very obvious reverse tapering and bark colour/pattern are also signs of a very old grapevine.

Let us hope that it will survive and thrive...


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Very nice Greg,lets see how it will react....

The truth is that we have never really considered carefully all our options in terms of native species and no doubt vines are one of them.
My main concern is the size of the leaves.
Let's hope that it will thrive fist of all and then we'll have a look at the size of he leaves too
nice catch

stavros wrote:The truth is that we have never really considered carefully all our options in terms of native species and no doubt vines are one of them.
My main concern is the size of the leaves.
Let's hope that it will thrive fist of all and then we'll have a look at the size of he leaves too
nice catch

You are right, to many native species not yet considered. I hope to have the chance to discover as many us we can the folowing years.
Its an amazing piece, its too old with a fantastic bark . You will have the chance to see this one in a couple of weeks

Any more available friend?you never say anything,you always go alone,on yamadoring....

Don't cry Savvas - there are plenty more fish in the sea!
It was an unexpected invitation from a friend.
Dont worry,lets see how it will go and next year we will arrange a yamadory hunting

You know i never forget......

an update...

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bark detail
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Nice vine. The size of the leaves can be reduced by leaf pruning, either throughout the season by removing the larger leaves
or by total defoliation. We are lucky in Cyprus that we have a long growing season and plants will tolerate defoliation twice in
a season provided they are strong and fertilised well beforehand. Apart from reducing leaf size defoliation promotes branch
ramification, it's like having 2 or 3 growing seasons in one.
This is a small vine now in autumn colours.

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Very nice Greg,its picking up nnicely...another option to add to our collection.mayb they will never make into something that great but its a local species,very hardy and looks nice as well.

wildfig wrote:Nice vine. The size of the leaves can be reduced by leaf pruning, either throughout the season by removing the larger leaves
or by total defoliation. We are lucky in Cyprus that we have a long growing season and plants will tolerate defoliation twice in
a season provided they are strong and fertilised well beforehand. Apart from reducing leaf size defoliation promotes branch
ramification, it's like having 2 or 3 growing seasons in one.
This is a small vine now in autumn colours.

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Good one Christo...did you try defoliation at all?and if yes what time of the year?we know that now leaves will fall anyway.

Early May is a good time. I removed the larger leaves, this tree is 2 weak, I'm gradually reducing the buried trunk.
I experimented with vines years ago, I had a plentiful supply as growers were subsidised to uproot their vineyards
at the time, and one could follow the JCB and collect them, they root easily.
Vine bonsai are beautiful when they bear fruit which, of course, cannot be made smaller. Varieties like carignan have
smaller grapes with a deep purple colour.
Unfortunately, my whole bonsai collection including several local junipers (juniperus phoenicea) was destroyed
when I emigrated in 2001. It is now illegal to collect these trees.

I am sure we can still find some good vines around which are left abandoned....This year will be one of my targets....Greg?any help?

Many thanks Savvas & Christos.

Savvas,
yes we can find some grapevines. Christos said that collecting juniperus phoenicea is illegal and not grapevines. For grapevines you just need the owners permition.

I had the time during Christmas holidays to work with this one.
After spending a few hours of cleaning the live and dead wood from the old bark, the dead wood was treated with "knocking solution" (an alternative to wood hardener) and lime sulphur.
The result gave the tree a very dramatic silhouette !

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very interesting!!!
let's see how it will look in leaf during springtime

Nice clean job there Greg,live veins look good.

some virtual....

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Nice work Greg. Striking contrast between the live bark and deadwood.
Actually the live bark looks like the juniper live veins.
Can I ask what is the "knocking solution" ?

wildfig wrote:Nice work Greg. Striking contrast between the live bark and deadwood.
Actually the live bark looks like the juniper live veins.
Can I ask what is the "knocking solution" ?

Many Thanks
you are using Knotting solution over bare knots to prevent the natural resins in the wood leaking out.

Spring time so its time for an update

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Very Nice Greg....lets see what variety grapes you will make....Are thinking of producing some wine as well...