Grape vines – Relocating

Q: Two years ago I bought at a home improvement store four grape vines, one each of ‘Suffolk Seedless’, ‘Mars Seedless’, ‘White Niagara’, and ‘Concord’. Now, by their fruit, I seem to have four ‘Concord’s. If I relocate the vines to different locations on my property will they revert to their original variety?

A: In my experience, it is common in “big box” stores for fruiting plants to be mis-labeled. I’m sure it’s not purposeful, but a store that sells lumber, plumbing, paint and light bulbs can’t be expected to pay close attention to the accuracy of their plant labels. Buying flowering plants is not usually a problem. If the plant is in bloom, you know what you’re getting. Further, it’s easy to tell the difference between a daylily and a hosta. But it’s impossible for a consumer to determine if a grape vine is truly a ‘Suffolk Seedless’ or a ‘Concord’ unless they buy the vine when it has fruit on it. For that reason, I recommend that if the variety of a plant makes a difference to you, buy it from a nursery that guarantees their plants are true to name. I believe you received four ‘Concord’ grape vines. Grapes do not change to another variety. You can either be satisfied with the vines you have or buy new ones from reputable sources described at  (BROKEN)  Fruit Plants – Good Sources