Aloha everyone,
I live on Oahu--windward side, and I'm wondering if there is any chance that grapes and raspberries will actually produce here. Lowe's had them in their garden section about a month ago and I decided, why not... But I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time because they require chill hours or something. A year and a half ago, I planted two blueberry bushes from Koolau Farmers, but no fruit yet and I'm not sure that I ever will get fruit because even the most southern variety has some chill hours.
What do you think?
Grapes and raspberries
The other thing that does them in is the high humidity. They need a mediterranean climate, wet cold winters and dry hot summers. But there are tropical "grapes" in the same family, Vitaceae. Maybe not quite the same as the common cultivated grapes but some like Ampelocissus need a dormant dry season (winter) and a hot humid wet season (summer). There may also be other genus in the same family that are tropical as well.
I'm afraid this won't be much help, but i can tell you that raspberries thrive here in Bali. They are growing "wild" here. I have no idea if they have been introduced, or are some sort of indigenous raspberry species....but they are indeed raspberries (I grew up with them and lived with them in the US midwest and northeast). They are not quite as flavorful or sweet, but they are the real thing. They are growing as a hedge row, untended, along a small stream, next to salak palm....I pick and eat them if I can beat the birds....
The best raspberry for Hawai'i's climate is the Mysore Raspberry, Rubus niveus.
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/image/?q=070908-9331&o=plants
The best grape for Hawai'i is the Isabella Grape, Vitis x prolifera 'Isabella'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_%28grape%29
Wow. Thanks Metrosideros. I doubt that Lowes had anything but mainland plants.
Thatʻs interesting that raspberries grow in Bali. That gives me hope. And now my stick is beginning to get some leaves.