Protecting grapes is necessary if you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. In this post, I will give you tons of tips for how to protect grapes from birds and bugs, and prevent these pests from destroying your harvest.
I think we can all agree that homegrown grapes fresh off the vine are irresistible! Well guess what, they’re not only delicious to us, the birds and bugs love them too.
Grapes left on the vine with no protection may become a feast for pesky critters, rather than for your family.
Birds can be a BIG problem for grapes, and they can quickly decimate your crop. Not only that, but there are several different insects that eat grapevine leaves and fruits too.
It can be extremely frustrating! But don’t worry, protecting grapes is easy to do, inexpensive, and only requires a little of your time and effort.
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How To Protect Grapes From Birds & Insects
You don’t have to sacrifice your bounty to pests, you can keep it all to yourself, and it’s not that difficult. You just have to find the right method that works in your garden.
In my experience, the best way to keep the pests away from grapes is to use physical barriers like covers or netting.
But there are lots of other methods you can try, and you might just find that using a few of them together will work the best for you.
Grapes on my backyard vine
Protecting Grapes From Birds
Thankfully, birds aren’t usually attracted to grapes until they begin to ripen. So, you only need to worry about fighting them off for a few weeks at the end of summer.
Even so, birds will eat your entire crop in a few short hours, so it can be a difficult fight for sure. Here are a few protective measures to try…
- Bagging the bunches – Bag your grapes as soon as they start to ripen. Mesh or organza bags would be the best, to allow for airflow, and so you can easily see when they’re ripe. But you could use paper lunch bags, or wrap them in pieces of tulle fabric. Simply slide the bag over the cluster, and tie or staple it at the top. Do not use plastic, or the fruit could mildew or rot.
- Grapevine covers – Lightweight grapevine covers will keep the bugs off the leaves, and also protect the bunches from being eaten by birds or insects. I use tulle fabric for mine. It’s great because it’s light, and allows air, water, and sunlight to reach the plant.
- Bird netting – Common bird netting keeps them out, and you don’t need to put it on until the grapes start ripening. Plus it’s inexpensive, and readily available. Use netting with smaller openings (1/2″ is best). Remove it when you harvest to avoid it becoming tangled in the tendrils of the vines.
- Scare tape – If you’ve ever been to a vineyard, then you’ve probably noticed the bird scare tape (also called flash tape) used to protect grapes. Simply hang it near the vines, and when it blows around in the wind, the noise and reflection will scare the birds away.
- Bird repellent spray – Another easy method you can try is repellent spray. Though it may not work very well on its own, it can work great to help supplement your other efforts. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to reapply regularly, especially after a heavy rainfall.
- Wind chimes – I have a cute little wind chime in the center of my pergola. Not only does it look nice hanging down like a chandelier, the noise it makes scares the birds, and helps keep them away from my grapes.
Tulle used for grapevine cover
Protecting Grapevines From Insects
The methods listed above work great to keep birds away, but they do nothing to protect grape leaves from insects. Bugs like Japanese beetles and grapevine beetles can feast on the foliage, and skeletonize the leaves very quickly.
Fortunately, this damage is usually only cosmetic, and it’s very rare that these pests will kill the plant. But, the tattered leaves still look terrible.
To keep the damage to a minimum, you can cover the entire grapevine with fabric. I use tulle to cover ours so the bugs can’t get through.
Related Post: How To Trellis Grapes In Your Home Garden
Covering Grapevines
I get a lot of questions from new gardeners about how to cover grapevines. It can seem like an impossible task, especially for large vines.
Honestly, if your plants are huge, or extremely tall, then covering them may not be a practical solution. But, it’s not always that difficult, and it doesn’t take much time.
Netting installed over my grapes
Why Cover Grapevines
Grapes cannot be ripened off the vine, they must stay on until they are fully ripe. The problem is that, once they start to ripen, they attract even more pests.
Covering grapevines can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort to keep them from being destroyed by bugs and birds.
Related Post: How To Make Grape Jelly (Recipe & Instructions)
How To Install Netting To Protect Grapes
Our grapes are growing on a tall pergola structure, so that made it a little more challenging to cover them with the netting or fabric. Below are the steps I took for covering my grapevines with tulle.
Supplies Needed:
- Tulle fabric or bird netting
- Clothespins
- Tall stakes (optional)
- Garden ties (optional)
- Scissors (optional)
Step 1: Attach the fabric to the support – First I stapled the tulle at the top of the pergola. If your vines aren’t growing on a wooden structure, then you can use ties to attach the fabric covering to the trellis. You could also use tall garden stakes to support the fabric, or drape it over the top of smaller vines.
Wrapping fabric around grapevines
Step 2: Wrap the grapevine – Wrap the tulle fabric loosely around the vines, encircling them with it. It’s important to keep the fabric loose enough so it doesn’t restrict the vines, especially if you plan to leave it on all summer.
Step 3: Secure the fabric closed – Carefully fold the tulle closed, and use clothespins to keep the fabric fastened together. The clothespins will make it easy to open the fabric and access the grapevines, and also to adjust the covering if necessary.
Securing grapevine cover with clothes pins
Protecting grapevines from birds and insects is a simple and inexpensive task, and in the end you will be glad that you did it. Try some of these methods to protect grapes this year so that you and your family can fully enjoy the bounty.
More About Garden Pest Control
- How To Control Garden Pests Naturally
- How To Make A Homemade DIY Fruit Fly Trap
- How To Use Eggshells As Organic Pest Control
- 85+ Deer Resistant Plants For Your Garden
Share your tips for protecting grapes from pests in the comment section below.
Nick says
What about old panty hose to use just over the clusters themselves? So you think that would work?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, that would work great to keep the bugs and birds off your grapes. Just make sure they’re large enough to allow for growth, and don’t end up becoming too tight.
Kevin Bouwens says
I have seedless red grapes/vines. As they start to ripen ground bees (not yellow jackets) are eating them . They make a small hole in the skin and proceed to holliw them out. I’ve tried covering the plants and just the bunches with no success. What else could I try?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Have you tried using the fine mesh netting as I’ve shown in the article to cover the grape bunches? I don’t know how the bugs could get through that, as long as there aren’t any holes in it of course.
Sally says
Our (red) grape vine is three years old. We have lots of bunches this year but – even at the unripe/green stage – the bunches look sparsely-fruited and appear to have had grapes chewed off? It’s so frustrating!!
We’ve followed all the protocols re: feeding/watering/tying up. Any advice?!? Thanks!!!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Bummer, sorry to hear your grapes are being eaten by something. I would definitely recommend covering them at a very early stage, when they are still tiny. Many times if you wait until you start seeing them being eaten, it’s too late to protect them. I cover mine as soon as I start to see tiny grapes forming in early summer.
Tyna says
I planted my small grape vine I bought at home depot in a large pot but everytime a green leaf comes out something eats it? So I am going to try the netting I really hope it helps just so they can at least start growing lol!!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Oh my, that doesn’t sound good. Yes, try putting the netting over your grapevines to protect them from whatever is eating the leaves. Just make sure to inspect them first to see if you can find any pest insect. Otherwise, you might just end up trapping the bugs inside the netting, which won’t help to protect your plant at all. LOL. But, if the whole leaf disappears that fast, my guess is that it might be a deer or rabbit? Regardless, the netting should keep them away.
Emmie says
Would “fruit footies” work? (They’re little “socks” that are put over tiny apples and expand as the fruit grows) it seems like this would protect the clusters of grapes as well. Have you ever head of this working? I’m going to try it this year.
Amy Andrychowicz says
I have not tried using fruit footies to protect my grapes before, but great idea. I’d love to know if they end up working for you!
Rachel says
beware of raccoons. They squashed my net bags with the grapes inside. Very disappointing. We are now trying electric fence. along with covering the whole vines to keep fruit flies away.
hope it works!!! Seems hopeful!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Bummer, sorry to hear the raccoons ruined your grapes. They never touched mine, I guess I never even thought about them being a threat, LOL.
Linda says
But you’ve only covered the post. My vines are specifically planted over raised veggie garden beds to provide shade/protection in summer, light in winter. The vines cover the entire shade “roof”.
I like your tulle idea but I’ll go for a colour and encase each bunch rather than the whole shebang. To difficult to cover the whole underneath where they hang and besides will look ugly.
Amy Andrychowicz says
LOL, that’s because the grapevines weren’t growing over the top of the pergola yet. 🙂 But yes, for your larger vines, putting bags over the grape bunches is the way to go.
Flor Rachwal says
Our grapes are almost ripe for the picking but a lot of them were eaten by I dont know what. Fruit flies are all over when I checked the fruits inside the tulle protection. I am so disappointed with how the bugs/birds/squirrel etc. are eating our grapes. Please help.
Amy Andrychowicz says
If there are fruit flies all over, then I think your grapes are ready to be harvested, and may actually be overly ripe. Also, if pests are still getting to your grapes even though you covered them, then I would recommend trying a mix of the methods I have listed above to keep them away.
Rebecca West says
Such a great idea! I’ll have to keep these coverings in mind when I plant my grapes.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, definitely.
Ernesto Sanchez says
Just finished covering my grape vines, with the insect covering. Was going to put some pictures, but no way to insert the pictures for information.
I am located in EL Paso, Texas area.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, hope the grapevine covers will work great for you! If you want, you can post pictures on our Facebook page.