Grape pruning

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renwings Sultan, WA(Zone 8a) Sep 17, 2005

I have a grape vine that I started from a root last fall. This will be my first year pruning it. I want to prune it to bear fruit, since they are table grapes. I've heard there are several techniques that involve how many branches or canes you leave on. I have no clue.
Anybody have any ideas?

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bettydee La Grange, TX(Zone 8b) Sep 17, 2005

I contributed to a discussion earlier this year in which I enclosed some very informative links. I've enclosed those links as well as the text I submitted so you'd know why I used those links.

Grapevines are pruned when dormant. It is true grapes produce fruit on year-old wood, but iIf you prune heavily after fruit set, the plant loses the ability to support the fruit you are trying to raise. The growth your vines are making this year will provide the year-old for next year's fruit. This coming winter you need to decide whether you are goint to use the cane or the spur method of growing grapes and prune accordingly. It's OK to cut back a stray branch or two during the growing season. I've included 3 links that will help you decide which method to use. The first two links have general information. The third link has a section about Thompson grapes that might help.

http://cekern.ucdavis.edu/Custom_Program667/Reasons_and_Rules_of_Pruning_Grapevines.htm
http://winemakermag.com/departments/19.html
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/616/5855.htm
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Bear with me while I define some terms.
The shoots put out by a grapevine this year are called canes after the leaves fall off.

Nodes are thickened areas on a cane where last year's leaves were located and from where the new buds will emerge next year.

A spur is a short cane with 1 to 3 buds on it.

Grapevines are pruned to renew fruiting wood, to control growth and to limit the number of grape clusters. A grapevine with too many grape cluster will produce small inferior grapes and incomplete clusters.

Next year's growth is regulated by the way a grapevine is pruned. Using the cane method, you replace the old canes with new ones every year. Bud spurs kept close to the base of each cane will produce the following year's canes, etc.
The spur method retains the same canes. The buds on those canes will develop into spurs. Pruning entails leaving 1 or 2 new buds on each spur. I found a link with illustrations that are much easier to follow than a lengthy explanation. A grapevine trained up an arbor would be pruned using the spur method.

http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/html/EC/EC1305/EC1305.html#prun

I hope this information helps.

Post #1764568
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renwings Sultan, WA(Zone 8a) Sep 17, 2005

Thank you zone neighbor. I ignored it this year for the most part, for lots of lazy reasons. Looks like I missed out on a big step in training it. I'll see what I can do with it when the foliage dies and its time to put it to bed for the year.
This one needs to learn to grow very laterally instead of vertically.
Very nice links, thank you!

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