the production of fruit compared to the overall leaf growth each year and voila lots of excellent grapes.
How do I prune my grapevines after the first year of growth?
In the first growing season, remove all fruit and unwanted lateral shoots
from the young vines throughout the growing season. Grapevines tend to grow
rapidly from the apical end (main growing point) when lateral shoots and fruit
are removed. Vines should be staked and tied to allow
the new shoot to form a straight trunk . The leaves should remain on
the developing trunk to produce necessary carbohydrates to feed the plant; all
lateral shoots, however, should be removed. Only lateral shoots at the top wire
will be left. New growth may reach the top wire (around 5 to 5-1/2 ft.) during
the first year. If this occurs, pinch off the end of the shoot(s) at the top
wire and then the lateral shoots will grow horizontally in both directions along
the top wire. These will be used to form the new cordons. Pruning of
one-year-old hardwood (dormant canes) will be minimal, but some pruning may be
necessary to help shape the vine before second-year growth begins.
How do I prune my grapevines after the second year of growth?
Remove all fruit and any lateral shoots that emerge along the trunk of the
grapevine. If vines did not complete their structural development in the first year, be sure to train new shoot growth so that the grapevine will completely cover the
intended area along the trellis or arbor.
Once the lateral shoots have grown along the top wire to the desired location, pinch the terminal ends of the main lateral shoots (on the top wire).
This will force secondary shoots to develop along the two main laterals laid
down to established the cordon. The cordon is a permanent structure that exists
on the top wire, from which hardwood canes (hardened-off shoots) are pruned
Lateral shoots that emerge from the cordon should be allowed to grow
uninterrupted. Only necessary shoot positioning should be done to direct growth
in an orderly manner.
During late February or March, each one-year-old cane (dormant cane) that
grew along the cordon should be pruned back to either a three-, four-, or
five-node spur (fruiting spur) or a one-node renewal spur (vegetative spur). The
remaining fruiting wood should be approximately pencil size in diameter. Renewal
spurs produce vegetative shoots that are used for the following year�s fruiting
wood.
How do I prune my grapevines after the third year of growth?
Year three is the first fruiting year. Dormant pruning should be done some
time in late February through March (Figure 3a and 3b). One-year-old wood
(dormant canes) should be pruned back to three-, four-, or five-node spurs
(Figure 4). The spurs should be evenly spaced along the cordon and pointing
downward.
To determine how many buds to retain for fruiting, weigh all pruned
one-year-old wood. Use the pruning weight to count the number of fruiting buds
to leave. You may choose to use different approaches for determining the number
of fruiting buds to leave. One system is the 30-10-10, which requires the person
pruning to keep track of the weighed prunings and the number of buds remaining
on the intact vine.
How do I prevent my grapevines from becoming a tangled mess?
Many times grape gardeners find that the one-year-old canes have become
intertwined along the trellis and are extremely hard to unwind for pruning. This
can be controlled somewhat by shoot positioning. It is very similar to combing
hair.
Once green shoots are developed enough (approximately mid-July), each shoot
can be placed in an orderly position along the entire cordon of the vine and
parallel to the vertical trunk. Combing or shoot positioning can help to reduce
the overall number of tangled shoots and can increase light penetration into the
vine canopy. Increased sunlight exposure will promote good quality fruit, better
winter hardiness of canes, and more productive canes for next year�s crop.
Summary
Grapevines need proper training and pruning during the first three years.
Once they start producing fruit, annual pruning is needed to maintain the
balance between vegetative growth and fruit production. If grapevines produce
too much fruit in one year, they will not produce a good crop next year and
could suffer winter damage. If grapevines produce too little fruit one year,
they will produce too many shoots and leaves that year.
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