Vine pergola training - summer prune?

[Leezy2]

Hi all,

I'm growing two grape vines up the corners of a pergola to produce a canopy above.

They're on their second year and I started with two shoots to train up the vertical corner posts. All was going well but I'm now getting a lot of side shoots. Should I be pruning these to encourage the vertical growth? They're actively growing at the moment, prune now or only when dormant?

Seen lots of very complicated pruning instructions online and none of it makes much sense.

Thanks in advance!

David.

[nickdub]

I'd probably wait 'til they're dormant - easier to see what you are doing. Most of the complex stuff about pruning vines is aimed at those trying to grow fruit - if yours are mostly decorative, then you can chop away as you like.

[Scarlet]

I chop mine around now to keep it within reasonable limits and to get some leaves off the fruit. Though major pruning I do over the winter.

[Deltawhiskey]

The vines look really healthy. The best thing is to lightly prune the bits you do not want. What you should be looking for is extending one strong shoot and pinching back any side shoots. The vine will then focus all its energy on extending the main shoot.

David

[Leezy2]

The vines look really healthy. The best thing is to lightly prune the bits you do not want. What you should be looking for is extending one strong shoot and pinching back any side shoots. The vine will then focus all its energy on extending the main shoot.

David

That's what I thought instinctively, but it's the first vine I've grown. Thought it was a bit of a waste of energy for the plant with all the side shoots when at this stage I just need a 'trunk' to grow up the pergola.