cant understand grape vine pruning

[Alexx]

I've got it through freecycle from a guy who lives virtually next door. His is growing outside on a wall.

I'm going to train mine on a pergola, got a nice sheltered spot that gets sun most of the day. I'm obviously not expecting industrial crops but a few home-grown grapes would be nice.

[il_cacciatore]

Thats great news if this guy can get crops from out door growing. Feeling confident now with my trials with Siegerebbe... especially as Riesling isn't the most early ripening grape available.

[southlondongardener]

I still do not understand.

I have a 1 year old greenhouse grape Lakemount.
It is a stem with masses of growth (not woody group) coming from each side (4 creepers in total I think).
Should I cut these back severly? This year it grew a lot but no grapes.

Also as it is in a pot should I feed it a lot?

[sealover1]

Hi,

We used to have quite a substantial vineyard in the place where I grew up and this is how my grandfather taught me to prune the vines. I dont claim this to be 100% correct but it worked. This was in a warmer climat, however.

The key thing is leaving two or three shoots on each branch each given year (three for a strong vine, two for a weaker one). You get grapes on these shoots, then at the end of the year the top shoots are cut off leaving just the first one, which then acts as a stem for the next year's shoots.

Here are the pictures.


The first year after you planted the vine, you might want to leave quite long shoots, to let them climb up whatever supporting structure you have.


Next spring, leave three buds on each of the main branches (or two buds for a weaker vine, as I mentioned before). These will develop into green shoots that will bear this year's fruit.


After the flowers have developed, pinch off the green shoots two-three points after the last flower. Also remove any secondary green shoots as soon as they begin to develop.


Late in the autumn (or indeed very early in spring), cut off the two-year-old branch together with the top shoots from the last year. If you had left three shoots, then remove the top two; if you had only left two - remove the top one, leaving just the very bottom one.
(NB! If the bottom shoot is not the strongest one among the three, cut it off close to the stem and leave the strongest one instead)

On the remaining shoot you want to leave just two or three buds for the next year. Prune the rest of the branch off. If the strongest buds are positioned further up the branch - leave them instead and pinch the weaker ones off.

If in spring any of the buds produce double shoots - leave the strongest one and pinch the rest off.

Hope this helps

I know this is a old thread but do youstill have the photos please??

[BUFFS]

they sell what they can,if gardeners are eternal optomists,what does that make us up here............daft..we will be feeding a new grapevine into a g/house in the spring,it may still be dark but at least it will be warm,just got to decide what one now..

[Marcher]

I struggled to get my head around it at first, then I found a chart with the two systems on it. I'd recommend spur training in Britain though since there is less growth needed next year and thus the vine can get on with growing grapes earlier (increasing chances of success). It looks like you get less, but I'd predicted that it would be more reliable in our climate.