Whats the best way to prune and train grape vines?

[Leeds_lad]

had mine 3 years now and the thing is starting to get a bit out of control. it grows up an upside down L shape south facing trellis so would like it to grow up then over and cover the thing and give me a good crop.
Everywhere I look there are different recommendations on the best way to train them, which is the best?

Also I understand it's best to prune them after the growing season, so they don't bleed to death. When is the best time to do this? What should I be cutting off? Entire sections that have fruited?

[Feral007]

Watching this space.

[veggiechicken]

I'm interested too because, like my Kiwi and the figs, my grape vines have run amok in the garden. One of them grows through into the greenhouse and takes over the place. My problem is I never prune in time to get things in the right shape, so I always seem to be hacking away at the bits that are in my way, rather than knowing what I'm doing!
Then, the hacked off bits are turned into cuttings, because I can't resist the challenge, and, Hey Presto, there's a few more vines looking for a space

[Jardiniere]

We need TonyF? Where is he?
I prune mine right back in Jan/Feb...and then take off two out of every three flower bunch that appears around May.
Mine were established when we bought the house (except for one that we have grown from a cutting). Three of them are over a pergola (thats a bit of a grand name for some posts what we put up).We leave the main stem but cut back all last years new growth..what you do depends on whether you want mainly leaf growth for shade or you really want a good crop of grapes - the hacking back is necessary for good grapes. Mine are supported by wires and we twine new growth over them.

Hope someone else will come along with more relevant advice for you cos mine are in cold wet sw france....

[tamsin]

Well I'm definitely not an expert, but I have some woody horizontalish branches that I keep, and each year they grow a load of vertical branches (soft n green) at every joint which have the grapes on (I chop these back to about 4/5 leaves down from the bunch of grapes - partly so you can walk past without getting grabbed) and then in mid-winter chop them off completely so the horizontal branches are all that's left again. I don't suppose the angle of the branches matter so much as you pick your 'to keep' branches that are tied in neatly and cut back to those each winter.

So for now, I would wait til you can see the flowers, and then chop each green branch back to five leaves after the flowers. Then in mid winter,chop it right back until you've a nice frame work in the right place that you'll chop back to every year from now on. After that chop it should be easier as you can tell the old/new pretty easy from the thickness of the branch, so you just chop all the skinnier ones off.

Again I'm in no way an expert tho!

[Leeds_lad]

Just looked at them, never noticed any flowers yet they have fruits!
Treat them the same way as you mentioned with the flowers?

[rustylady]

Just looked at them, never noticed any flowers yet they have fruits!
Treat them the same way as you mentioned with the flowers?

You have fruit? Well done. If you leave all the bunches on they will be really small grapes. How many bunches have you got? Pictures would be good.

[Leeds_lad]

At least I think they are fruit. They look like tiny undeveloped grapes to me. Or are these simply the flower buds?

Unsure unless I sit there and count them all, but a quick glance i'd guestimate about 30-40 of these on the vine. Too many?

[tamsin]

Those are the flower buds The flowers are pretty unimpressive they don't get much bigger.

[realfood]

This page may help :- grapes

[Leeds_lad]

This page may help :- grapes

Thank's for that =)
I'm guessing it's safe to start pruning bits off then?

[greenishfing]

You can cut back the soft green shoots as much as you like in summer but if you want to cut back the brown hardwood do it in the dead of winter when the sap is down. The one that I have in the greenhouse I hack back every few days in summer so that I can get through the door. I leave one bunch of grapes per foot of hardwood. In winter I take all the last summers growth off. The second photo is of last summer and the first is this spring after it had been cut back and was coming into bud again.

[Feral007]

This is good. Will be about a month before we get some grape vines so I am taking notes.

[phil donaldson]

im getting a 30 year old grapevine which has loads of bunches its growing inside a greenhouse which has 2 be removed can i take it and put it in my conservitory will it live its potted in a 2ft sq concrete block please help phil

[roitelet]

In winter, Jan or Feb, cut off all the years growth except for the permanent rods which should be horizontal. As the vine starts to grow I snap of all the weak growth. Once the fruit has set stop the shoots 2 leaves beyond the bunch and remove some of the bunches if there are too many. All summer remove the new shoots weekly just as you would for tomatoes, armpits, this will keep it under control. You can also thin the grapes on a bunch with a pair of scissors once they are the size of a pea, if you have the patience, this will give you larger grapes The next year you can let a new shoot develop to create a new rod if you want to.

Hope this helps