My grapevine never has fruit

[joyceybabe]

I need help with my grapevine. It is Flame Seedless. The first year after planting it had 5 or 6 bunches of grapes. Then after that absolutely nothing. I think the problem is that I don't know how to prune it. It is planted at one end of a 12 x 8 greenhouse and it has basically almost taken over. I keep cutting it back but it just throws new shoots out with such vigour and I cant keep up with it. It flowers profusely each year with hundreds of bunches but then after a few weeks they just drop off and never has a single grape. It also flowers in September but these also die. There is plenty of insect activity in the greenhouse too. This winter I am intending to cut it right back and try to train it properly. I have looked online for advice but I find it confusing. The vine is around 8 years old now. Does anyone know a good website that would help.
Thanks

[starloc]

If you get flowers pruning is not the problem, flame is self pollinating like most grapes so doesn't need a pollinator

If they are getting pollinated then you should get grapes

It could be something like too little/much water, needing fertiliser, too cold, too hot or mildew or similar , not likely to be pruning related,
if unpruned the number of flowers reduce, too many flowers=smaller grapes but they still grow fine

Is it in the ground or a pot?

[joyceybabe]

Thanks starloc
It is in the ground. Leaves are very healthy and it is very vigorous. I water it every day. If it is not a pruning problem then I am at a loss. I still intend to cut it right back this winter and then try and keep it in check. It may need fertiliser but it doesn't appear to do so because of the healthy growth that it produces - it is even growing out through the skylights!

[pigletwillie]

Grow it with one rod, all the other side shoots cut back to two leaves. When it loses its leaves and is dormant in the winter cut back the rod by around a quarter. The side shoots you cut back will become fruiting spurs,when you get grapes, cut and growth after the bunch to two leaves. You will need to do this several times during the summer and will remove lots of growth. Dont panic.

[joyceybabe]

I am cutting back the long growths probably every 2 weeks but they are like triffids - they seem to grow as you watch them. The vine has a single trunk up to about one foot from the ground and then this branches into 2 and so on and so on. Do I cut it back to the first trunk part?

[greenishfing]

My grapevines are in the soil in the greenhouses and I never water them. I get lots of grapes, I have to thin both the amount of bunches and the grapes in the bunches.


Spring


End of summer

I also hack acres of greenery off weekly in summer

[joyceybabe]

Thanks for photos greenfishing. They are very helpful. Mine looks nothing like that! It gives me something to aim for though. I wonder when is the best time to do a drastic prune/cutback?

[greenishfing]

Don't cut back into the brown wood until the depths of winter when the sap is down or it can bleed to death. I happily hack away at the green growth continually though to let some air round it.