Help: Old grapes need major pruning

[yowsaa2000]

Hi, i have some old grapes on my fence and i'm not sure how far down to prune...wondering if i should cut old trunks and start with newer shoots that are attached or just prune everything back to old trunks. posting some pics below of three different vines. Please give me some advice, thanks

[roitelet]

Decide on the stems/rods you want to keep and cut the rest off then rub out any unwanted side shoots

[Potstubsdustbins]

Sorry I can't help ..................Just saw old grapes and thought you were talking about me

[Bigmallly]

Hello Yowsaa & welcome to the vine. So as not to get lost in translation, a member of the vine is also known as a grape.

[yowsaa2000]

i dont seem to be getting this right..i keep thinking i'm replying but i'm apparently not lol. thanks for the humor and the response. I still am wondering if i should prune to smaller trunks or keep the older ones. If somebody could look at the pics and give an opinion on all three vines it would be much appreciated, thanks.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Sorry I can't help ..................Just saw old grapes and thought you were talking about me

Twas VC I was concerned about.

[jackarmy]

I dont know too much as mine is only 2 years pld and ive just learned bits on tinternet but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Im prety sure off the top off my head that first arms/rods should be 3 foot from the ground and the second set three foot higher etc, most keep their vines ( unless they let it do its own thing ) to two sets of rods at the most .

[Thelma Sanders]

I thought from the thread title that you were going to get rid of peeps like me *blush*

[bearded bloke]

Twas VC I was concerned about.

Bieng a winsome, silthlike youth I have no worries


Rgarding the vines, personally I would go have a look at what they do at a nearby vineyard (or two), either ask questions of the staff & take photo's to study/refer back to, maybe do a bit of 'product sampling' as well

[bearded bloke]

Have a look at the link in post #3 in this thread .... http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_88187.html ....

[Losos]

i'm not sure how far down to prune...wondering if i should cut old trunks and start with newer shoots that are attached or just prune everything back to old trunks. Please give me some advice,

When we moved into this house last year we had one that looked just like your pics.

I cut back the old (thick) trunk thingy right down to about ten inches and keept two thin newish looking side shoots.

I tied these to wires in what I think the experts call a 'Single Guyot' layout. It produced some ten bunches of grapes (but even in early October they were not ripe ?)

Last October I took four thin newish looking shoots and have tied them into wires, (two either side of the old trunk.) I think this is what the experts call a 'double guyot' layout.

I should get more than ten bunches of grapes this year, only worry I have is that no thin newish side shoots have appeared on the old trunk, hope I didn't cut it too far back and also hope that helps you at least a little.