Hi,
This is my first year growing grapes. I’m using the top wire cordon for my seeded varieties. I am only retaining one shoot, it is almost at the wire. I later decided that I wanted to have double trunks, but did not retain a second shoot at the base of the vine.
Next season, will a bud sprout at the bottom of the trunk? Or, at this point should I just stick to single trunk because I won’t get another shoot down there next year?
Thanks everyone,
Janet
Just for clarification are you wanting to use one wire and run the vine both ways or are you using two wires?
If the vine is just approaching the wire you can pinch the tip out a few inches below the wire and then select two branches to run down the wire in both directions.
You’ll get another shoot off the trunk but it may not be as low as you’d like. You won’t lose much by cutting the plant off a ground level next spring. That will give you many shoots to chose from. Retain the best two and you will have grapes in 2018. You’ll get very strong growth next spring by doing that. Strong growth makes for good straight trunks with a minimum of nodes.
This is already the second summer I am trying to get my grapes to reach the wire. I cut them down to the ground a second time this spring, but again, forgot to leave a second spur for the second trunk.
If I cut them down AGAIN in spring 2018 for two trunks, am I growing both of them in the same summer, or just one trunk and then the second in 2019?
I want fruit already, I feel like I am spending too much time trying to grow trunks lol
Hi,
I have one wire at 6’. I am trying to decide whether to keep one trunk and top it so canes go in both directions, or grow two trunks, each going it’s own direction.
Right now I only have one trunk and no spur at the bottom for a second one 
Either method will work but when I grew grapes I liked the split right under the wire. I still grow muscadines and that is my preferred method. They will grow well with either choice so you can’t go wrong.
Don’t worry about it. You just want to taste some stupid grapes. Pinch your current shoot at top wire and train 2 side shoot (1 out each side). This will give you fruiting wood next year to let 1-2 bunches grow.
Next year you will get more basal shoots. Let 2 climb up your current trunk and then do the same thing, pinch tip and train 1 side cordon for each trunk.
The winter after just cut back this years trunk.
Grapes are crazy forgiving. I grow 4 trunks because of winter kill and I need to keep them flexible enough that I can lay them down every winter. So on a rotating basis I simply grow up a new trunk each year and cut down my oldest trunk the following winter. Working for me.
I should have said in my earlier post if you cut back next spring you’ll have fruit in 2019 not 2018. So I get where you are coming from. My guess is you’ll get a shoot or shoots where you want by continuing with your present training. That’s what I’d do and try for fruit next summer.
I was at a winery yesterday and was surprised at how informal their growing technique was. They use two wires. One at 6’ and one at 3’. They just cut the trunk at 1 foot and let many shoot grow from there. Looked like there was 5 or 6 shoots coming from that low single trunk. Didn’t look like they spent much time training. Something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LdNwRbUYtI