Complete newbie aspiring grape grower here with what is probably a stupid question, but I have not been able to find the answer.
I planted a few vines last year, they grew vigorously, I pruned to form two cordons then spur pruned in the early spring and removed fruit clusters. They are on a single wire trellis at 5 ft. high and 8 ft spacing. At this point the canes have grown so long they are running along the ground. In all the pictures of vineyards I see the vegetative growth stops about 1-2 feet short. Should the canes be kept pruned during the summer to keep them off the ground?
I planted a few more vines this spring, at the head the cordons are over 1/2" in diameter, would it be alright to allow to fruit next year?
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5’ long canes should be long enough, have enough leaves to feed the berries grow. It should pinched at ground level to reduce fungus grow on the vine. My cordons are at 3’
on the chainlink fence. I let the canes grow up and continue pinch off the tip of canes and side branches throughout the summer.
Since your vines aren’t fruiting this year, it doesn’t really matter how long you leave your canes. As long as you have a couple feet of leaves per shoot for photosynthesizing you’ll be fine.
You should be fine letting them fruit next year. You can always adjust at flowering if the shoots aren’t growing vigorously. They should be at least a couple feet long with active shoot tips at bloom.
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Thanks, pruned canes so they don’t touch the ground this afternoon. another question if you don’t mind.
Will it hurt to pinch the tendrils off the canes? It would make keeping them from forming a tangled mess…maybe I have too much time on my hands.
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Need some training advice on my newly planted grape.
I planted this Jupiter table grape earlier in the spring. I am trying to train it along the deck and spur prune to use the laterals as a privacy screen. The vine has reached just over halfway point and another 7 ft to each the end of the deck railing. Are in PNW we have another month and a half of growing season in 70F range. What should be my plan if the vine fails to reach the required length by end of the current season.
Just let it grow until it reaches the desired length, which will probably happen this year. If it doesn’t reach far enough, let it grow some more next year. Jupiter is a vigorous grower in the PNW. I just planted one in 2022, and it is growing well without any pruning. I have other seedless grapevines that I allowed to grow until they reached the top of a railing on a second-story deck and then spread horizontally at least 6 ft.
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Thanks for the reply. I was worried that farther end of the cane wouldn’t be of good size to handle the winter. Should I push some fertilizer now or is it too late?
I was told to pinch off tendrils as soon as I see them. Pinching off tendrils helps vine concentrating nutrients on growing grape berries
I would think it would be too late to push growth, but others that are more knowledgable may chime in.
thank you. makes me feel better that I may be helping the plant instead of strictly convenient/cosmetic
It doesn’t matter if the end of the cane isn’t ripe enough to handle winter. It will just die back to the survival point and restart growth in the spring, and you can prune off the dead parts then.
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As others have said, tendrils can be removed as you wish.
I don’t like to lay down canes less than pinky finger thickness, pencil at the absolute minimum, for permanent structures. Not for winter dieback reasons, but because the shoots you get from thinner growth are going to be less vigorous as well. Yes, if your growing conditions are good and season is long enough, they might catch up, but almost always, the shoots that push from the trunk will outstrip them.
Using canes that are too thin also sets you up for leaving too many buds for the following year. Since weaker shoots have shorter internode distances, one foot of a weaker cane can have twice or more buds than a vigorous shoot. Even if you thin the shoots the following year, those nodes will have latent buds that will produce suckers for years afterward.
It’s a good idea to prune to a downward facing bud. You will simply have to tie the resulting shoot up to your support to continue the cordon, which is less prone to breakage and looks better than having to force an upward shoot downwards.
I wouldn’t add any fertilizer. Young vines, especially those of vigorous varieties, have trouble going dormant as it is, and anything in active growth will suffer more cold damage. Just shorten the canes in spring. Thinner canes should be left shorter than more vigorous ones, and if you leave any lateral shoots from this year’s growth to turn into spurs, cut them to one bud each. Personally, I don’t like using laterals for spur development since their is often a large gap between the bud and the cane, adding unnecessary length to the spurs. The exception would be super vigorous canes, which often have better bud survival on the lateral shoots.
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So just trackback the cordon/cane from the farthest end and cut to a downward bud where the growth is less than a size of a pencil?
Do grape laterals have basal buds like peach/nectarine where I can cut the potential spur an inch or less if the gap between the cordon and the lateral (future spur) is longer than desired.
Edit: It looks like Richard has spur pruned closer to the cordon and has got regrowth.
If you have a good length of cane with a greater diameter, I would cut back to that point. If it’s pencil thickness at the start, I wouldn’t leave more than a foot or so. Unless your vine is monstrously vigorous, which based on your picture it isn’t, it’s always better to err on the side of removing too much growth than leaving too much.
Yes, there are multiple buds at each node. Laterals grow from buds the current season they are formed. In the leaf axil, next to the lateral shoot there are dormant buds, one or more of which will grow the following spring. Normally the primary dormant bud is what is allowed to grow and laterals are removed, since primary buds produce the most fruit.
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