In general, are we supposed to remove the secondary shoots? For example, if I’m planning on having canes of 8 nodes in each cane/arm (total 16 nodes), am I aiming for 16 fruiting shoots, meaning remove any secondary shoots?
The second question I want to ask is regarding an article by Oregon State University.
They are suggesting 50 buds per plant for table grapes. That’s 50 clusters of fruit. Is that a typo? It seems too much.
When you are pruning, leave one bud at each node. This will push your dominant fruiting cane. Let the secondary growth grow, but pinch off fruiting clusters prior to bloom. It is not a misprint of the 50 buds per mature vine for table grapes. But… this is probably for a Geneva curtain or a multiple level trellis with four cordons.
Generally you remove secondary shoots. They are less fruitful and tend to promote too dense of a canopy. You’d keep them if the primary shoot failed, or maybe if you have little disease pressure.
50 buds is more likely to give you 100 clusters, but often you won’t get 100% emergence from what you left, whether it’s winter injury, rubbed off during tying, or an injury from the previous season. The number of buds you leave should be in proportion to the amount of growth you had last season which can be measured by weighing what you prune off the vine. This is more for wine grapes, but 20 buds for every pound of pruning weight. Concord growers routinely leave 80-100 buds but they can have 4 pounds of pruning weights per vine.
Your sentence is obscure
canes do not arise from canes.
Also
you’re leaving a lot of buds.
the “renewal spurs” should be close to the main trunk
2 buds long.
If a fruiting cane sends out side branches
it’s probably excessive vigor.
Save canes of medium vigor
with fairly close spacing between buds
from the sunny side of the vine
Not the rank growing canes with greater distance between buds and lateral shoots.
I prefer cane pruning.
Our lower light and heat in the Puget Sound lowlands means less fruitful vines.
On a grape cane-the buds 7-12,
out from the older wood
are more fruitful.
Some varieties
like Concord
are sterile at the basal buds
same for Thompson Seedless.
I didn’t want to get into complexitites, but the original description sounds like cordon pruning to me also.
Shoots that come from secondary buds is what I meant. When two shoots shoot out from a single node.
Cane pruning is not complex.
You ask questions
and can expect answers.
I would say play it by ear. If you get excessive growth get rid of them. On the other hand let them grow if you need extra foliage for vine health, depending on your variety, and soil conditions, but probably don’t let them fruit.
most grapes have a triple bud.
With healthy conditions
only one will grow
usually the primary
but
if a late frost kills the primary
the secondary will also grow
or
finally
the tertiary.
If the vine is excessively vigorous, or if too few buds were left after pruning, the secondary will push out of the same node. That’s a generality but something to keep in mind.
yes