Went against advice and got a larger, pottedgrapevine vs younger barefoot. Before it came in the mail I was expecting to train it into a double cordon (spur pruned, it’s a “Flame” cultivar), but it seems that is not possible.
How would you experts make lemonade from this grapevine? Planting spot has to be on a trellis on the east facing side of a fence.
Remove 2 of the 3 winding upright “canes” (is that what you’d call these?) And make the remaining the trunk to bear two cordons or would that kill it? If not, what might work?
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Nothing you do in the way of pruning will kill it or even cause a set back. So don’t fret about that.
You can cut out all the canes you don’t want and use the remainder to start forming it the way you want. The other choice is to cut it down low and start over to form it the way you want. With the later choice cut it down to about 12 inches leaving one cane. Then select the strongest growing shoot or shoots to the form you want.
Cutting it down to a stub is what the pros would do. You really don’t lose much if anything. But most people can’t cut off that much growth. The limiting factor right now is the root system. That determines growth rate the first yr.
Really you can’t go wrong with grapes. If what you start with isn’t right cut it down and start over. Once the roots get established it will regrow anything cut off in one yr.
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That’s great! I’ll get it in the ground ASAP and take the plunge giving it a complete chop to set up the more standard spur pruned cordon
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