we bought a grape vine plant a few seasons ago on discount at the end of the season and literally just stuck it in the ground. to our great surprise it did very well last year, but the vines just went haywire all over the place and we had one tiny bunch of grapes. i did my reading and attempted to prune properly (2-4 longish ends to produce grapes, 2-4 shortish ends to grow and produce the NEXT years' grapes) but now that its growing i'm a little confused:

the longer tips (at the top / end of the vine) have many green shoots coming from the brown canes i left. most of these have several tee-tiny bunches of grapes.

the shorter buds/canes i left are lower on the vine and are just leafing - no little grapes.

logic and past experience tell me i should prune the fruiting shoots just past where the grapes are growing to encourage the fruit. is that right?

what about the shorter shoots that will be next years' grapes? do i let them go all summer or keep them trim?

THANKS for your help!!!

-adam-

I pretty much ignore the "rules" for grapes. I prune grapes each winter so that the main trunk is where I want it. I currently have mine growing very tall, up a trellis, so that main trunk is now quite tall. Off that main trunk are side branches. The side branches are the new growth, and those side branches have all the grapes, for the first 6 feet out. Every winter, when I prune, I remove ALL the side branches, cutting them ALL back to a one inch stub. Some of them I remove, flush with the trunk of the grape.

Every single one of those stubs sprouts one or more new vines the following year, and all of those hold grapes!

You do not need to cut the vines past the grapes.

I like the shade all that growth provides, and have mine growing on a wire support to make shade overhead... I want all the green growth. In my area, if I cut the growth beyond the grapes themselves, the plant does not seem to like it in the heat we get, so now I just cut those vines that hang down too low.

I do what mulchwoman does with my grapes, too. When you say you want to encourage fruit by cutting beyond the grapes, you'd only get greenery because the one crop of grapes has already set, unless I've misunderstood what you are asking.

But the branches you've got that only have leaves are important to the health of the plant and the fruit crop as they are collecting and storing what the vine needs. There has to be a minimum amount of greenery on a vine to sustain a crop of fruit, just as it takes at least 10 leaves on a rose bush to support one bud to flower.

It's really important to establish the basic shape of trunk and side branches on the vine. The trunks and branches are so beautiful, and can live to be 100 years old in an orchard. Keeping that structure stable allows for health and vigor.

Here's some good info:

http://mtvernon.wsu.edu/frt_hort/grape_pruning_basics.htm

And just as with fruit trees, it's best not to let the vine have fruit for the first year (pinch off the flowers) so it will put its effort into the trunk and structure, rather than trying to produce grapes.

This is great information. What types/varietals of grapes are you all growing? When I was growing up we had old Concords along one edge of our garden, great for jellies but really sour off the vine, and they'd just barely get ripe before fall started to set in. When I have some land I want to grow grapes again but it's been many many years. What does everyone recommend for types nowadays? Anything that can do well in New England's shorter growing season?

(First question I've ever asked on OG!)

Alrighty then, lol, I'll just go do my research.

:^O

I grow Himrod and Canadice. Your growing season probably isn't any shorter than mine, and these two do well for me.

Thanks, weed.

:x

I'll check those out.

Beebop, you probably know this, but I can get caught up in the wonderful descriptions and forget to check whether the grapes are for wine or for eating. The wine grapes are tiny, no flesh, hard skin, seeds, and the juice is amazing, but it takes tons of them to get enough of it, and yet it's just not the pleasure of eating a grape.

I've always been interested in the ice wine made in Canada, where they leave the grapes on the vine until they freeze, but it will never happen where I am.

This is my first year growing heavenly blue seedless grapes, as they say, rescued from obscurity from Oregon. And I grow a white seeded eating grape, Delight, which has a nice flavor, but I would prefer a seedless variety. I also was given and essentially forced to grow some Zinfandel vines by a friend, and maybe some day I'll look into winemaking, but they do make a nice liqueur.

But I enjoy a wonderful vine aging out there in garden with me, going through all the years of seasons that I do, having a "friend" surviving off the same land I do, so it's a symbiotic relationship that develops as well.

:x B-) :x

Thanks for the reply. Awhile back I think a few folks on here were talking about the ice wines, I'd forgotten about those.

Time for more research.

I feel the same way about the vines, old friends. Those old (and they were OLD) Concords that we had were like that. I used to have doll and stuffed-animal fancy tea parties under the canopies of the vines. Wow, haven't thought of that in years till just now.

It'll be nice to grow them again.

That's the perfect kind of memory! And it's lovely to be able to continue the memories and make even more by continuing to grow the plants with sentimental connections.

A friend of mine who is into grafting reminded me, that instead of planting a crab apple tree that reminded me of the one my dad loved in the yard we had as a kid, go back to that yard and cut off some clippings, graft it onto some rootstock, and have almost the same tree!! How wonderful does a hobby get???

living in California, I grow flames and thompsons... others I've tried haven't done as well.

here in Zone 5-6 I grow two himrods and two candice vines that I turn to rasins and four seeded concords for jams and juices. they grow great and provide me a winter full of delightful treats. they also make a fantastic hideaway for some well deserved R&R.
I trellis them on 16' stock panels that I've turned into a 7' tall 6' wide bungalow. B-) :^O

That sounds neat. Did you bow the panels over like a quonset hut style, or is it square? Do you need to be on a ladder to prune the "roof"? Do you just trim it, or do you drop it way back?

exactly,(quonset hut style) I am 6' tall and can prune them just by reaching up. I put a "T" post at each corner to hold them in place.(after the vines grow a few years, the "T" posts wouldn't be needed but they've been there for 5 years so, I'll leave them alone. I can reach up and grab the top rung and pick myself up without bending or moving the trellis at all.
This works great because it lets the sun, wind, water and bees in and out but doesn't rust, rot or need any maintinance. B-)