What Is Grape Vine Pruning?
If you have a grapevine, you must understand that it takes pruning to help your vines grow. All vines eventually need pruning, and the reason for pruning the vines is to manage their growth and to manage the size and the number of fruits the vines will bear.
When buds are produced on the stems, they begin to grow and new shoots will begin to appear. At this stage, the vine can be harvested as soon as the fruits are picked or have even been made to be harvested.
With grape farms, the biggest problem is always finding enough people to prune the vines!
There is nothing more frustrating than working all day for someone else to do a job. Why would I want to do that?
Well, if I was to ask one question that I could ask, I wonder what question I should ask.
It is true there are not enough people who are familiar with grapevine pruning. Most grape growers do it manually by cutting back the shoots and the year-long cane. Most grape growers do not want to do manual labor, so the only way they can learn is by experience and practice.
So, I would like to share with you some techniques on how to prune your grapevines.
Pruning Grapevines From Seedlings
The first thing you will need to prune from the grape stock you purchased or was given as a gift is the hybrid grapevine. From the moment of planting your hybrid grapevine, you can start pruning.
As the plant is growing, you will need to decide what type of magnolia you want. The Satsuki Magnolia, the Kopersiotes or the urchaseus cultivars are the most common. You will need to prune your plant by removing all the deadwood, crossing, and weak growth. You will know which ones are dead by the brownish color of the wood or the shriveled-looking stems. All of the hybrid grapevines are really the same but you will have to know what side shoots come from which part of the plant. More about that later.
Once you have cut the hybrid grapevine back, ensure that you leave four strong buds on each trunk. Tiered it, but that is another story. Continue to prune the plant by removing all the cordon shoots and leaving two main cordon shoots per vine. That way, you will be left with two main thumbs and two side trunks. Now, you are left with just one bud left. You will have to cut that bud off so that the plant can thrive by taking the nutrients from the rest of the plant.
It is important that you understand, that the trunk of the plant is the same as the part of the plant that the bud is growing from. There is only a difference in the space between the two parts. For this reason, it is best to prune the plant by removing all the parts other than the trunk.
Pruning Grapevines – The Next Steps
It is now time to initiate pruning grapevines. The moment your shoots are 3 inches long, it is time to prune the plant by removing all the laterals, except those at the top of the cane. Usually, side branches are removed next to the trunk.
At this stage, you will have to look for the best fruit set for the grape variety you have chosen. If you have a variety that is developing a good root system, the shoots may be shortened a bit. Nevertheless, it is important that the plant continues to grow. There is a science behind this. Once the plant reaches a certain size, it becomes unproductive. The supplier of the grapes wants you to believe that the plant will die, but in actual fact, it is only growing. So, keep polishing the fruit or the vines and in no time, you will have a bunch of grapes forming.
Each year, the plant is growing and fruitful. There is a science involved in pruning grapevines. It is true that you can train the vine to be fruiting and healthy, but you have to be observant. I have to tell you that some grape varieties are more suitable to be trained, while other varieties are better to be used as vines. Usually, vines that are trained to be fruiting are more productive than those that are not, which is why this kind of grapes is more preferred than other varieties.
Theosis seems to be the most used variety of grapes for training. All that is required from you is to have enough space and patience. train the shoots to be growing towards the sunlight in order that they can receive the best amount of sunlight. After you have successfully trained the shoots to be growing towards the light, it is time to prune. Take away some of the least productive shoots to allow the plant to continue bearing fruits.
