Vines

[Gyn_Paul]

OK; I know. I'm new to this game.

I've got a RAMPANT vine which we've allowed to run wild this year. It covers the front 20 metres of the house and - clearly - was trained along loops and wires by the previous owners. I've been out with the seceturs waging war on it in order to be able to actually get the barn door open and am making some headway. It currently has about a dozen good bunches of grapes (and a further dozen or so ruined by crossed shoots and leaves growing through them ). I've stripped off a ton of leaves to allow the sun to get at them and they will ripen and be decicious, I'm sure.

However... I realise (belatedly) that all the bunches are growing on old wood and I've been merrily decimating the 10' and 15' shoots of this year's growth, back to the thick, woody stems.

While it will be back under control, next year, am I doomed to a grapeless 2006?

p

[Ron Avery]

GPl

No you should be OK, the normal method of pruning field vines is to take them back to the hard old wood leaving a couple of buds, but if you have trained vine it is more difficult to prune as it decorative as well as productive, so cut each main stem growing from the old hard wood,  back by a third when the leaves drop.  Next spring cut each main stem back to hardish wood leaving a couple of buds on each main stem, rub out the weaker when it develops.

Do not take off leaves, that does not ripen the grapes,   What you do when the grapes are developing is to cut the side shoots off the main stems back to one leaf, (side shoots are exactly like on tomatoes, growing in the angle between a leaf and the main stem).  This thins out the foliage and puts more energy into producing grapes, probably still worth doing as it tidies up the plant

 

PS you get my reply about the E121 info sources???

[Gyn_Paul]

[quote]GPl No you should be OK, the normal method of pruning field vines is to take them back to the hard old wood leaving a couple of buds, but if you have trained vine it is more difficult to prune as it ...[/quote]

You know what they say about the swamp and the crocodiles? My vine/jungle is a bit like that! However I shall try to sort it out as per you instruction when the leaves fall off.

E121 - Yes. thank you SO much: VERY remiss of me not to have replied. Awaiting response from Newcastle.

p