Do You Prune A Grapevine?

[Lalaith]

Wow! You all are a fount of knowledge re grapes. I have a question too.

I have a well-established (could be 10+years) stand of grapes trained along a fence. They have not been producing anything that I can find, but the vines are incredibly robust and very leafy. I have only pruned them once a couple of years ago, just to see whether there was a fence still under there

Is the reason they are not producing because I haven't been pruning or do grapes have a finite fruiting span? Or am I doing something else wrong?

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Wow! You all are a fount of knowledge re grapes. I have a question too.

I have a well-established (could be 10+years) stand of grapes trained along a fence. They have not been producing anything that I can find, but the vines are incredibly robust and very leafy. I have only pruned them once a couple of years ago, just to see whether there was a fence still under there

Is the reason they are not producing because I haven't been pruning or do grapes have a finite fruiting span? Or am I doing something else wrong?

Depending on the variety it could "age out" if you will. However, it probably is because lack of pruning. The biggest problem you may have though is if you cut back too much then there may not be enough nodes to bud out and produce fruit. How long from the base of the plant to the end of the vines?

When you prune, do you prune back to the woody part of the stems or just enough to keep it looking good?

 

[Lalaith]

Ummm... it is maybe 10 or 15 feet from the base of the plant to the end of the vines. There are ten plants trained horizontally on a wire fence. The base of the plants is thick and woody. As I say, I only really pruned once to see whether the fence was still under there or had maybe been "digested" by the grapes I did it indiscriminately- just hacking away with the secateurs. Somehow I don't think it would be possible to take off too much of these guys- they are monsters. Just not grape-bearing monsters...

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I would honestly suggest cutting them back to the main stem and leaving about 1-2 feet of the trained side vines. I think the biggest reason you're not getting fruit is because by he time it takes for the nutrients to get to the end of the vine it's not allowing for proper fruit develop. You take the fact that these vines haven't received the best attention for a while then you really compound he problem.

A word of caution though. This may be too much pruning in the spring. I would do as much pruning now to help train the vines and keep them from becoming tangled. If you have mild winters I would suggest doing this in the late fall about 3 weeks before frost to ensure the vines can bounce back.

Good luck

 

[Lalaith]

Thanks for your help. I'll give it a whirl.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Thanks for your help. I'll give it a whirl.

Keep us updated! I really want to know how this turns out!

 

[yotetrapper]

Last summer I planted some grape plants, but I thought they didnt make it. I looked this spring and didnt see them. But I looked in the wrong spot! Last night I found 2 that are growing. So far, they dont have any support. i know I need to make a fence for them to climb on. This is there first season growing. So after I have them on their fence, I should trim off any small branches and just leave the bigger healthy ones, even tho it's summer??

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Last summer I planted some grape plants, but I thought they didnt make it. I looked this spring and didnt see them. But I looked in the wrong spot! Last night I found 2 that are growing. So far, they dont have any support. i know I need to make a fence for them to climb on. This is there first season growing. So after I have them on their fence, I should trim off any small branches and just leave the bigger healthy ones, even tho it's summer??

I wouldn't do any heavy trimming during the summer. I would do light training though throughout the year. Remove shoots that are not growing along the way you want them to. It is important to all the roots and base stem time to establish to ensure a healthy vine. So, yes trim off smaller branches and leave the bigger ones. We trimmed our vines all year. Air and space is required for good grape production.

 

[yotetrapper]

Thanks!