GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

04-09-2003, 05:32 PM

In article ,
says...
I prune each of my vines back to two
main leaders every year. This yields about 12 bunches of grapes
per vine. Pruning is done in the fall after the vines have lost
their leaves.

I suspect grape pruning methods are more a religion than a science :-).

I prune mine using the 4-cane Kniffen system - two horizontal leaders
(last years growth) from each side, one high and one low. I leave some
short stubs of other branches to grow new leaders for next year.

And I prune in early spring to minimize winter damage. I've even
procastinated to the point that sap dripped when I pruned, but it didn't
seem to hurt anything.

Also, most years I cover the vines with garden mesh when the grapes are
large but still green. Otherwise the birds, raccoons, skunks, etc. get
all the grapes :-).

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Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?