On Fri, 20 Aug 2004, Anonny Moose wrote:
Last year my grapes were loaded with fruit but this year nothing! The plants
appear green and healthy, growing vigorously. Any idea why there might be no
fruit? I trimmed them back in the fall last year and noticed that my
neighbors, who also have grapes, cut theirs back in Feb. They have lots of
fruit.... so did cutting them back too early perhaps cause some problem?

Not really an expert, but in general if you want a plant to bear fruit,
prune it while dormant (winter) when its energy is in the roots. Then it
will think it was winter killed and the survival aspect will encourage it
to reproduce (bear fruit and new growth). If you prune it while still
green, you remove its energy and stunt its growth (more like an
overcrowding condition).

I also thought that grapes bear fruit on previous year's growth. So
if you pruned off all current year growth last year, that might explain
the lack of fruit this year. You should selectively prune, not just
prune it all back. Weather can also be a factor, but apparently not the
issue in this case if a neighbor is doing better.

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/