I planted a cutting two years ago, First year growth was about five feet high with one bunch of grapes,this year the plant is ten feet in both directions,(trained to a fence) , and loaded with grapes . what should I do, to prepare the plant for next year,after the grapes have been picked!
Regards Grumpy!

grumpy wrote:
I planted a cutting two years ago, First year growth was about five feet
high with one bunch of grapes,this year the plant is ten feet in both
directions,(trained to a fence) , and loaded with grapes . what should
I do, to prepare the plant for next year,after the grapes have been
picked!
Regards Grumpy!

a) prepare to defend the grapes against birds and racoons this
september. i suggest both an electric fence around the fence and lots
of bird netting draped over
b) google "pruning grapes". It is important to prune in late fall and
not in early spring, as these vines bleed profusely in spring. Other
than that, grapes gets pruned far more than, say, apple trees.
Basically, you leave the skeleton up
c) some manure this fall is a good idea. The plant has grown and
produced a lot

"grumpy" wrote in message

I planted a cutting two years ago, First year growth was about five
feet
high with one bunch of grapes,this year the plant is ten feet in
both
directions,(trained to a fence) , and loaded with grapes . what
should
I do, to prepare the plant for next year,after the grapes have been
picked!

If it's fruiting that well then really all you need to do is prune it
in late winter - you probably are doign the right things for feeding
it now. There are several systems of grape pruing and training and
the best thing to do would be to get a book on the subject or do a
google hunt.

"grumpy" wrote in message
...

I planted a cutting two years ago, First year growth was about five
feet
high with one bunch of grapes,this year the plant is ten feet in
both
directions,(trained to a fence) , and loaded with grapes . what
should
I do, to prepare the plant for next year,after the grapes have been
picked!

I found this site which may be useful
http://www.abc.net.au/perth/stories/s1204315.htm

a. true
b. false. very early spring is best time to prune in cold areas. they will not
"bleed" to death.
c. false. dont feed plants in cold areas in fall or it might spur soft growth that
wont properly harden off before winter.
Ingrid


a) prepare to defend the grapes against birds and racoons this
september. i suggest both an electric fence around the fence and lots
of bird netting draped over
b) google "pruning grapes". It is important to prune in late fall and
not in early spring, as these vines bleed profusely in spring. Other
than that, grapes gets pruned far more than, say, apple trees.
Basically, you leave the skeleton up
c) some manure this fall is a good idea. The plant has grown and
produced a lot



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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

wrote:
a. true
b. false. very early spring is best time to prune in cold areas. they will not
"bleed" to death.
c. false. dont feed plants in cold areas in fall or it might spur soft growth that
wont properly harden off before winter.

for the manure, you wait until the plants go dormant, which is mid-Fall
here. Not only that, topdressing with manure does not start
fertilization until a good rain comes. No growth whatsoever. I am
pretty sure c. is true, though adding manure anytime between november
and march would result in the same outcome (of course,
december-february manure is frozen and unspreadable around here).

I am surprised early spring is best for pruning. Not only I tried it
both ways and found that late fall was best (lots of bleeding, late
leafing and a miserable crop, and I pruned in March, or late winter),
for other vines late fall is best (hardy kiwis, which I also have). I
am in SE Michigan.

Ingrid


a) prepare to defend the grapes against birds and racoons this
september. i suggest both an electric fence around the fence and lots
of bird netting draped over
b) google "pruning grapes". It is important to prune in late fall and
not in early spring, as these vines bleed profusely in spring. Other
than that, grapes gets pruned far more than, say, apple trees.
Basically, you leave the skeleton up
c) some manure this fall is a good idea. The plant has grown and
produced a lot



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

prune in late feb or early march in zone 5. need to see what has winter killed and
remove that. around the time of the snowdrops.
do you leave pencil sized fruiting wood?
frankly, some years I have seen poor fruit set due to too much rain and no bees at
flowering. it may not have to do with the pruning.
Ingrid

"simy1" wrote:
I am surprised early spring is best for pruning. Not only I tried it
both ways and found that late fall was best (lots of bleeding, late
leafing and a miserable crop, and I pruned in March, or late winter),
for other vines late fall is best (hardy kiwis, which I also have). I
am in SE Michigan.


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http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
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www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

wrote:
prune in late feb or early march in zone 5. need to see what has winter killed and
remove that. around the time of the snowdrops.
do you leave pencil sized fruiting wood?

yes, of course.

frankly, some years I have seen poor fruit set due to too much rain and no bees at
flowering. it may not have to do with the pruning.
Ingrid


yes to that, too. This year I have a bumper crop, what with the mild
winter and mild, rainy spring.
Probably the reason I did not notice any effect from pruning in the
fall is that Concord grapes lose nothing to winterkill around here (I
have six plants). My guess is that if you are well into the growing
range, before or after winter is the same.

simy1 wrote:

wrote:

a. true
b. false. very early spring is best time to prune in cold areas. they will not
"bleed" to death.
c. false. dont feed plants in cold areas in fall or it might spur soft growth that
wont properly harden off before winter.


for the manure, you wait until the plants go dormant, which is mid-Fall
here. Not only that, topdressing with manure does not start
fertilization until a good rain comes. No growth whatsoever. I am
pretty sure c. is true, though adding manure anytime between november
and march would result in the same outcome (of course,
december-february manure is frozen and unspreadable around here).

I am surprised early spring is best for pruning. Not only I tried it
both ways and found that late fall was best (lots of bleeding, late
leafing and a miserable crop, and I pruned in March, or late winter),
for other vines late fall is best (hardy kiwis, which I also have). I
am in SE Michigan.


Ingrid

Personally, I think Ingrid had it right.

a. probably true, but I never seem to have birds bothering my grapes so
I don't cover them with netting. Raccoons usually only raid the lower
clusters but one year they climbed a bit.
b. false I think the bleeding just looks bad, but I've always heard
it does no real harm to the vines. Actually I just about have to prune
mine in the fall. I live in zone 3 and any grape worth eating will
freeze to the snow line almost every year. I prune after the leaves fall
and lay the vines flat to the ground so the snow will cover them.
c. Probably false. I wouldn't give a vine that is growing that
vigorously manure or anything else whether spring OR fall. Too much
fertilizer can lead to excessive growth. Big thick new vines, "bull
canes" they are sometimes called, don't tend to produce grapes the next
year. Adding anything might actually reduce production for this vine in
this location (judging by the description in the original post).

Just prune it and leave it alone. Do it late winter after the coldest
days have passed OR try it in the fall if you live where die back isn't
going to be a problem.

Steve

the deer know where the vines are and leap over everything to eat em about 3 days
before they are actually ripe. it is a PITA. Ingrid

Steve wrote:
, but I never seem to have birds bothering my grapes so
I don't cover them with netting. Raccoons usually only raid the lower
clusters but one year they climbed a bit.


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http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

"simy1" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
a. true
b. false. very early spring is best time to prune in cold areas. they
will not
"bleed" to death.
c. false. dont feed plants in cold areas in fall or it might spur soft
growth that
wont properly harden off before winter.

for the manure, you wait until the plants go dormant, which is mid-Fall
here. Not only that, topdressing with manure does not start
fertilization until a good rain comes. No growth whatsoever. I am
pretty sure c. is true, though adding manure anytime between november
and march would result in the same outcome (of course,
december-february manure is frozen and unspreadable around here).

I am surprised early spring is best for pruning. Not only I tried it
both ways and found that late fall was best (lots of bleeding, late
leafing and a miserable crop, and I pruned in March, or late winter),
for other vines late fall is best (hardy kiwis, which I also have). I
am in SE Michigan.

The "bleeding" does absolutely no harm to the vine.



Ingrid


a) prepare to defend the grapes against birds and racoons this
september. i suggest both an electric fence around the fence and lots
of bird netting draped over
b) google "pruning grapes". It is important to prune in late fall and
not in early spring, as these vines bleed profusely in spring. Other
than that, grapes gets pruned far more than, say, apple trees.
Basically, you leave the skeleton up
c) some manure this fall is a good idea. The plant has grown and
produced a lot



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

Thanks to all who repiled to this post, There were some conflicting views, but I get the general idea. By the way, I garden in gloucestershire England
Regards
Grumpy!