Pruning Old Grapes In Spring - Video, Tips For Beginners How To Do It Right

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Tips for summer residents: correct pruning of old grapes in spring

Grapes in your area are not just a healthy plant that will bring you a bountiful harvest. It requires careful constant care, otherwise you are unlikely to get the desired result. Therefore, pruning old grapes in spring (as in other seasons) is a very important stage in processing and care.

Content

• 1 What is grape pruning for
• 2 The first stage of processing the bush
• 3 Formation of a bush of standard type
• 4 Die forming: technology and scheme
• 5 Video on the correct pruning of grapes in spring

What is grape pruning for?

Pruning directly affects the quality of the crop as it helps shape the bush by regulating growth and fruiting. If you do not produce it in a timely manner, extra shoots and inflorescences grow on the bush, which gives a strong thickening and darkening. This leads to poor pollination of the inflorescences. In addition, the plant's nutrition is unevenly distributed, which is why the berries grow small, forming small loose clusters.

Use a well-sharpened tool when pruning old grapes

Vine bushes can grow and bear fruit for decades. Even if the bush is many years old and looks old, you shouldn't throw it away. They already have a powerful formed root system, resistant to frost and drought, a thick stem and developed sleeves.

Experience shows that berries from such bushes are more tasty and aromatic: they have a high sugar content, less acids than young plants, and besides, they are rich in mineral salts.

Therefore, such an old bush needs to be cut off. Otherwise, it will be difficult to identify the variety and evaluate the taste of the crop. Pruning followed by shaping can be done in two stages over two years.

In the first year of pruning, it should be achieved that by autumn shoots appear on the bush, the diameter of which will be 5-6 mm. Their length should be 1-1.5 meters, and the number of buds on the matured part should be at least 10. These shoots should form at least 2-3 pieces for every 2 sq. M. A neglected bush will not give the necessary shoots in such an amount.

The first stage of processing a bush

Grape pruning is best done in early April. During this period, buds are already visible, but the plant has not yet entered the zone of active growth.

1. First of all, you need to find frozen and dried branches, and cut them off. A healthy annual vine that grew last year has, depending on the variety, a reddish brown or dark brown bark. The kidneys are dark, large, they are clearly visible. It is difficult to break off such a vine, it is flexible and resilient.
2. Shoots that died out over the winter (dried up, frozen out, not ripe) have wrinkled bark of gray or black color, the buds on them are small, almost invisible. Such a vine will easily break when bent, exposing dried brown wood on the cross section.
3. Shoots usually do not die off completely. Where the vine is attached to a perennial trunk or branch, several living buds may remain. They must be left behind.
4. If on a perennial shoot all the vines that grew last year turned out to be dead, then it is better to completely cut off such a shoot: it will no longer yield a crop. Don't be afraid to remove the one-year increment. It is customary to cut it off almost completely, by 80-90%.
5. After the pruning is finished, inspect the bush again for living buds. Leave those with at least 10 large buds, from 6 mm. Short shoots, from 6 mm thick, leave at the rate of 4 pieces per 2 sq. trellises. Try to arrange them evenly.

Be sure to remove all branches that have died during the winter.

Formation of a bushless type

This type of processing of the grape bush is used for covering cultivation. Pruning is carried out over three years, in several stages: in spring and autumn, sometimes, if necessary, in summer. The schematic diagram briefly shows the cutting technology.

Step-by-step pruning scheme with stampless forming

Spring pruning of grapes for fruiting is done mainly on young bushes that have not yet borne fruit. Older shrubs usually need to be thinned and form a more stable, healthy stem

1. A seedling planted in spring will give several shoots over the summer. In the fall, they will need to be bent to the ground and covered without cutting. In the first spring after wintering, each of the shoots is cut into two eyes.
2. If only one shoot has developed, it must be shortened by 4 eyes, each of which will then give four shoots. Remove the top shoots completely. Thus, a fan bush with four arms will be formed in the next two years.
3. In the second year, in the spring, also cut the future sleeves into two eyes. For the winter, the bush takes cover without pruning.
4. In the third year, in the spring, you need to start the formation of fruit links. On each arm, leave two vines that are closest to the roots, and cut off the remaining branches. Cut the vine closest to the root into 2 parts (this will be a replacement knot), the top should contain from 7 to 15 buds, depending on the grape variety and the diameter of the vine.

Punch forming: technology and scheme

This technique is used when you are growing winter-hardy grape varieties that do not require shelter during the cold season.

1. Forming the standard bushes, in the spring of the 1st year, cut the bush into two eyes, cutting off all other shoots. During the summer, you need to grow at least two powerful vines.
2. During the spring pruning of the 2nd year, leave one well-developed shoot, shortening it by two or three buds, from this shoot you will form the future stem. Leave the second shoot as a backup in case the main vine freezes. It should be cut short, leaving two buds. In the summer, all other growing shoots break out. Tie the future trunk vertically to the support. At the end of August, pinch the growth point so that the shoot ripens better.
3. In the third year, in spring, trim the main shoot to the planned stem height. Cut out the rest of the developed shoots, leaving the two upper ones: the shoulders of the cordon - sleeves will be formed from them. Cut them into two buds and tie them to a wire. Leave two well-ripened shoots on the backup vine. Cut one of them into two buds (replacement knot), and cut the other so that 5-6 buds remain.
4. In the fourth year in the spring, trim the upper sleeves as required by the characteristics of the variety. Over the summer, they will give powerful shoots. Leave a distance of about 20 cm between them, removing the rest of the shoots.
5. In the spring of the 5th year, remove all the shoots that have grown over the past summer, leaving 2-3 eyes. The vines growing from them will form fruit links.
6. At 6 years old in the spring, cut the lower shoot into 2 eyes to make a replacement knot, and the upper one by 6-8 eyes - this will be a fruiting vine.
7. Then, every spring, repeat the pruning as in the last paragraph, keeping the bush in shape.

Step-by-step pruning scheme for standard shaping

On the bushes of the trellis type, two fruit links are formed, and if the trellis is two-lane, then four. You can make the trellis high, and plant the bushes less often: this will allow the formation of a large number of fruit links. There can be even more of them on the arched structure, the main thing is an even distribution.

Once laid, the fruit link will bear fruit for many years, constantly renewing itself. Each spring, you only need to maintain the condition of the grapes by pruning the old bush.

Video on the correct pruning of grapes in spring

As you can see, caring for grapes does not require professional knowledge from you. Pruning correctly will revive old bushes, and they will again delight you with a rich harvest. Share with us in the comments your experience in pruning grapes, ask your questions, and we will be happy to answer you. Bountiful harvest to your garden!