Gardening Vivian | 17 Feb 2010 11:20 pm
Pruning Grapes the Right Way
Pruning grapes is an important aspect of grape growing. In fact it is an art in itself. Pruning is to be done at the right time in the right amount. Pruning leads to better quality fruit but too much pruning can lead to no fruit at all! So how do you make sure you are pruning the grapes right? Here are a few pointers that you may find useful.
Remember always that the canes that produce fruit one year will not produce fruit the next. It is the new canes that produce fruit each year. So you need to prune and remove all the canes from last year so that the energy is not wasted in sustaining canes that are not going to yield fruit any longer.
The best time to prune is during the dormant season. There are two ways to prune one is Spur pruning and the other is Kniffin system. When you prune you can select 4-6 one year old fruiting branches. Cut these back and leave around 30-50 buds. Remove the remaining branches. As a grape grower you aim is to o achieve a balance between fruit production and adequate, but not excessive, shoot growth.
When you increase the bud count it also increases the number of shoots. If this is excessive it can result in a crowded canopy and increased shading. Also another factor is that when the bud count increases, the vine may not be capable of fully ripening high crop levels despite the increased shoot number.
The concept of pruning grapes is based on the idea that a balanced vine will have strong, but not overvigorous, cane growth from all buds that are retained. So while pruning you selectively remove unsuitable or extraneous canes, retaining a small number of good canes. Why do we do this? For two reasons:
A) To produce fruitful shoots in the upcoming season
B) Develop healthy shoots from which good fruiting canes and be used for the next dormant season