Years 1 & 2
I did mention a few weeks ago that I would run through grapevine pruning so here goes;
First you need to work out what type of vine you have , ‘normal’ dessert grapes for walls and greenhouses can be pruned on a rod and spur system (this I will run through in the next post so as not to confuse). Seedless grapes and those used for wine will benefit from a cane replacement method,often called ‘Guyot‘ pruning.
There is a video of Guyot pruning lower down ( now higher up ) on this page,it will help to watch it ! The method is a lot simpler than it sounds and much more efficient as removal of the older canes also takes away diseases and pests.Save the wood for the next summer barbecue.
The sketch above shows fairly clearly where to prune in yr 1, followed by the 3 vertical rods that grow during the subsequent summer,then you can see where to tie down the 2 outer rods- but prune the centre one to allow re growth the next season.
The sketch below shows how the vine will grow next !
Guyot yr 2 +
In the centre are 3 new replacement rods-all trained vertically this year,2 of these will be laid down and tied in to replace the existing horizontals in autumn.
The outer vertical rods will hold the crop.
The central vertical will be used to create 3 new replacements for the following year as in the top sketch.
I hope this will make the system clear- if not email me and I can edit this to get it right !
Reads Nursery ~ oddsaddenda 