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Hi there, I have 6 grape vines for wine and the table. They have all reached the 5 foot tall wire and I have been pinching out each shoot to one leaf on the main vertical stem. I have also been pinching out the auxiliary shoot that grows from the base of the leaf and the main stem at every leaf position. I have just read that I should have left these side shoots about 6 inches beneath my cordon wire for the next step of the training process next year, the arms. Now I have wrongly removed these, what should be my next step to correct my mistake to achieve my 3 foot bilateral cordon? I'm a bit annoyed with myself, as all was going so well. I know that I must cut last years growth back while they are dorment to a pencil thickness of stem, but not sure how the following step will take place with my school boy error. Does anyone have any advice please? Regards, Stuart
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Hello and welcome to the vine Stu. I'm not the best on correct pruning so I won't offer any advice although I know that there are a few peeps on here that would be able to answer your question. Hopefully they will be along soon.
What I will say though is that grape vines, once happy are pretty much thugs (mine grows on an outside south facing wall) so any mistakes made this year can soon be corrected next year. -
Pinch out the top of the vine and in the depths of winter cut it back to the height you want. Let the laterals grow where you want the side rods to be. Pinch them out when they are long enough. Keep it under control during the summer by pinching out unwanted growth. Again in the depths of winter cut back all the growth except the main stem and the lateral rods. New growth will appear along the laterals and that is what will fruit. Stop the growth two leaves beyond a bunch and then side shoot as you do for tomatoes.
Here are some pictures of mine. Hope this helps.Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poetComment
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Thank you for the advice guys. I was a bit worried as I heard you could damage the side shoot by removing this axle shoot. I wasn't sure how this would affect later development. I'm growing pinot noir and have heard they can be a bit tricky.Comment
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