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Advice for pruning grapevine

I have a Black Hamburg vine which is about seven or eight years old.  It's never realy produced anything except a few pea sized grapes.  I've never really had much idea what to do with it and last autumn I followed some advice on how to renevate a vine and this has worked wonders.  I have just cut about fifteen or sixteen bunches (of varying size) of good sized grapes.  I want to maintain this vine and am wondering what I need to do now that it has finished fruiting.

The main stem is about eight feet long with one main side shoot of about four feet in length at about five feet up the main stem.

It is being grown up against a trelice to a pregola.

I'd be very grateful for suggestions thank you.

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,617

    Now you have the main framework it is simple.  Just cut back to two buds from the main stem in winter. (after leaf fall)n  It has to be complete before the sap starts rising, otherwise the vine will "bleed" sap which will weaken the plant.

  • Thanks fidgetbones.  This sounds nice and straight forward.

    I assume that I cut off any unwanted side shoots right at the stem?

  • E I have the same grape ( or oh does) we cut it back hard every February (mid) and have done since it was planted and I have to say this year we had 5 kg of grapes....

    image

    We don't pick the grapes when they form so do end up with smaller grapes but they make yum yum grape jam/jelly  

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,065

    Friends of mine inherited a huge grape vine in a greenhouse when they bought a house here in the early 1990s.  A wee Flemish man came by a couple of times every summer to thin th ebunches so they got decent sized grapes.  He was "inherited" too.

    This is what the RHS advises on pruning:-

    http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=284 and

    http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=286 and

    http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=285

     

     

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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