I guess it depends on how well the shoots are doing. If, for
instance,you have 5 vigorous shoots all looking like they'll make the
bottom wire then just make sure they all have good sun exposure and
leave them be. BUT, if they all are growing weakly I'd cut them back
to the 2 best looking and POSITIONED shoots and water the vines. It is
possible to have too many shoots right now. I would have pruned back
to 2 buds in the spring but that's something you can think about for
future vines.


Bob

"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message >...
> Ken Anderson wrote:
>
> > I have grape plants in their second year, and am ready to remove all
> > except
> > two vines per plant. Painful, but supposedly it will encourage the growth
> > of
> > the remaining two vines. But does anyone know what to do about the
> > laterals
> > that are forming? It seems removing them would not be a good thing, but I
> > don't know. I haven't found anything on the viticulture sites.
> > Ken
>
> I think you mean two "shoots" per vine don't you.
>
> Someone may offer you other advice but if it were me, I would not prune
> until dormancy. The only time I green prune is when there is prolific
> growth that is shading grapes.