Hello winemakers! I'm a brewer who wants to experiment with a mondo
grapevine I have in my back yard. It needs some serious pruning (it's
pulling the fence over!) and I notice that all the leaves are now off
it.

Do you folks have a "definitive" thread in your archives regarding
winter pruning of grapes? Or any other pointers toward online
resources? I've Googled it but I just get smatterings of info here and
there, and I'm hoping there might be a site where all the good info is
collected in one place.

Thanks.

Scott

"Scott L" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello winemakers! I'm a brewer who wants to experiment with a mondo
> grapevine I have in my back yard. It needs some serious pruning (it's
> pulling the fence over!) and I notice that all the leaves are now off
> it.
>
> Do you folks have a "definitive" thread in your archives regarding
> winter pruning of grapes? Or any other pointers toward online
> resources? I've Googled it but I just get smatterings of info here and
> there, and I'm hoping there might be a site where all the good info is
> collected in one place.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott

Generally, you can prune after approximately two months of dormancy. That
means for example that if you had a killing frost in mid November, you could
start pruning in mid January. This does mean that you have to prune then,
only that at least two months is a good time to wait. I generally wait until
February or March.

As for HOW to prune, I recommend the book "From Vines to Wines" by Cox.
It has many line drawings for year by year pruning directions. It is
relatively inexpensive and is very good book to have.

Hi: I would select the main trunk, eliminate all others, and then prune
all but 4 branches leaving no more than 8 buds on each, Also, leave two
spurs of 2 buds each which will become the main branch for next year. aYou
repeat this routine each year. Good luck.

Joe
"Scott L" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hello winemakers! I'm a brewer who wants to experiment with a mondo
> grapevine I have in my back yard. It needs some serious pruning (it's
> pulling the fence over!) and I notice that all the leaves are now off
> it.
>
> Do you folks have a "definitive" thread in your archives regarding
> winter pruning of grapes? Or any other pointers toward online
> resources? I've Googled it but I just get smatterings of info here and
> there, and I'm hoping there might be a site where all the good info is
> collected in one place.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott
>

I have some 40 + year old Concord and Buffalo vines here in KY.
Business demands caused me to ignore them for about 5 years.
It took me 2 years to bring them back into production.
I agree with the previous post to use a reference.
Try your local university ag site. I have found lots of useful info on
these.
Here in the Ohio river valley the GDC (Geneva Double Curtain) works
very well.
I converted to this style from the 4 arm Kniffin (vine too dense for
good air circulation).
What I like most about the GDC it is the ease of care and management of
pests.
A little Sevin in late May for the Rose Chafer beetles and a little
powdered sulfur in
late July for the brown rot. I ignore the other pests as there is
plenty of fruit for me and them.
Harvesting is also very simple from this trellis style.
The variety you have will have a lot to say as to the management style
you choose.

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005, Scott L wrote:

> Hello winemakers! I'm a brewer who wants to experiment with a mondo
> grapevine I have in my back yard. It needs some serious pruning (it's
> pulling the fence over!) and I notice that all the leaves are now off
> it.
>
> Do you folks have a "definitive" thread in your archives regarding
> winter pruning of grapes? Or any other pointers toward online
> resources? I've Googled it but I just get smatterings of info here and
> there, and I'm hoping there might be a site where all the good info is
> collected in one place.

My experiance has been that for every "authority" you consult you will
find very different recomendations regarding how to prune.

If you can limit the discussion to your current trellising method, you
can reduce the number of "recommended" techniques to 2 or 3.


The 'best' pruning reference I've been able to find was "General
Vinticulture" ISBN 0 520 02591 1. Unfortunately it doesn't realy
cover how to prune but explains best why to prune.

To summarize _my understanding_ of that text (based on their field
trials (procedures follwed by weighing plant matter as a measure of
vigor & health):

For the healthiest PLANT never prune. It knows what the resources and
and the actual weather is like and will grow in it own best interest.

The healthiest PLANT does not produce the best FRUIT, in fact it tends
to produce the worst fruit due to an estacically healthy plant will
massively overproduce fruit.

The best FRUIT comes from limiting vine production of FRUIT, forcing
the vine to concentrate it's resources.

The Largest and best crop would be theoretically produced by never
pruning, and culling 'excess' fruit clusters.

They observe however a vineyard that is never pruned would be nigh
impossible to manage: spreading over too great an area, weight of
vines collaping trellising, impenetrable areas going un-fumigated for
fungus, and unreachable to harvest.

So the best practice is in general, prune as little as possible in
keeping with whatever and however is most convienent for the
maintainance of the vineyard; and then cull fruit so that it is "in
balance" with the foliage. It is noted that since this fruit culling
must happen in the mid-season when labor is in demand, many other
tasks need to be done (spraying etc.), and is even more labor
intensive than pruning in general, it also probably the most expensive
technique.

They did not indicate what the "Magic Balance" between vine and fruit
would be (they clearly did not wish to make staements with out
specific experimental data to back it)- but they said enough to make
it clear that it is probably the ratio of square inches of leaves to
cluster count, but that the exact number probably varies greatly with
variety, climate, soil etc. i.e. you just need know your vines.


That said I'm not sure it really helped me figure out 'how' to prune
my vines, but I better understand what I'm trying to do.

__________________________________________________ __________________
I'm not evil, I just have a Fay sense of humour.
<http://patriot.net/~starfyr/index.html>