PRUNING GRAPE VINES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 424, 4 August 1928, Page 28

PRUNING GRAPE VINES

I All grape vines, and especially these that are to be forced for early i crops, need to be winter-pruned as | soon after the leaves have fallen as i possible. If the pruning is long deI laved, the w ounds made by the cuttingback of the growths will not have healed over by the time the sap commences to rise again, “bleeding”— which means the loss of sap—will ensue, growth will be retarded and the rods weakened. | The usual method of training estabj lislied vines is to restrict them to single rods, all side shoots being cut I back annually and the leading shoot :of each rod slightly shortened. An- ! other system of training is sometimes ! practised, however —the “extension” j system. I This permits of several main stems being formed, these being trained evenly over the roof-trellis aud replaced w r ith fresh growths as occasion demands. Although this latter is probably the most natural method, if is not always convenient when space ! ! is limited, and the single-rod method of growing is usually the better. Whichever method be adopted, the main rods of established vines should j be pruned as follows:—Cut back every side, or lateral shoot, made the previous summer, to two plump basal buds and shorten the leading young shoot of each rod to IS inches or slightly more or less, according to the space available at the top of the house. Care should be taken to make a clean cut —using a very sharp knife, for the wood is tough—close to, and sloping slightly away, from a plump bud. It simplifies the pruning operation if the rods are loosened from the wire trellis and allowed to hang low, so that the pruner can work with ease from the ground, and rods being refastened to the wires when pruning and the subsequent cleaning is completed. PRNING YOUNG VINES The pruning of young vines needs great care. They make very long j growths each 3 r aar, anything up to 15ft j or more, and this fact oftens tempts j inexperienced gardeners to leave such fine shoots unshortened, so that they j may cover the available space in re- 1 cord time. This is altogether wrong, j The treatment that a young vine needs i is as follows: —After planting the one-year-old vine, cut it back to two plump j buds at the base, this to encourage j strong rooting and a vigorous, sturdy j growth. Train up the stronger of the two resulting shoots that grow in spring to form the main rod. At the j next pruning, after leaf fall, cut back ! this long cane to 4ft from the base, or j if it is w eakly, to about 2ft. The side ♦

shoots that develop in the next summer may bear leading growth or two of grapes. At the next winter pruning, shorten the leading growth on the rod so that only about oft of the previous summer’s growth is left and cut all the side shoots back to two bottom buds, these forming the first of the permanent spurs. Only allow the wellplaced side shoots to develop into spurs—that is, only those alternatively positioned at equal distances along the sides of the rod. In subsequent years cut back the leading shoot of the main rod to within 2ft or so of where it started to grow in the spring and shorten the side shoots to two bottom buds as before described. Later, when the rod reaches the top of the house, the new growth, each year, must be cut back hard, according to the available space for extension.