# Need some help with a neglected grapevine



## Larryh86GT (Nov 22, 2010)

I think this is a Concord grapevine. Right now it is more like ground cover than anything else. I picked about 9 lbs off of it this fall. It is on the sunnyside of my son's house and as you can see it's not been taken care of very well. I'm thinking of trying to get it on a small trellis and rescue it. Any suggestions? Just prune it back to the trunk?
Thanks
Larry


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## djrockinsteve (Nov 22, 2010)

Larry I would suggest trimming it back to find the trunk and hopefully find some laterals that may still be good. Add a trellis or some kind of support.

Also maybe get a soil test or check the acidity there. Adjust with compostif needed. Do not add just fertilizer. Use organic if possible or slowly add fertilizer.

Perhaps protect this winter with a small barrier such as straw and a plastic mini fence persay.


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## KSmith3011 (Nov 22, 2010)

If it is a Concord it is VERY hardy, almost difficult to kill. If you do anything it will improve it greatly. I would wait till Feb. when it is truly dormant to cut it back.


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## Sirs (Nov 22, 2010)

it shouldn't hurt to prune it back now as it's done lost main sap or leaves would still be hanging on good grape vines won't bleed out like everyone thinks anyhow


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## grapeman (Nov 22, 2010)

In the north- which you are in- the reason for waiting for late winter to early spring is so that the coldest of the weather has passed. When pruning, you prune back to leave a certain target number of buds- based on winter damage to the buds. If you prune to a target of say 50 buds you can't change that. Let's then say you get a severe winter and 50 % of your buds are killed, you will only only have 25 left for next year. Not only does that make the remaining buds which grow into shoots too vigorous, but your potential crop will only be 50%.

Up here, wait until late winter/early spring.

I would start towards the end of the vine and try to sort out/prune back. Idealy you want one or two trunks and depending on the trellis you make you will want to keep two to four canes for supplying shoots for grapes. Remember each bud left on the bronze colored wood grows into a shoot and will have about two to 3 clusters on each shoot. If you can leave four canes with each 12 nodes, that would give you 48 shoots which will be plenty. There is a lot more to it than this, but you need to get abasic structure going before gettingtoo fancy.


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## ellijaywinemaker (Nov 22, 2010)

go to youtube and put in concord grape pruning that will help alot if you a visaul person like me.


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## FTC Wines (Dec 16, 2010)

ellijaywinemaker, if your growing your own grapes i'd like to know what's working for you. i have 3 merlot left out of 9, & 2 catawba left out of 6. i'm at 1520 ft elev & very cold winters. 7* low so far this year & 5* 2 days in a row last year. the org. vines were planted 3 yrs. ago & dead ones replaced the next year. my organic garden surpasses all the ones around here but my grapes look sad. soil was very heavy clay. thanks, roy


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## Runningwolf (Dec 16, 2010)

Grapeman, I have a question for you. Our climates are not that different from each other and up here along Lake Erie in the grape country they have started puning some of the grapes already. I know the big time for this is in late winter as you mentioned above. Are there some grapes you can do now and earlier than others?


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## grapeman (Dec 16, 2010)

Dan a lot of it depends on the amount of vines a grower has to prune. If you have a dozen vines to prune, wait until after the coldes weather is past for the year. If you have 200 acres to prune, you need to get started after dormancy sets in so you can finish before spring budbreak. The growers that prune now often prune long leaving extra buds and go back to do a finsih pruning towards spring. Where you are there are probably a lot of mechanical puners that do the initial pruning.


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