# CANOPY PRUNING



## NorthernWinos (Aug 14, 2006)

Came hope today with some excess energy...so went out and pulled and cut a bunch of leaves off 3 grape vines....
This is an Edelweiss vine....it is a white table/wine grape..hardy to zone 4...[I lay the panel it grows on down in the winter]..it is a 3 year old vine, 2nd year of production....WOW!!! they aren't even ripe yet and they are so sweet.They say they are ripe when the seeds turn brown...like an apple...







This a Swenson Red...an hardy [zone 4]...also grown on a wire panel and laid down in the winter...1st year of production...Looks promising for this area....








Will they turn red now that the big shade leaves are trimmed??? Time will tell.... 

I mulch with straw while the plants are getting established and don't think the plants get the reflective heat from the soil they need to ripen, but have had everything ripen in other year....this year is hot and we did get some rain now so hoping for the best.

Next year I will train them on a taller wire panel and will remove the straw mulch during the summers, the plants seem strong enough to survive now. I grow the vines in a fan pattern so the vines remain pliable for laying down, so over the years will replace the older vines with newer ones...


Look what I found under the very vegetative foliage of the King Of The North vine...







It is a red [purple] wine/table/juice variety....This is a Zone 3 vine that hangs on the wires over winter...this is it's 2nd year that had been neglected...didn't get hung up on the wire till this mid summer...They say it will produce 5 times the foliage of other vines...I believe that, it really has many leaves and vines.

When you trim the leaves off, take only leaves....trimming vines this late in the season promotes more vine growth that ....up here in the North...won't harden off before winter and and succulent growth won't survive the winter....at least that is what I have read in the book Northern Wineworks..
Get out the bird netting now...they are very visible and hard for the birds to resist...
These are a few of my grapes...I am growing 2 plants of each variety to see what will work for me. I have read that Frontenac is kind of a late ripening vine, I have 5 young ones going and time will tell on those for this area...As well I have new plants of Kay Gray, Louise Swenson, Baltic Amber, and Prairie Star all are hardy white wine grapes.. I have tried a very tender Canadice seedless table grape, it's 3rd year of survival and only has a few grapes on it...will give it one more years chance.

Hope this has been helpful..


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## grapeman (Aug 15, 2006)

Everything is looking great. I guess you would need the bird netting, having all those nice big juicy grapes hanging out there in the open. Makes my mouth water, and I'm not even a bird



. How many pounds per vine do you estimate on those vines?


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## NorthernWinos (Aug 15, 2006)

Can't estimate the 'tonnage', won't be much, enough to make some juice to blend into some other wine and some breakfast juice to enjoy..


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## bilbo-in-maine (Aug 15, 2006)

I, too, have 5 Frontenac, plus 2 Frontenac Gris. They are trained to the 2-wire trellis I erected in the spring. All 7 have reached the top wire at 6 feet and have gone beyond, although next spring I will prune them to the low wire with bilateral cordons and train them in the VSP system with catch wires to try to control their exuberant growth. The 5 Landot Noir are also on the same trellis for similar training.

We also have the Canadice vine, in its third year. It put on 3 bunches this year, the first year it has put on fruit. Now I am waiting for signs of veraison.


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## NorthernWinos (Oct 16, 2006)

While I sit in my Oncology cubicle, I have been reading about Oenology and Enology....been reading 'From Vines to Wines' by Jeff Cox...a must read book for anyone who hasn't read it....I got mine used on Amazon.com

I see that I for sure over pruned my vines....tried to get the sun in to ripen the fruits...it seems that the leaves gather the sun to ripen the fruits, especially leave the leaves closest to the clusters.....LIVE AND LEARN!!!!!

This is one man's opinion...will try to read more on late canopy pruning for the north over winter.

Anyone got any good book titles that would make good winter reading...


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## Waldo (Oct 17, 2006)

NW when you lay your vines down for the winter do you also cover them ?


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## NorthernWinos (Oct 17, 2006)

Waldo said:


> NW when you lay your vines down for the winter do you also cover them ?



Yes, I just lay the tender ones down and fluff some straw over them.....the straw catches snow for added protection...


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