Help Trimming/Managing Vines

[scubaman2151]

Thanks, hows the prunning job? To much, to little?

 

[grapeman]

It will probably be good for year one. You could take off more, but if you go too heavy handed it throws the vine into vegetative mode instead of a good bearing mode.

 

[scubaman2151]

Ok so I got my 3 vines in today and they look great. I let the roots soak in water for about 2hrs then I planted them. I had some trouble with the holes, they were only about 1 - 1 1/2 ft deep. Question though, 2 of the 3 vines are planted on the right side of the arbor when looking stright at it. These are on a incline and when I water them 75% of the water runs down and away from the vines taking some soil with it. Any suggestions on how I can get more water to the roots and less running down the hill?


Scuba

 

[grapeman]

Make a berm around the vines with the top of it level. Just take some soil and mound it up in a circle around the vine, leaving a depression in the middle where the vine is. About a foot and a half is good. Then you just fill the hole like you would a bowl. Don't overdo it with the water.

 

[scubaman2151]

Thanks, will do.

 

[scubaman2151]

I got a EXCELLENT ideafrom another forum about how to water on a hill. Take a water bottle, cut open both ends so you have a tube like thing. Diga hole on the hill above your plant and then put the bottle into the hole. Water through the bottle and all the water goes into the dirt and gets to the roots without running off. I have been doing this for a few days now and this works very very well. I also did this with some ornimental grass I have on a hillside.




ScubaEdited by: Scubaman2151

 

[grapeman]

Yeah I saw that hint- it is a great one. You can also use a milk jug and drill a small 1/8 inch hole in the bottom. Fill the jug up and place it near the vine. It will take hours to empty the jug and slowly soak in the ground. With larger amounts of vines to do, I find the little berm method much quicker for me. I make the small berms when I plant and then when I need to water I just run it into the depression that holds about 2 gallons. Takes about 20 seconds to fill up so it is much quicker for me.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I use the berm method on all my plants...cabbages to zucchini...currants to grapes..roses...etc ...After I plant something it is just natural now to make a little basin around each plant....It makes watering so much easier.

Why is the font like this????

 

[scubaman2151]

Well I have been watering and checking on my vines quite a bit. Finally the buds have been opening and the flowers are starting to come out. I am glad to see this and I hope that the vines are taking.


Scuba

 

[grapeman]

Is it the new vines or your old ones that have flower clusters? It is always good to see some growth. Before you know it they will be going gangbusters.

 

[Wade E]

NW, you must have inadvertently hit the Italic button. Glad to hear that your vines are doing good Scuba. Hopefully you can make a batch of your own wine in the next few years.

 

[scubaman2151]

The new vines have some flowers on them, not to many maybe 2-3 on each vine and they are still small but they are growing. The old vines have a bunch of flowers and those are much larger.

 

[scubaman2151]

Update on the vines. One is doing pretty well the buds are opening and there is a few leaves coming out, the other 2 are slower but they are coming along, probley becuase they are getting less sunlight.

The other 2:

The old vines:

I know its not the best growing conditions but it seems to be working well enough.


ScubaEdited by: Scubaman2151

 

[grapeman]

Things look like they are going pretty good there Scuba. I hope you guys are past frosty mornings. They are opening up pretty good now. Here's hoping your old vines give you some grapes this year. You should see flower clusters pretty soon.

 

[Wade E]

Looking good Scuba.

 

[scubaman2151]

It has been raining steadly up here for the past week so I havent been able to get back there and do any work. I have to weed a little bit then I want to lay some mulch around the base of the vines. Do you think I will get any grapes from these new vines this year?

 

[grapeman]

You don't want to get any grapes from the new vines. If they get flowers, the clusters should be removed to allow the vine to grow a healthy rootsystem. The recommendations are to wait until the third year to take a limited crop and then the fourth year take a full crop. It is hard to wait, but if you crop much too soon, it stunts the vines and limits future yields a lot.

 

[Wade E]

I heard that putting mulch down around the vines make them susceptible to fungus's. Is this true appleman?

 

[scubaman2151]

Thanks for the advice Apple. Someone else told me that I should cut back some buds so there is only 2-3 buds on each vine. Should I do this? If yes, which buds do I leave, the top buds, the lower buds?


Scuba

 

[grapeman]

Wade the mulch is OK if not too thick to harbor insects and rodents. Mulch is one of those arguments that basically comes down to personnal preferences.


Scuba, when the guy says to cut back to 2-3 buds, he means chop off the top 2/3 of your vine before planting so you basically have a little stub left. By doing that, you leave just a few buds and the vine can put more energy into growing those few shoots. Yours are fine like they are in my opinion. What you need to be working on this year is developing strong roots and lots of root reserves. To do this, you let all the shoots grow this year to provide food through photosynthesis. That way, next year you make probably the hardest cuts to be made and cut your poor vine back severly to about a foot tall. That forces all those stored reserves into the few buds left and your vine will grow better for it next year. It gives larger trunk diameter. If you leave weak spindly trunks, the new growth will actually be bigger than the supporting trunk and hurt the vine in the long run. Just remember there are many ways to do everything and no real right way or wrong way. Choose what you are comfortable with and work with that. You only have a few vines, so who cares if they are different than some other persons.