Pruning Help for Grape Production

[UKrookie]

I brought a grape vine 3 years ago and it was about 2 feet tall at the time, this year we still don't have any sign of grapes but looking into it we might not be pruning it correctly in the winter. I was told to cut the shoots back to close to the main stem but now I think we need to make it grow horizontally and wanted to ask for a bit of advice to make sure we have the best chance of fruit next year. I have drawn a diagram to show the current state of the vine, any help would be really appreciated, I don't know what to cut and what to bend so I really don't want to make it any worse!

 

[wfournier]

What type of grapes? Vinifera or something else (not sure what is common in the UK). Have you built a trellis for it? I would look into training systems and based on the variety of grape you have folks should be able to make recommendations.

 

[UKrookie]

What type of grapes? Vinifera or something else (not sure what is common in the UK). Have you built a trellis for it? I would look into training systems and based on the variety of grape you have folks should be able to make recommendations.

Yes it is a Vitis Vinifera I think and yes we have a wire trellis with 5 wires up to around 150cm/59in off the ground.

 

[wfournier]

I'm not as familiar with vinifera but it sounds like you may have a VSP trellis which would be typical for vinifera. Here is a sheets from double A that goes over some of the basics, there is tons of information on youtube and I'm sure there are others here who may be better equipped to help you. Pictures would help us see what you are working with and might encourage more replies.

https://doubleavineyards.com/Images/VSP.pdf

 

[Wineisgud]

That new growth this year will be the one year old wood layed on your trellis wire that will produce shoots that bear fruit the following year. So those old wood spurs are putting out fruitful shoots. This year choose whether you want to do cane pruning or lay cordons down to begin spur pruning. Here’s a quick vid that will be what you do next year (if you cane prune) at the end of dormancy



and here’s a quick one for spur pruning