pruning grape vine

[clayhill]

Yes. Been pruning since Christmas . . . only another 6100 metres to go! Should be done by the end of March, then time to start tying down the pruned canes. Oh what fun!

[lockwood1956]

Yes

[goldseal]

Folks, do you reckon now is a good time to prune?

[clayhill]

Yep, read that one. . .

There are loads of books and most of them are full of good information and details.

If your looking for books on grape growing in the uk look for :

'Growing vines to make wines' by Nick Poulter or 'Successful grape growing for eating and wine making' by Alan Rowe, both are a good source of information.

A nice glossy and easy to read book is 'The backyard vintner' by Jim Law.

[billybuntus]

Or actually plant it into the ground, where it will be a lot happier?

k

10 inches of concrete (and paving) are below where the vine lives

[kessler]

Looking at your picture, some of the lower leaves are turning yellow, this is probably the vine moving trace minerals from the lower leaves to any new growth. Make sure you give the vine a foliar feed every 10 to 14 days.

Regards

Dale

Or actually plant it into the ground, where it will be a lot happier?

k

[lockwood1956]

You may get a better idea of things if I send you a copy of our vineyard newsletter, it explains what we are doing on the vineyard throughout the season. If you'd like I can send you some via e-mail? If interested, send me your email address through the private messenger

Dale,

feel free to publish it on the forum if you like...

regards
bob

[kessler]

Hiya,

Not this time. But I do know Duncan, he lives just down the road and has been advising us on our sprays this year. Sound bloke!

Most this has come from lots of reading and picking out what makes sense/works for us.

A good book to read is 'Sunshine into Wine' by Richard Smart. He gets some stick over here in the uk but his canopy management ideas make sense.

Dale

Yeah I have Smarts book. Isn't he living in blighty these days? Married an English woman...

Anyway...yes Duncan is a top man.

[solly]

Thanks for the advice Dale........people have said that if your looking at growing grapes then another good souce of advice is a book by Geff Cox called "From Vines To Wines" that offers good advice on growing grapes.

Just wondered if anyone has read this book and what their thoughts were?

Vines To Wines Book

[clayhill]

They are called 'Tape Machines'

The most common make is the 'Max Tapener HTB-2', this could be the original but is not the best. We use the 'Simes Tape Tool', slightly more expensive but far more robust. We get these from 'The Essentials Company'.

http://www.theessentialscompany.co.uk/Ties.html

Kind regards, Dale

[solly]

Hi Dale,

On your website, in one of the photos there is someone using a "What I Would Call" an automatic tapeing machine (puts like a tape around the vine to the stake - but could be used elsewhere / lots of other things) and I just wondered if you know the proper name for the machine please.

BTW...........Thanks for the news letter

http://www.clayhillvineyard.co.uk/in...es/Page333.htm

[clayhill]

Hiya,

Not this time. But I do know Duncan, he lives just down the road and has been advising us on our sprays this year. Sound bloke!

Most this has come from lots of reading and picking out what makes sense/works for us.

A good book to read is 'Sunshine into Wine' by Richard Smart. He gets some stick over here in the uk but his canopy management ideas make sense.

Dale

[kessler]

Hiya,

The theory is to keep the vine in balance, too many shoots will leave you with a stressed vine plant and lots of small grapes. Not enough buds and you'll end up with lots of growth and very few grapes. This is not easy with a young vine because it is still establishing itself.

When you prune the vine this winter, you will be able to measure the pruned wood. For every metre of pruned wood from this year, you must save 1 bud on the lateral cane that you have kept. So if you have 7 metres of growth then leave 7 buds on your lateral cane, more than this could harm the development of the vine. I find it easier to cut the lateral cane to whatever length makes it easier to work with, then in the spring after any chance of a late spring frost, rub off any weak and unwanted shoots till you are left with just your 7 beds. The 60-70mm rule is more for when the vine is established, as each year passes you will need to leave more buds on the lateral cane. Just make sure that the bud spacing is 60-70mm, this works out to about 15 buds pr metre. If you need more buds than 15 then make the lateral can longer or let another cane grow, this will ensure a good ripening and disease resistance of the grapes. (I hope this makes sense)

Yes a bigger pot would be brilliant, manure and seaweed is good for the vine but can leave to excessive vigour (after next year you sgould have more pruning wood, so you would need more buds to keep the vine in balance). Vines are funny feeders, they need mycorhiaza (something like that) to help break down nutrients in the soil (seaweed and seaweed extract are good for promoting this). Any foliar feed with trace minerals should help (iron, boron, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium, potassium + nitrogen (your manure) and phosphate). Feeding from bud burst through to harvest every 10/14 days, it takes alot of energy to grow and ripen those grapes.

You may get a better idea of things if I send you a copy of our vineyard newsletter, it explains what we are doing on the vineyard throughout the season. If you'd like I can send you some via e-mail? If interested, send me your email address through the private messenger.

I hope I've been ablr to help you.

Regards

Dale

Sounds like you've been on a wineskills course with Duncan Mcneill

K

[billybuntus]

You have a message

[clayhill]

Hiya,

The theory is to keep the vine in balance, too many shoots will leave you with a stressed vine plant and lots of small grapes. Not enough buds and you'll end up with lots of growth and very few grapes. This is not easy with a young vine because it is still establishing itself.

When you prune the vine this winter, you will be able to measure the pruned wood. For every metre of pruned wood from this year, you must save 1 bud on the lateral cane that you have kept. So if you have 7 metres of growth then leave 7 buds on your lateral cane, more than this could harm the development of the vine. I find it easier to cut the lateral cane to whatever length makes it easier to work with, then in the spring after any chance of a late spring frost, rub off any weak and unwanted shoots till you are left with just your 7 beds. The 60-70mm rule is more for when the vine is established, as each year passes you will need to leave more buds on the lateral cane. Just make sure that the bud spacing is 60-70mm, this works out to about 15 buds pr metre. If you need more buds than 15 then make the lateral can longer or let another cane grow, this will ensure a good ripening and disease resistance of the grapes. (I hope this makes sense)

Yes a bigger pot would be brilliant, manure and seaweed is good for the vine but can leave to excessive vigour (after next year you sgould have more pruning wood, so you would need more buds to keep the vine in balance). Vines are funny feeders, they need mycorhiaza (something like that) to help break down nutrients in the soil (seaweed and seaweed extract are good for promoting this). Any foliar feed with trace minerals should help (iron, boron, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, calcium, potassium + nitrogen (your manure) and phosphate). Feeding from bud burst through to harvest every 10/14 days, it takes alot of energy to grow and ripen those grapes.

You may get a better idea of things if I send you a copy of our vineyard newsletter, it explains what we are doing on the vineyard throughout the season. If you'd like I can send you some via e-mail? If interested, send me your email address through the private messenger.

I hope I've been ablr to help you.

Regards

Dale