Who said you need years of experience for a great grape harvest? 😌🤭 With this simple pruning technique, beginners will see results by next season 😦🙈 It’s the shortcut to a juicy, successful crop. Read more in the article below! 👇
Pruning grapes in the fall is a must if you want to get a rich harvest next year. But this is quite a difficult process that requires strength and labor.
However, there is one method that is memorable from the first time. It is suitable for beginners and people who are afraid to do something wrong and then stay without a harvest at all. With this method of pruning, you do not need to deal with the formation of knots or take into account the location of the buds. Everything is more simple and clear.
The main thing is that the pruning shears were sharp. And you need to be patient and wait until almost all the leaves fall off from the grapes.
At the base of the bush there are stiffened branches, so they do not bear fruit anymore. They are called sleeves when forming the bush.
In the next season, young vines will bear fruit, which had time to harden in the fall. On each sleeve, leave no more than two branches, which are located as close to the base as possible. On the most powerful ones, leave 12-15 buds, and make the second one shorter – by 6 buds. All branches that are further away need to be removed.
The number of sleeves can reach 3-4 and the pruning of each is done separately.
When you form a young bush, you can create a new sleeve using young branches that went from the root. Then count the buds when forming a fruit vine should not be counted from the base, but from the place where the branch intersects with the lower tier of trellises, which are located at a distance of about 60 cm from the ground. The lower part of the shoot in this case acts as a sleeve.
When cutting off the excess part of the sleeve along with the branches that have finished fruiting, be sure to leave a small stub, that is, step back from the fruit vine by a couple of centimeters, otherwise the fruit vine may die.
If the fruit vine that you left is bifurcated, then remove one of the branches, remembering to back off. This has no effect on the counting of buds, in any case you need to start from the sleeve.
This is the end of the pruning procedure. Now figure out how you will position the vine in the spring. Do not forget, when the permanent cold weather comes, the pruned grape bush should be covered.
That’s all you need to do to get a good harvest next year.