Grape Vine Care and The Art Of Pruning
Did you know that grapes are one of the oldest cultivated plants? Growing grape vines and grape vine care isn’t something that has just now started. The practice has been around for thousands of years. That means for thousands of years people have been experiencing both the joys and the heartaches of growing grapes. The joy lies in seeing something that you’ve nurtured and taken care of grow up strong and healthy. The heartache lies in not researching grape vine care, doing the wrong thing and possibly killing your plant.
Grapes are very versatile fruits. They can be eaten right off the vine or used in the production of such lovely products as jams, jellies, juices and the ever popular wine. This had boosted the popularity of growing grape vines, both commercially and recreationally. The thing is that grape vines are more delicate than a lot of other plants and if your grape vine care isn’t done properly you can actually inflict serious damage.
There are two main grape growing systems that you’ll need to know about and the type that you’ll have to use will be dependent upon the type of grapes that you’re growing. Sure, there are more systems but these tend to be a bit simpler and a lot more popular. They are the four-cane and the six-cane Kniffin systems.
The more straightforward system is the four-cane. As the name suggests, this system makes use of four canes, 2 on each side of the trunk of the main vine. These are trained unto 2 trellis wires. What you’ll end up with are four renewal spurs which will in turn produce canes the following year in the desired direction. The six-cane system is very similar to this except that six canes are trained to three trellis wires. Since you’ll obviously be having more vine growth in the latter case, this particular system is best attempted with less vigorous varieties.
Once your vines start to grow, proper grape vine care etiquette demands that you ensure correct pruning procedures are used. Pruning is essential for the continued health of grape plants and is best done during early spring or late winter. The vines tend to be dormant around this time so there is less risk of damage to the buds or any other structures. It doesn’t matter if you are growing table grapes or if the grapes are for wind in a vineyard.
Pruning grape vines gives you an idea of how many buds are on the vines so you can have a good estimate of what your crop is going to look like. It also allows you to remove excess buds. You might be thinking why on earth you would want to do that. It’s simple…the plant is not going to able to gather enough resources to ensure that all the grape bunches ripen properly. After all, there is only a finite amount of nutrients available. It is best to gut down on the number of bunches but make certain that the ones allowed too grow are of a high quality.
Yes, grape vine care can be tricky business. If you’re not sure how many buds you should keep and how many to remove, there’s a simple rule of thumb that many gardeners go by. For every pound of pruned material that you remove, you get to keep approximately 10 buds. Of course you may have to actually weigh this initially but with time you’ll get the hang of it.