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This
may sound a little strange but grape vines have to be trained just like an athlete, in order to
achieve the correct shape, and to reap a good crop.
When
you have constructed your trellis and planted your grape vine, that’s when you will see your
grape vine taking shape. It only takes one strong shoot, which comes from the root; any other
shoots that grow should be clipped back.
The
main shoot is tied at right angles to the trellis. Developing the arms of the vine comes after
the rest period.
It
is important that the two shoots that are located to the right, and left of the main shoot are
tied down, lying flat to the trellis; this will be the base of the arms. Any other shoots that
appear they should be allowed to grow.
When
To Prune Grape Vines
When to prune grape vines is a question that many
people ask, and the answer is simple, grape vines always have a rest period when they are
not producing, this is when your grapes pruning should take place. It is important to carry out
this procedure to reap a good crop of grapes.
An
important factor to take into consideration is how you prune your grape vine, this depends a lot
on the variety of grapes you are growing.
Hardier
varieties for example; Hybrid, is less likely to get affected by disease. The foliage they
produce is much less than traditional type variety of grape vines.
When
pruning your grape vines, it is a common fact to prune them down to around four shoots. A good
time to do this is in the winter months, when you have lost all of the leaves off of your grape
vines.
Depending
where you are located, frost can do considerable damage to your grape vines when the temperature
drops below 32 degrees, this is the time to be aware that your grape vines can be damaged by
frost.
When
you prune your grape vines every year, it removes the year previous fruiting canes. The
production of fruit is produced from canes that are only one year old, it is important to
produce new canes every year.
By
pruning grape vines the crop production will be less, because you have removed the fruitful
buds. If you prune grape vines too much you will increase the shoots, which will produce a
higher crop, but also more foliage.
When
you increase the foliage, it creates more shade, and effects the ripening of the
grapes.
Most
grape growers use hand tools for pruning grape vines for example; lopper's, and
handsaws, it is important when pruning grape vines not to damage your plants, hand pruner's
are generally used for removing shoots in the first year. Handsaws and lopper's are used for the
thicker wood.
The
reason for pruning grapes, is to keep control of the vines grapevines, they can get out of
control, and will spread if you don’t maintain the grape vines, and this will in turn lead to
poor quality grapes, and then turn into poor quality wine. The vegetation growth can be
extensive, and this can affect next year’s crop.
A
point to bear in mind, without proper care and attention when pruning your vines, it is possible
to miss buds that will grow, and this causes a problem of producing a heavy crop, and in
turn will be difficult for the vines to ripen the grapes, due to the sheer
volume.
If you
like to working on the land, and getting down in the dirt, you will love growing
grapes.
If
you are really serious to grape vine
growing then, check out Danny who is a native of South Africa, and has
his own vineyard in his own country plus, has a great DVD to how to get started, to access
the DVD
Click
Here
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