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bkrell

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I'm sorry to take up space but I did a search hear and on google and didn't get as clear an answer as I was looking for...

What exactly does it mean to "pinch" a vine? I didn't know if it meant to snip it off or literally pinch. I only ask because I bought 2 year plus Noble muscadines from Ison's and one is already on my trellis. I've read about pinching the vine at this point to get shoots growing each way but also saw on Ison's video or somewhere where you just train the shoot to one side and opportunistically catch a shoot heading the other way off a bud. Just wasn't sure...
 
This is what I THINK it means. When I am walking thru my vines and I see a bud forming on the trunk, or on a cordon that I do not want I will pinch it off with my fingers. Have also done the same with small shoots. Don't always have my pruners. Again this is my understanding:h
 
Yes, I've read that about buds and it makes sense. I just didn't know what it meant for the vine reaching the trellis wire.
 
When I start new vines from bare root in the early spring I will plant and stake the new vine then put in grow tubes to keep critters away, and pretty much leave them alone till next spring ( will tie to stake or wires if needed) second spring I will take the healthiest looking shoot and keep it tied to the stake and train it to the wire were I want my cordons to be. I will pinch off ( prune) all other shoots to force the main to grow faster and bigger. Does this help any?
 
When I start new vines from bare root in the early spring I will plant and stake the new vine then put in grow tubes to keep critters away, and pretty much leave them alone till next spring ( will tie to stake or wires if needed) second spring I will take the healthiest looking shoot and keep it tied to the stake and train it to the wire were I want my cordons to be. I will pinch off ( prune) all other shoots to force the main to grow faster and bigger. Does this help any?

Yeah I get that but what I mean is how are you getting the cordons from that main shoot? I've read (watched) a video where all they did was train that main shoot one way onto the trellis, then wait for a shoot to branch off near the wire to send the opposite direction for the other cordon. But then I've read elsewhere to "pinch" the shoot once it gets to the trellis to get new shoots to train opposite directions on the trellis.
 
If the trunk reaches the wire in the first year, you can train it one way on the trellis wire. Second year, pinch or cut off all buds on the vertical trunk section except the highest which you train the other direction on the wire. If it just reaches the wire, you can leave two top buds the next year and train them both directions. That is what I used to do. Now, in eastern Washington it is common to train two shoots up the stake to the fruiting wire and train one each way. Pinch or trim off any buds below the wire on the trunk. Hope that helps. At the vineyard I learned to prune at, they stressed not stressing out that a healthy vine is resilient and you can always fix it next year Hope that helps.
 
Yes Johny99 is right on. What we have said is NORMAL vine growth. Some verities of vines are much faster and you could have cordons the first year, other types are much less vigorish and it my take 3 years for good cordons. Weather, amount of rain, temp all play a part.
 
If the trunk reaches the wire in the first year, you can train it one way on the trellis wire. Second year, pinch or cut off all buds on the vertical trunk section except the highest which you train the other direction on the wire. If it just reaches the wire, you can leave two top buds the next year and train them both directions. That is what I used to do. Now, in eastern Washington it is common to train two shoots up the stake to the fruiting wire and train one each way. Pinch or trim off any buds below the wire on the trunk. Hope that helps. At the vineyard I learned to prune at, they stressed not stressing out that a healthy vine is resilient and you can always fix it next year Hope that helps.

Ok that's what I wanted to be sure of! That makes sense! Thanks guys!
 
Yes Johny99 is right on. What we have said is NORMAL vine growth. Some verities of vines are much faster and you could have cordons the first year, other types are much less vigorish and it my take 3 years for good cordons. Weather, amount of rain, temp all play a part.

These are supposed to be pretty vigorous muscadines and I've got them in a pretty good spot so I have my fingers crossed!
 
I have waited until now to comment because I don't grow muscadines, but really vines are vines so.... What has been said about training them so far is correct. You can train them either way where you can let the vine grow by the wire and as it gets big enough, tie it down. Sometimes you can use a lateral shoot near the wire to form a second cordon. Sometimes you need to wait until the next year to form that second cordon. To make the vine more uniform for cordons you can pinch or prune just below the wire. That will allow the vine to send out stronger shoots near the pinched or pruned tip that can be used to form two cordons. When they say pinch, they mean pinch. Take your thumb and pointer finger and use the nails to pinch off the nice young tender growth. If you wait too long it gets tougher but then you can snip the tip off with pruners. See the other post for an example of a vine trained down on one side next to another with both cordon's formed in one year. Which one looks more uniform?
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52622
 

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