cluster thinning

This is my first fruiting year. I am trying to control the clusters to one cluster per shoot. Now I see multiple clusters forming on some shoots. Should I rub the excess clusters off? keep the bottom one or the biggest one?

Generally the bottom one is the largest but if the other one is bigger, keep that one. It is easier to remove them when fairly small.

I am harvesting fruit this year and cluster thinned a couple days ago, just looked at which of the cluster was the best looking and took the others off with small pruners. Some vines had one cluster and others had up to four. Most had two to three. I read from vine to wine and also watched a few videos on the net from wineries. So fingers crossed I hope I did it correctly. I guess I will know in the fall

I see that there are two shoots grow out of the same eye on the cane. Should I remove the extra shoot?

I think it depends on the plant. I'm running an experiment this year 1 shoot vs. 2 shoot and keep two clusters per shoot. I'll be checking brix, weight and pH.

I think alot has to do with the variety of grape you are growing some grow very fast, water conditions, amount of sunshine, how fertile your soil is and the age of the vines. I don't think there is any 1 rule. Bigger vines do 2 smaller do 1. Good rule of thumb. Good thing to do is keep notes so you have a better idea for next year. Also remember leaf thinging later in the year so there will be air flow to keep the mildew down.

My understanding is that you remove the less fruitful of double shoots otherwise the plant is wasting energy or unnecessarily distributing resources. I'll post a pic about double shoots from a pruning book when I get home from the office.

This tread is really interesting to me, my vines (just 10) are in their third year in the ground and first year with a crop size amount of fruit. In almost all areas of winemaking so far I tend to read everyone's advice then do what I like, generally realizing later there were solid reasons behind most of the advice. So, for once, I'm paying attention. My Chard has mostly two clusters per shoot which I'll cut back to one. My Cabs look to be over achievers with 2 or 3 on most shoots and I think I'll do the same with them this year. Keep sending the updates and pics.
Thanks, Mike

berrycrush said:

I see that there are two shoots grow out of the same eye on the cane. Should I remove the extra shoot?

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That would be both the primary and secondary shoots growing. If you want a nice strong shoot then just flick off the secondary before it gets any larger. Judging by the size of the cordon ( or cane if you pruned that way) I would take off the secondary. It is much easier to do now rather than having to use pruning shears to do it later.

I just want to confirm on your picture that those aren't zip ties holding the cordon to the wire? It looks like they may be which is a major concern due to girdling.

That's obviously a zip tie. And it's cinched down tight. I use them on my vines, but when the tendrils grab the wire or the cordon makes a full wrap around the wire, I cut them off. I don't cinch mine down tight like that, though.

havlikn & garymc, Thanks for noticing and the advice. Yes I will remove it once the cordon gets a secure hold of the wire, that is if I want to keep the cane next season as a cordon.

Well, if that's a promise, then we'll let it go.

On my older and more vigorous vines I keep the secondary shoot until after bloom. Then after berry set,I drop the less promising clusters based on the vine, how healthy, history and age, etc. dictates how many I'll keep. I do leaf pluck and drop extra shoots if needed after berry set.

As for cable ties, I use a tapener, really slick and fast tool.

Johny99 said:

As for cable ties, I use a tapener, really slick and fast tool.

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What kind of tapener do you use?