New Growth

[Louie1277]

Hi everyone,


I have a question on new vines. I planted my vines about 2 weeks ago and they have already starting to grow. I notice a little leaves coming out. Well i bought some grow tubes last week and installed them on thursday before i went on a little vacation.


This morning i went out there and notice the leaves are much bigger now. From reading on the net and my book "From Vines to Wine" it's telling me I should cute them off. That way the vine will grow stronger for the first year.


Should I do that or leave them alone? I been trying to post some pictures I took after installing the grow tubes but keep getting error message when trying to upload. I will try in a few minutes again.


Please let me know before they start growing more.


Thank you,

 

[Louie1277]

Here are the pictures.

 

[grapeman]

I think you are misreading something. DO NOT cut the new leaves off! If you do it will need to keep replacing them and deplete the soil reserves. You want just the opposite. You want to leave on all the leaves and shoots that grow to build soil reserves for next year. Then next spring, you cut the cane down to just a couple good fat buds in the spring. That way it forces the canes to grow longer stronger and thicker next year. The grow tubes will help grow the vines upwards and give them some extra heat. If it gets too hot (over 95 degrees for a few days), then remove the grow tubes. Towards autumn remove them anyways to let the vines harden off before winter.


It's nice to see that bit of early growth isn't it? Good luck!

 

[Louie1277]

Thank you for the feedback. Talking about the degrees I might take them off in the summer time. around my area it gets from 95 to 100 some times. I'm just afraid of the rabbits coming around and eating them.