New tendril growing. What do I do with it?

[andrewr1991]

I have been growing a Chambourcin for about a month now. I have a lot of new growth and it is doing well. I have attached a few photos:

I have a new tendril (or stalk, I'm not exactly sure what it's called) growing from close to the base of the plant as you can see in the photos. My question is, should I cut it or perhaps put another stake in the ground to direct the tendril away from the other part of the vine and continue growing it?

 

[garymc]

It's a shoot. A tendril is the little thread like thing that wraps around stuff and supports the vine, enabling it to climb. If this is the first year, I think you just let everything grow like a bush. What you're doing is allowing the root system to develop. Then late this winter you will cut it down to 2 buds and start training the shoots from them to reach your trellis which should be in place by then. If you want 2 trunks, you would leave it. If you were trying to train it to reach the non-existent trellis now and you only wanted 1 trunk, you would cut it off as low as possible. If you were training it to reach a trellis, you would also pinch off all those side shoots up and down the main trunk. Also scrape off the buds that form to send out side shoots, forcing the vine to go straight up. But that's only if you're shooting for the trellis wire.

I should point out that I have never grown a chambourcin vine, so if someone posts a different response, go with them.

 

[garymc]

Oh, I forgot to mention, there is a section on growing grapes farther down entitled
Grape Growing and Vineyard Forum.

 

[balatonwine]

There are two ways to grow a new vine in its first year: as a bush (let all new shoots grow) or as 1 to 3 shoots tied to a stake. The bush method is used in cooler regions for less vigorous vines to develop a strong root system that first year.

For the stake method, you can snap off the new shoot at the bottom and just have one shoot. But I recommend to let this second shoot grow and also tie it to the current stake for one important reason: insurance. That is, anything can happen in the next year to a single shoot (disease, pests, wind, winter damage), so good to have one more available just in case. If both shoots do fine, and both reach the trellis fruiting wire, next year just pick the strongest, straightest one and cut off the other one at it's base when you prune the vine next year. If no shoot reaches the trellis fruiting wire, keep only the strongest shoot, and cut it down to two buds and let it regrow from there. The reason for the radical cut in this case is the roots were not strong enough to push the vine to the trellis, and doing the radical 2 bud cut the second year will help stimulate root growth the second year.

P.S. I would pull the mulch a little away from the base of the vine to avoid rot.

 

[andrewr1991]

Thanks for the great info! I'll go ahead and let this shoot grow and then go from there.

Any advice on how often to water? I live in north Texas and we get a lot of direct sunlight. I would say it's in direct sunlight for between 7-9 hours everyday and I was watering it roughly every other day. It seems to be doing well on that schedule. We're just coming out of our wet season and I have gotten a bit of what I believe to be disease (black spots and discoloration on some leaves), so I've been spraying with neem oil after every big rain.