New to the Grape game... need help

[GrapeEater]

I planted one Niagara and one Concord grape vine on my arbor a week ago. My arbor is a wood arbor with I believe (6) 6x6 posts with landscaping timbers going across the the top. Anyways I dug a deep hole filled it in with soil, sand, and compost and mixed it all together. I planted both plants on opposite ends of the arbor.

I am not sure but I think I bought 1 year old potted plants. These plants have pretty long stems or vines and have several shoots coming off the main stem. I can take pictures tomorrow so you know what I am talking about. My question is I planted them a week ago should I prune off the side shoots now? Or do I just let it go and help train it on the arbor posts for now and prune it this fall when it goes dormant?

Also any other additional help for a beginner would be excellent.

I live in West Michigan near Grand Rapids and I believe I am in growing zone 5 or 6

Also I have pretty heavy clay soil so I am sure this could be an issue. I tried to dig a big hole to give the roots loose soil to expand into.

 

[grapeman]

It sounds like you are doing everything alright. There are many ways of doing everything and it sounds like a good plan overall. Good luck with them. Keep the weeds down around them for sure so they grow without competition.