Pruning After Bud Break

[Simps]

Can you?

I left a few extra buds because our freeze cycling has been weird this year and now I want to get a strong trunk formed. Does it hurt anything, or will it even help now that the stored energy is being expended?

-Simps

 

[grapeman]

Not sure I understand your question????????????

 

[garymc]

He's asking if it's ok to prune after bud break. Apparently the vines are young ones, maybe recently transplanted, have leafed out with multiple shoots low to the ground. It's a good subject for discussion if I'm making correct assumptions. I have some little vines a foot long that were just transplanted in March. I didn't think some of them were going to wake up. So I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to allow some shoots and leaves to photosynthesize for a while to feed the vine and then prune off everything but the best shoot for forming a trunk when the plant is more established in May or June. Or maybe I just hijacked his thread with my own question. Oh, my vines are muscadines, so they might be able to be treated differently.

 

[grapeman]

That is my point gary. We can assume he means one thing but there are too many unknowns here to give a good answer.

 

[Simps]

You hit the nail on the head Gary. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've been so busy this week I didn't even have time to look at my vines!

 

[saddlebronze]

I have the same question. Some of the vines I just planted looked iffy so I did not trim them back to one shoot and now wonder if I should since they have now budded out.

 

[grapeman]

OK, now you guys have explained your question a bit more. In the year of establishment, you want to create a nice vine with a lot of leaves. I prefer to cut back to the main, largest cane if more than one at planting. I then leave all the buds on that one to grow. Let it grow all season so the vine will get plenty of leaves to form a nice strong root system. If it is extremely vigorous growing 6-8 feet you may be able to form the trunk the first year. If it isn't as thick as a finger, then next spring you should cut back the trunk to a few buds and let it regrow. That forms a stronger thicker trunk which will lead to a healthier vine. I have sometimes been able to form the trunk the first year, but usually I wait until the second year to get a nice thick trunk.

Does that answer any questions or just lead to more?

 

[saddlebronze]

For those of us dummies that did not trim to one Trunk when we planted a few weeks ago, should we do it now or let it go?

 

[grapeman]

There is no set right or wrong with this. You will find recommendations both ways. I have done it both ways. They seem to establish a bit slower when you leave all the canes at planting. You could cut back now with no harm to them. They will drip sap, but heal quickly. Try some each way and see what works best with what you have. Just be careful if you have grafted vines not to cut the scion wood off (the grape variety grafted onto the rootstock).

 

[Simps]

I think I'll go with a mix and match strategy like grapeman suggested. I have 6 vines.(3 of which are showing no activity right now, I'm a little scared as the buds are still brown and small while other vines are fully growing)

I plan to trim the small ones back to 1 strong growing bud and nip the others.

The healthiest I will leave maybe 2 or 3 growing buds (and 1 bunch of grapes on the strongest vine I have because I am over-anxious and want to see the process)

Hopefully I will remember to udpate this thread with results after 1 and 2 years for short and long term results. Anyone else willing to adapt an experiment with their vines and detail the results? The more data the better. Plus different climates and varietals blah blah blah.