Pruning/Training Question for 2nd growing season

[jschoenly]

I made a few quick posts, but wanted to start a separate for my situation for thoughts. I planted a variety of vines with the thought that what works will work and what doesn't I'll replace with what works or even something different. Varieties are:

Aurore
Traminette
Riesling
Ravat
Pinot Noir
Cayuga White
Merlot
Cab Franc
Niagra

All are being trained VSP with the exception of the Aurore which will be TWC. Last year (planting year) proved to be very good and pretty much all the vines grew to at least the top wire. I pruned to the low wire and most are doing well this year, maybe 3-4 that are going for a new trunk as the growth just didn't bud out (tried trimming to green but there just wasn't any green in the vines. New trucks coming from the graft and seem to be the same leaf pattern and not the rootstock).

I'm going back through now since I didn't really pinch out the buds up the trucks. I'm tying the strongest new shoots to the fruiting wires and already have good growth for most. There are a lot that overlap in length (spacing may be a little on the tight side).

Main questions: Should I be pruning the cordons to length now or let them grow all season and trim next spring? How many addition shoots other than the cordons should I leave this year? Currently I'm allowing the other strong shoots to grow up the catch wires for now at least. I'm planning on spur pruning as my pruning method, but could adjust if anyone recommends otherwise for a first timer.

I'm really enjoying tending to the vineyard, albeit not as often as I hope. I need to get the weeds under control and have considered mulching with anything from standard mulch to stone. I really like the idea of putting down a weed barrier and bed the rows with a small smooth stone. I know there are lots of schools of thought on this. Am I crazy for wanting to do the stone and will this be OK/Beneficial/Detrimental to the vines?

Thanks!

 

[jschoenly]

Also, I forgot to mention that the ground prep was done in the fall ('11). I sent out soil samples, scalped the sod, amended as recommended from the lab by dusting the custom mix in the center of each row and then had a local guy with a 4' tractor mount rototiller churn in all up. He did 2 passes and it really made for a good planting season. The posts (5" Round treated) were set that fall as well and planted in the spring.

Hopefully I'll get the pruning and weeds under good control soon and then start on the cellar/making area in the basement. I have a room already set aside that is about 15' x 17' which I'll be overhauling a little as half cellar/half wine making area with a big stainless sink (off craigslist for $200!) and all the fixings needed.

 

[jschoenly]

I've been tending to the training a good amount recently. Most all of the VSP vines are working out well and I'm able to train a good healthy shoot to the low wires. There are a few damaged vines that are just growing for recovery and I'll let them go.

I'v also gotten some of the Aurore started training the cordons to the top wires, but they are pretty vigorous. I've pruned a few shoots off these recently to try to control them a little. They also have a healthy or probably too large quantity of grapes forming. I plan on doing some thinning on those.

For the VSP cordons, I have a lot that are now long enough that they are overlapping with the next vine up the row on the low wire. Should these by pruned to length now or just keep them tied well on the wire and let the rest go till dormant pruning?

Thanks for any help!

 

[garymc]

In what part of the country are you located? (agricultural zone)

 

[jschoenly]

I'm located in 6b.

 

[BobR]

Main questions: Should I be pruning the cordons to length now or let them grow all season and trim next spring? How many addition shoots other than the cordons should I leave this year? Currently I'm allowing the other strong shoots to grow up the catch wires for now at least. I'm planning on spur pruning as my pruning method, but could adjust if anyone recommends otherwise for a first timer.

Well Jared, I was hoping that someone would have answered your questions, since I am not sure whether to cut or let grow. Seems that your post just got lost in the rush. Maybe we'll get lucky on a response.

 

[grapeman]

Just let the shoots grow for now with to form the cordons then cut to length next year at pruning time. That will allow more food reserves for the vine and size up the future cordons better.

As far as a stone mulch, like you say there are many trains of thought on that one. With weed fabric it will work to keep weeds down but is a lot of work to put it in. Eventually weeds will get in it as the fabric breaks down and weeds make their way in between the stones.

 

[jschoenly]

Thanks for the replies all. The vines are doing great. I admit I did some pruning a few weeks ago that some may not have agreed with, but it's done. All the trained cordons I have been letting grow. There was some weak/slightly damaged looking shoots towards the ends of the vines that had winter damage. I removed a few of these as they looked to be struggling while lower shoots were doing well so I trimmed a little to let the best grow through.

Additionally, some vines have/had a lot of clusters forming. I haven't removed all the clusters from the vines as most say to do, but most. I only left some clusters on the vines that were most vigorous and boy are some growing wild. You can definitely tell that a bunch are 2 year vines still developing, while some fill the trellis like seasoned wine producers.

I'll hopefully post some pictures this week assuming I can hid my blatant lack of weed control this year...

 

[SeMo-wine]

We use a burn down herbicide for weed control. We are using Liberty right now. But it is not recommended for grape growers. However it is what we are using. We were using gramoxone which some of our weeds have immunity built up. We rotate our spray every so often. The gramoxone requires a applicators license in this area to purchase. And safety measures need to be followed as per the label for the applicators safety. Just note it will kill anything green. You can spray the trunk of the vine and the suckers that were not gloved off. It will kill the suckers but not the plant. With mulch I have heard that it could hold moisture around the trunk and cause it to rot. Hope this helps