Hello. The house that we moved into a few years ago has 4 grape vines growing in the backyard on a trellis. Since I am brand new to winemaking I haven't done anything with these vines since I have been here but am looking to see if I can make these vines productive. They do produce grapes (Concord I think) but the clusters are small with some ripening very early and others late. I don't know how old they are but the vines at ground level are about 3-4 inches thick. From there they grow up into a big tangled mess about 12 feet high. My question is, can I prune these back to a few feet from the ground and then train them along the trellises without killing the vines? I would like to be able to get enough grapes from these to be able to make a batch of wine each year. If I do prune them back do I need to leave some leaves? There are very few leaves near the bottom of the vines. Would it be better to just rip them out and plant new vines? Is anyone aware of a good source of info for reclaiming old vines? Thanks.
Reclaiming old vines
- Thread starter Milwood
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Welcome to the forum Milwood.
I would take what crop there is this year as it ripens and then consider pruning this winter. It would be very wise to keep this older established vine. It will crop right away and be in a better state of production in another year. Prune it back like you say right to the main vine. Leave it a few feet long, and if there is a few canes a year old at that height it would give you something to train to a trellis. If not, themain trunk will push out some latent buds and give you new shoots to train.
I don't have time right now to get any more in depth, but will try later to give you better directions and possibly a link or two on pruning.
I would take what crop there is this year as it ripens and then consider pruning this winter. It would be very wise to keep this older established vine. It will crop right away and be in a better state of production in another year. Prune it back like you say right to the main vine. Leave it a few feet long, and if there is a few canes a year old at that height it would give you something to train to a trellis. If not, themain trunk will push out some latent buds and give you new shoots to train.
I don't have time right now to get any more in depth, but will try later to give you better directions and possibly a link or two on pruning.
scubaman2151
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Hello and welcome to the forums.
A great book to read is called:
"From vines to wines" By jeff Cox.
He spends half the book talking all about vines and pruning and planting them.
He does recommend that you prune in early spring when the temp is starting to hit 50 degrees everyday.
Scuba
A great book to read is called:
"From vines to wines" By jeff Cox.
He spends half the book talking all about vines and pruning and planting them.
He does recommend that you prune in early spring when the temp is starting to hit 50 degrees everyday.
Scuba
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