Hello. New to forum. Unsure where this goes. Have concord grapevines and have read pruning information that said to mark this year 2014 fruiting canes with one color (chose orange) and next years spurs for 2015 fruiting canes with another color (chose green). All the this-year orange canes have flowered and have fruit bunches starting. BUT...all the GREEN spurs instead of growing just canes are growing fruit also. I am using 4 arm system and have been doing this for some years believing it to be correct but do not recall ever having the selected SPURS gowing bunches of fruit the current year. Should be only growing non-fruited canes that will fruit next year. I do not know why this is so. Maybe fertilizing, maybe vigorous, 4 year old plants, maybe did something wrong or misunderstood. I just changed all the green-marked canes to orange and plan to look for unmarked unfruited canes at next pruning. Did not want to cut off any grapes. Does anyone understand this or anyone able to explain why this happened and suggest what correct thing do do would be? Never had this happen before so wanted to ask advice. My methods come from Readers Digest Garden Guide (old) and a Horticulture magazine. This is in Philadelphia region and is happening on all 6 vines.
Whether fruiting or non-fruiting canes are selected for next year is irrelevant. All that you should look for in next year's canes is that they are in the proper position (near the base of the arm) and are vigorous enough to produce fruiting canes next year. Usually, the non-fruiting canes are more vigorous; but if you are getting good growth from the fruiting canes, there is no reason not to use them. If none of the fruiting canes seem vigorous enough, then it's very easy to increase their growth rate by removing the blossom clusters. I have an early Concord type grape (Fredonia) that I train to 16 or 18 arms at the back of a high deck, and I always use fruiting canes for next year. The non-fruiting canes are all removed to direct as much energy and light into the fruiting ones.
Thanks for reply. In all my years of growing these grapes I have never had occasion where ALL the new growth after I pruned is growing side shoots with 3 or 4 bunches of grapes.Thought it might be the extra fertilization. Or an error in how I pruned. Got plenty of grapes - just trying to understand it. Should be growing canes to fruit next year, not be fruiting this year.
I must have made error. I re-read original book and found it DID say there would be some bunches of grapes on the developing spurs but most energy would be used for developing next year fruiting canes. And I realized I simply pruned as it said but NEVER did I actually watch the spur shoots as they grew but just assumed the canes marked as spurs would grow canes. And it also said the spur canes did not have to acually originate at trunk but just be near to wires, which I assume means they could be a short stub marked as a spur and would sprout new canes and some might have some grape bunches. To solve dilemma for now I just left all canes or shoots with grapes marked orange for 2014 fruiting, and the short ones which were intended spurs marked with gree ribbons as well as orange. I will sort it all out at next pruning and observe more carefully instead of assuming too much. Maybe not many people grow concord grapes anymore or those that do already know how, since not too many posts do I see.