Too Many Grape Vines

Discussion in 'Grapes and Grape Vines' started by pakman, Aug 13, 2007.

  1. pakman

    pakman Member

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    Location:
    Campbell River, BC
    Hi

    Last fall I asked for help in pruning a never pruned grape vine. Well I pruned it as instructed and now I have so many new vines that I can't keep up with pruning them. Every week I get new ones and so I cut more vines off. I only have a few bunches of grapes on the vines and guess that its because I have so much energy going into new vines that there is none left for grape production. I am in Campbell River, BC. I think I should have many bunches of grapes by this time of the year. What can I do about all of the new vines and lack of grapes?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated

    Thanks
    Pakman!!!
     
  2. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Victoria Australia [cool temperate]
    The lack of grapes may not be because of the vine growth it might have been the lack of bees. It could also be because of the hair cut it had to have. Grapes will throw the runners out that is needed and normal. It is this that you prune back to the old wood by leaving 4 or 5 nodes on the new wood after leaf fall.


    http://www.pioneerthinking.com/to_summerpruning.html

    http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1103.html
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2007
  3. Ralph Walton

    Ralph Walton Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Denman Island,BC
    Our problem here is to decide which came first: the chicken or the egg! The lack of or low number of clusters will allow the plant to spend it's excess energy on vegetative growth, but the poor fruit set may be a result of (among other things) excess N or nitrogen which will also promote vegetative growth. On the other hand, some varieties are naturally prolific growers under almost any circumstance.

    The fruit you have now will be all you are going to get this season. Each vine will flower over a relatively short period in the spring (1-2 weeks) and there is considerable variation between the varieties as to when that period is. Any individual flower bunch will have a very short time (1-2 days) during which fertilization or pollenation can take place, and excessive wind or wind and rain can easily sabotage that process. The fruits (grapes) that are not fertilized will not develop, leaving you with a pretty meager crop. That was certainly the case with my vines this year, and what a weird one it was: great vines, no grapes.

    A severe pruning on an old vine can also give you a poor crop in the first year following but you should find it easier to follow the more "normal" pruning instructions this winter in respect of leaving cordons and 2 or 3 bud spurs for next year's growth.

    Identifying your vine would be a great help. Take lots of photos of the mature leaves, the growing tips, and the bunches and berries. Take a look at this site:
    http://www.genres.de/idb/vitis/
    Where it says "Single fields" select Prime Name and click on Go; type "Himrod" in Search criteria and click on search. Then select "himrod" and click on the assession number (5396) and scroll down to the "link to pictures": select "leaf". I chose Himrod for a number of reasons: it is common in your area, and also the leaf illustration shows clearly the difficulty in identifying grapes. The two leaf profiles look like they would come from two completely different varieties. Short of DNA testing, there's obviously a lot of room for errors, but it's still worth a try. Other things to look for in ID'ing the grape: leaf edges flat or curl up, down? leaf bottom hairy? just on the veins? The growing tip: hairy? color? Cluster shape: cylindrical? conical? winged? Berry shape...

    Take lots of photos and I'll have a go at it

    Trim your vine so the clusters have some view of the sun, otherwise trim off whatever is in the way then wait for harvest time and hope for the best.

    Ralph
     

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