Second Season- In late February or early March select one strong vine and fasten it to the support you have provided. Remove all other growth. If the vine is as tall as the top of the support cut it off at that level. If not, allow it to grow to that height and top it. This vine will begin to grow side branches. How many side branches to select for training will depend on the type of trellis provided. If training on two parallel wires train one branch on each wire on both sides of the main stem. Remove all others at the next spring pruning. If growing on an arbor train branches in a fairly even pattern over the top, removing all lower branches at the next pruning.

Third Spring- Prune out any dead canes and all excess ones. Shorten the previous year’s growth back to 4 to 6 buds. As soon as new growth is 4 Inches long begin a fungicide spray program to prevent black rot and other diseases. There may be some fruit on these two year old canes this year. Sanitation will go far toward preventing disease. Burn or bury all prunings. Do the same with all fallen fruit.
In Years To Come-Grapes will always set fruit on wood that grew the previous summer. When pruning learn to distinguish between the previous summer’s growth and older wood.

Mays Greenhouse ©2010