Freetrading Articles

Growing grapes and making wine out of them, has been in practice since the beginnings of farming custom. In order to maintain a healthy grapevine, it takes work and dedication. Since it can take up to three years for a vine to give fruit, this time allows the grower to tame the plant's growth -and production- thru pruning. .

Growing grapes and making wine out of them, has been in practice since the beginnings of farming custom. In order to maintain a healthy grapevine, it takes work and dedication. Since it can take up to three years for a vine to give fruit, this time allows the grower to tame the plant's growth -and production- thru pruning. .

Pruning is simply getting the plant growth to encourage more growth

Pruning is the action of clipping back shoots and cutting excess foliage to control the plants growth and to ensure that no energy is being spent feeding dry or unnecessary plant sections. Grapevines are trained to maintain a consistent plant shape, size and productivity; a process that takes about the time it takes to grow your first harvest.

The Pruning Technique

Once the trellis is planted, along with the grape vine, the plant will only be allowed to grow from one main shoot that must be tied, vertically, to the trellis. All other shoots are to be clipped back. Once the first dormant period passes, you have to prune the grapevine so that the arms where the fruit will be supported can begin to shape and grow. In order to do this, you must tie the two largest shoots provident of the main shoot, horizontally on to the trellis. Any other shoots must be clipped back. Once this step is completed, the grapevine will start to take shape. However, pruning will be required regularly, especially during dormant seasons, so as to keep a healthy, productive vine. Generally, hybrid grapes will require less pruning, weeding and pest control in comparison to European grape varieties. This is because hybrid grapes are more tolerant to colder climates and common grapevine pests, and normally produce less foliage than their counterparts " a great advantage for many first time growers.

Benefits of Pruning

The way in which you will prune your grapes once they have taken shape, depends entirely on the type of grape that you choose to grow. If youve chosen a hybrid grape, you know these varieties are suitable for the winter since they endure both cold weathers, and many diseases. As they generally produce less foliage, they will generally require less work than a regular European variety of grapes.

Pruning will rid your grapevines of fruiting canes or spurs from previous years that are no longer productive. Vines canes only produce fruit during the first year of growth, so new, healthy canes must be grown consistently to secure your next harvest. Another benefit of pruning is the ability to reduce the amount of foliage in your vine, as well having control over your grapevines production. The amount of shoots that you clip will be proportional to size of your crop. If your crop seems to have excess foliage that creates a shady canopy, make sure to increase your regular pruning in order to maximize the amount of sunlight that the vines receive.

Pruning Tools

There are various hand tools that will assist you in your grapevine pruning: loppers, handsaws and hand-pruners are some of the most common. As a grower, you must be very careful not to injure or damage your grapevines during pruning, so as not to jeopardize their future productivity. When removing canes that are one year of age, a hand pruner is effective; while older branches of thick wood are better pruned using a handsaw or lopper.

Pruning is a fairly simple process that grape growers consistently rely on to obtain plentiful, healthy crops. Even though it will take some time and effort to tame your grapevine, it will be very well worth the effort once you collect your first harvest of perfect wine-making grapes.