North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Suzi Teghtmeyer <srt175f@smsu.edu>]

Tom,
On my AgNIC Viticulture Web site there are a number of freely available 
extension documents tat deal with pruning and training grapevine (as well 
as other grape-related topics.)
The site address is:
http://library.smsu.edu/paulevans/viticulture1.html
click on 'Vineyard Practices' under Vineyard Management. You may also find 
some relevant information in 'Home Production' in the same category.

And I concur with Chris - "Sunlight into Wine" is a great book and worth 
the investment if grapes are a long term thing for you.
----Suzi
Librarian, Paul Evans Library of Fruit Science
Southwest Missouri State University Mtn. Grove Campus and Missouri Fruit 
Experiment Station
9740 Red Spring Rd, Mountain Grove, MO 65711
Phone: 417-926-4105, Fax: 417-926-6646,  email: srt175f@smsu.edu
URL: http://library.smsu.edu/paulevans/pelIndex.htm
AgNIC Viticulture site: http://library.smsu.edu/paulevans/viticulture1.html
Member: CBHL, USAIN, ALA, ACRL, IAALD

At 09:49 AM 06/27/2002 -0400, you wrote:
> Well, the answer can be "it depends".  It may also depend on what grape 
> you're growing, and
> what you plan to use it for.
>
> I can recommend a book, "Sunlight into Wine" by Dr. Richard Smart, but 
> unless you can find
> it available used or in a library it is cost prohibitive (~$50).  It is 
> aimed at commercial
> wine production So it doesn't deal w/ arbors.  But I can summarize some of 
> it here:
>
> 1) Late mid-season, the vines should have grown about 10 to 12 leaves (on 
> average) beyond
> the fruiting clusters and have terminated growth (you can tell this by the 
> fact that the
> last leaf extends beyond the growth tip, if the growth tip is beyond the 
> last leaf, its
> still actively growing).
> 2) If you look at the "plane" of growth, you should have most 1-2 leaves 
> between the
> clusters and the sun. Some of this can be achieved by shoot positioning
> 3) If growth is too vigourous you can get into a "vegetative" cycle.  Vine 
> overgrows space,
> so you are forced to cut it back, so it forces more growth (at the expense 
> of fruiting).
> 4) Shoots should not be spaced too close together.
>
>
> Three main ways to achieve the above:
> 1) Either spacing the vines far enough apart that the vines cover a large 
> enought area that
> each bud has reduced vigor.
> 2) Space vines very close together so that they compete for nutrients and 
> are therefore
> de-vigorated (this requires special training systems).
> 3) Shoot and leaf thinning plus "tipping".  Usually shoot thinning 
> earlier, and leaf
> thinning around veraison (first coloring of the grapes).
>
> I am concerned that you have too many vines for your arbor space.  You 
> have 100 square feet
> of arbor space which gives you 25 sq. ft. per vine.  I (on my vertical 
> trellis) had  6 ft.
> per vine on a 6 ft trellis or 36 sq. ft, and I don't think that this was 
> enough space.
> You are much further north, so maybe you'll have reduced vigor.
>
> One other note:  downward growing shoots generally stop growing on their 
> own.  The upward
> growing ones would be the real problem as they would eventually flop over 
> onto the other
> shoots and over shade your clusters.
>
> Chris Mauchline
> SE PA, zone 6
>
> <<
> Hello,
>
> I am relatively new to grapes and seek some advice.
>
> Last year was the second year for the grape arbor.  It is 10'x10 square 
> and 8' high.
>
> The 4 main vines now go up each of the corner posts and criss cross the 
> timbers at the top.  While it
> was dormant I pruned back to the mains, and I have new fruiting shoots 
> coming in (I am sorry that I
> am using the wrong terminology).
>
> My question is; Is any pruning performed during the growing season?
>
> Shoots that are near cross members I train to the cross members with jute, 
> but what about those
> shooting out into space, away from the arbor, are they removed now, or 
> left till dormant pruning?
> Will a shoot hanging in open space stop growing for lack of support?
>
> Thanks for any help you can offer.
>
> Regards,
> Tom
> >>