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  • From: Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Grape pruning problem
  • Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:05:47 -0400


On Apr 14, 2010, at 11:44 PM, William C. Garthright wrote:


Well, that's pretty much what you do, every once in a while. A grapevine suited to the climate it's in is pretty close to immortal; but the individual trunks aren't, they eventually need to be replaced with new trunks (though less frequently with something as sturdy as Concord than with some more tender varieties).


I didn't realize that. When you say "every once in a while,' what kind
of time frame are you talking about? Every five years? Ten? Twenty? Can
you give me a general idea?

It pretty much depends on what the old trunk looks like. Some varieties may need to have trunks replaced every few years; a Concord, if it doesn't get damaged, it may be more like twenty, maybe; but it's more of a case by case basis, it's not a matter of counting up years. -- Lon, do you want to weigh in here? I haven't been doing grapes much for some time and don't think I kept track of how old trunks being replaced were when I last did prune a lot of grapes.

Basically, if the old trunk is badly cracked or otherwise damaged; and/ or if you can't find any good wood back toward the center where you want it; it's time for a replacement.



Heh, heh. My elderly mother was aghast that I was pruning them at all.
She grew up on a farm and insisted that there was no need to prune
grapevines at all. It was kind of funny. I went ahead and tried to
follow the instructions I found online (and EVERY website agreed on the
need for extensive pruning), and it's worked out very well. But I'm sure
she still thinks I'm nuts for pruning them back so severely every year.

Odd. I wonder whether they just had wild grapes that they harvested as one would harvest wild raspberries, and didn't think of them as something that needed taking care of?

I've seen the results of not pruning, in vineyards that people hadn't thought worth keeping up -- tiny bunches with a lot of unripened berries, sour grapes (literally), disease in both the wood and the grape bunches.




-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale







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