I have a concord grape vine that is about 24 years old. When my husband and I planted it we had no idea what we were doing. We planted it between two posts with woven wire and let it go. I believe it may have been pruned back a few times but not like it should have been. I realize now that the two shoots that are about 6 inches from the ground should have been cut off when they first appeared. So my question is, how do I prune this vine? Can the two bottom branches be cut off without killing the vine? If so, what do I need to do or do I need to put anything on it to seal the trunk. My next question is, if I cut off the grapes before all have turned will they still ripen?
Check out the thread "Concord grapes" started by Taryn4. You can prune grape vines quite drastically without damaging them, and sealing the cuts is not necessary. Grapes will not develop any more sugar after they have been removed from the vine, but removing some under-ripe bunches will not affect ones left on the vine, except to hasten their ripening.
Leave 2 strong canes(coming from the trunk) and cut them back to two buds! it sounds harsh but my uncle prunes his grapes like this every year and he has awesome grapes.
Thanks so much for the information on pruning my grape vine. I feel more confident about hacking away on it. Although I think I will do this pruning sometime around Feb. or March and take some cuttings to root, just in case I'm to brutal. Thanks again.
How cold does it get in your area? You might be able to do it in November...better wait though. make sure you cut nice thick cuttings...thickness of a marker is what I prefer! less chance of rot e.t.c. Yeah, so basically find 2 strong healthy arms from the grape trunk(with bark on them)... cut back to 2 buds each arm....you will be amazed to the results next growing season.
I live in middle TN. and we have had some pretty mild winters the past several years. We have also had some unusually cool spells this summer. So we may be in for a cold winter this year. I have thought about pruning some this fall after the leaves fall off and doing the major pruning in early spring. I want to take the fencing off the posts and use the wire for support. I wish I had gotten a book on growing grape and done it right when we planted it. Live and learn!
If you don't have temperatures below -5 celcius...I wouldn't worry. especially with Concord...which is grown in zone 4! prune away...imo
Is there any site that actually shows , pics of how to properly prune concords , I'm a little nervous with just reading instructions , I like to see what the end result is , that I'm suppossed to have Thanks in advance Fitzie
http://www.google.ca/search?q=grape+pruning+videos&tbo=p&tbs=vid:1&source=vgc&hl=en&aq=f Lots of great info . You should cane prune your grape. I worked with a planting of Concords planted in 1926 they were really overgrown. We did some major pruning and concentrated both renovating/retraining the vines. We left about 40 to 60 buds per plant. To prevent overcropping we removed some of the smaller clusters. This improved fruit quality and help to ripen the grapes earlier. Hope this helps.
