Autumn pruning of grapes. Advice from my grandfather the wine grower

When to start pruning your vine? How to do it correctly? My grandfather, a renowned winegrower and variety tester in his region, gave me recommendations and clear instructions on how and when to prune the vine. I am sharing information with you.

You need to start pruning grapes around the end of October, when all the foliage has fallen, and we can see a clean vine. One-year, two-year and perennial grapes are pruned according to the same principle. Still, cropping is different.

How to prune annual grapes?

On annual grapes, you need to leave 2 vines and on each of them 4 buds. Cut off excess thin vines. We leave 4 buds so that a replacement knot and a fruit vine later form from them. We count the kidneys from bottom to top. As a result, a very small grape shoot should remain. In the spring, the two lower buds on each shoot will need to be scraped off to prevent them from developing. And from the upper ones, a replacement knot and a fruit vine will grow.

How to prune two year old grapes?

Here it is also necessary to cut off all unnecessary and leave only 2 shoots, which in a year will give a beautiful grape bush. On two-year-old bushes, we leave 6 buds on both shoots. We cut off the rest. In the spring, here, as well as on one-year-olds, the lower two buds will need to be removed.

How to prune three year old grapes?

With a three-year-old bush, everything is already a little different. It is very important to observe the "polarity". The replacement knot always comes from below, and the fruit vine always comes from above. Don't mix it up!

The lower vine is the replacement knot. It is slightly thinner, and the kidneys on it are located in a different system - a little higher and closer to each other. We leave on it 2-3 buds. The rest is for trimming.

The upper one is a fruit vine. We leave 6 kidneys on it. On some varieties, such as "Delight", you can leave 4 buds. But "Arkady" requires 8-10 kidneys. Only in this way will they begin to bear fruit. We perform such manipulations with each sleeve.

If 3 vines have formed on one of the arms, they can also be left. Two vines will be used for fruit, one - for a replacement knot. Three-year-old grapes can already withstand this.

In spring, 6 more vines with fruit shoots are formed from the fruit vine, on which inflorescences will appear. About half of the inflorescences will need to be removed so as not to overload the bush and in the future to get a good harvest.

How to prune four (five) year old grapes?

Here we also select replacement knots and fruit vines. Excess sleeves will need to be trimmed. On the bush we leave 2 sleeves, on each sleeve 1 replacement knot and 2 fruit vines. The rest - cut off and proceed to pruning the shoots.

Leave 2 kidneys on the bottom of the replacement knot. On a fruit vine there are 4-6 buds. On the whole bush, no more than 25-30 buds should be left. Sleeve length should be 60-80 cm. We shorten the sleeves every year.

Care tips before frost!

In frost, grapes need to be covered. This should be done at a temperature of -5-6 degrees.

Shoots can withstand cold up to -20 degrees. They winter well under cover, for example, from roofing material or slate. You cannot cover the grapes too much. Otherwise, the kidneys will simply start to rot.

The root system can withstand frost down to -7 degrees. Therefore, it is worth sprinkling it with manure or sawdust. They will save the roots from freezing. And to protect the grapes from microorganisms and mice, we spray the cut bushes with iron vitriol