I Have a Grape Vine, When Should I Prune It?
My family and I moved into a house 10 years ago, there was a grape arbor at the time and the vine with has grown tremendously. Well this is the first year we’ve decided to collect a harvest and take care of it to maximize the harvest. We live in the mountains of North Carolina which is almost a Mediterranean climate, our winters can get fairly severe, so the vine goes dormant like most other trees and vines in the area. We already pruned it in February, just before spring began, so we would have great new growth. Now it is putting on plenty of grapes, the only thing is that over the past few years I would notice that once the grapes got into the beginning of July to mid July they would begin to shrivel, shrink, and blacken. I know it is a white grape variety, so I have come to the conclusions that it gets too hot under the vine and the fruit dries out, or a blight that degenerates the grape due to bad air flow caused by over growth, or did we just miss the harvest. If you could shed some light on the issue that would be great!! Also when are grapes ready for harvest? Another thing is that the vine is on a wooden arbor that is rectangular in shape and supports the vine grippings (I guess that’s what you would call them) about four feet above ground with four posts at each corner of the rectangle. Please answer.
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I have that same problem. Right now I am trying a different fertilizer and pesticide, but I think it is just too much sun. Like when you leave a grape in the sun and make a raisin. Prune them after all the leaves fall off, this is so you can best see what you are pruning I prune everything back to the trunk because fruiting only occurs on new growth. It seems to make the most grapes.
Contact your local county extension, they will have all the answers you need and the information is free. You could also talk to a local nursery (not the garden center at the Lowe’s or Home Depot). In Ohio, we harvest in early July if the birds don’t get them first. There is a fertilizer for grapes, get that from the local nursery. Trim grapes anytime there is excessive growth. Cut them back at the end of the growing season.
Prune it in the early spring before the new growth buds out and while the plant is still dormant. I leave two or three buds on each lateral that forms along the main trunk. Don’t allow the stems to sprawl out. Remove them to at least two buds every year. Your plant should do well. Feed your plant every year when the laterals grow less then four feet.