fertilizer????

[mickey328]

I haven't tested the soil but I guess I should do that. All of Colorado is on the alkaline side...we grow great alfalfa but no blueberries, LOL. Jeez...pruning? Hmm...looks like I've got more research to do, LOL. We don't need tons of grapes...if we get enough to make a batch or two of jam each year, that'll do us fine. If we could get juice as well, it'd be a bonus I figured to get another vine or two and essentially spread them around the SW corner of the deck. It doesn't need to be really dense shade...just dappled would be fine...something to break up the direct sun. I'm thinking we might be able to reach a happy medium there.

 

[WillsC]

Mickey,

If they are growing great I would say your soil PH is fine, if it wasn't you would know it. The way it works is the fruit grow off new growth off of last years growth. In the winter you take the shoots coming off the cordons and shorten them down to 2-3 buds. When the plants wake up those 2-3 buds will start to grow and produce fruit. If you did not prune them you might have 20 buds on each shoot and they all sprout and grow shoots and leaves but doing that means you get almost no fruit as all the energy is going to vegetation. Grape pruning is easy.

 

[SweetSilver]

OP, I would not even put compost on the newly planted vines unless you have really crappy soil. For most half-decent native soil, or near a garden, I would wait until their growth has kicked in, or at least a couple of years before I bothered. Neither kiwi nor grapes are that difficult. Give them water at least while they are getting up to size, give them time (and in a cat-filled neighborhood, give the new kiwi a cage to keep them from being eaten until they outgrow kiwi-crazy felines.)

 

[mickey328]

Thanks Wills. I think it was a year old when I got it and it's been in 2 years now. If I prune this winter, could I reasonably expect a few fruit next year? Does it matter when I prune during the winter? And, not sure what you mean by "bud"...is that the little bump on the opposite side of a leaf node? With most vining plants, this is where I'd expect roots to develop if it were cut and stuck in the soil.

 

[WillsC]

Mickey,

From your description of the plant and it's vigor I would say with pruning you have a very very good chance to get grapes this coming season. Prune anytime during the winter and you would be fine. Yep the bump at the node where the leaf is.just start at the cordon and count down 2 or 3 buds and snip the shoot off 1/2 after the last bud you want to keep. If the plant has a lot of shoots coming off the cordon arm don't keep more than 1 shoot every 6" or so. Probably just keeping two buds per shoot would be best. Did you prune it last winter? If not that is probably why you didn't get any grapes.

 

[mickey328]

Nope, I've never pruned it at all. It was in a gallon container with shoots about 18 to 20 inches long when we planted it. We affixed a wire shelf vertically from the deck and it's climbed all the way up and over it...about 5 feet. Eventually, we want to put in a lattice work in that corner and are hoping it will pretty much cover it all. Might even put in another vine. The cordon? I'm not quite sure what that is...is that the main, single stem coming from the ground...the one the vines grow from initially? Sounds like I need to do a pretty serious thinning.

 

[WillsC]

Mickey,

Your situation is a bit different because of the style you are growing the plant but......the main part of the vine coming up out of the ground is called the trunk. Just before a normal vine would get to the wire it is snipped off which causes multiple shoots to form. Two of the shoots are selected one to run each way down the wire and those shoots are then called the cordons. My guess is you simply allowed the vine to keep growing, right? That is ok but if you had snipped it you could have aimed more main branches (cordons) different directions. The idea to plant more vines is a good one as then you will have more main branches (cordons).

 

[Oregon Blues]

I prune in the spring and that way I cut off any wood that has been frost damaged over the winter.

Once your vines start fruiting, you will remove any branches that have shaggy bark on them. Those are the older branches and they have already fruited and will not bear fruit again. You can cut grape vines back pretty severely and still have an enormous plant by summer. Heavily pruned grapes bear more fruit, so you are going to want to figure out a compromise between fruiting and shade. You can do both, but it will be a balancing act.

 

[mickey328]

In our ignorance, that's exactly what we did, Wills...basically, stuck it in the ground and gave it something to climb on. When we get the next one, we'll do it right, thanks to all your help!

OB, your weather must be pretty much like ours, right...high desert? From what y'all have said and the little bit of surfing I've done, I can prune as long as the sap's not flowing, right?

I'll try to grab a pic tomorrow (it's dark now) and maybe y'all can continue to hand-hold this newbie by pointing out what you'd recommend I do.

Sure do appreciate the help...I'm really excited about maybe getting enough grapes for a batch of jam next year.

 

[WillsC]

Mickey,

Bear in mind my winters here may be a little different than yours OB's suggestion of pruning after you see what if anything was damaged is a good one, that isn't something I have to worry about here. In PA we winter pruned as well but your winters may be worse than there also, I have no idea. The only drawback in spring pruning is you are costing the plant some energy but they have a LOT of energy.