What did you do in your garden today?

[CrealCritter]

i'm not sure pruning right away is a good choice with grape vines, you can let them grow and get stronger faster by not pruning them so quick. this is all IMO based upon years of experience... you can prune off any side shoots right away, but let the main vine go as long as it wants and make those leaves and give energy to the plant. then after the growing season is done you can cut it almost back and know that perhaps some segments will die back over winter before early spring cleanup and shaping. the main stem will be stronger having more energy.

or perhaps i'm misunderstanding what your writings and intentions are...

i'm hoping you'll continue to do your own studies and experimentation to see what works best, but i'm now out of the grape vine growing routine and can't verify or practice any more.

I'm going to try my best to train these grape vines to the kniffin system. There are several stages of pruning to achieve 1st year established. I hope to achieve 1st year established, before dormancy.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[LaurenRitz]

This one is furthest along I hit it with some copper fungicide, since I'm not sure if the new immature leaves are pale because they are new and haven't hardened off yet or if a fungus. Although it's almost looking like it could use some nitrogen but the mature leaves a dark green. IDK... I suppose, I'll find out soon enough.
View attachment 26590

It's attached It'self to the bottom wire with its tentacle. I'll give it a few more days before I prune it. I need 3 healthy buds near the bottom wire to start kniffin training the lower arms.
View attachment 26591

With all the roots energy focused on a single vine now, they should grow fairly quick. I'm just happy to see the first vine exit the grow tube

Jesus is Lord and Christ

Nitrogen would hit the old leaves, new leaves would look healthy. This might be sulfur. Try epsom salt.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Speaking of grape vines, does anyone have an ides which training process might be best for a grape vine trained on a cattle panel trellis?

 

[CrealCritter]

Speaking of grape vines, does anyone have an ides which training process might be best for a grape vine trained on a cattle panel trellis?

Here's two differnt ones here.

Grape Trellising and Training Basics

Grapes are a wonderful addition to the home garden. Learn basic pruning information and two common training methods suitable for the Utah home garden.

extension.usu.edu

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[murphysranch]

Creal: you did good. We had over an acre of Petite Syrah in Murphys CA and this is exactly how we set up the vineyard for success. We used the golden tubes for the grapes for the first two years, and then took them off. Train train train and trim trim trim.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I've used both those processes, and they rely on horizontal running, which you don't really have with an arch. I guess I'll just have to experiment.

 

[flowerbug]

I'm going to try my best to train these grape vines to the kniffin system. There are several stages of pruning to achieve 1st year established. I hope to achieve 1st year established, before dormancy.

ok, i see what they are saying. sounds ok now to me.

 

[CrealCritter]

Nitrogen would hit the old leaves, new leaves would look healthy. This might be sulfur. Try epsom salt.

Great call leaves tell a story if you know how to read them. Thank You!

The soil PH is a little on the high side for grapes. The farm soil was limed by FS (Farm Services) 6 years ago. So the PH of the soil is 6.8 to 7.0. This range is ideal for most plants including pasture grasses and hayage.

Grapes however prefer more acidic soil with a PH of 5.5 to 6.5. It's looking like I'll need to admend with a little sulfur. I don't want to drop the PH by a full point because I plan on using some sulfur as a fungicide, which will also drop the soil PH a little more Over time. i'm going to shoot for 6.0 or a .8 PH reduction, with the initial sulfur amendment. I'm trying to stay as organic as possible.

Reading taken at a depth of normal moisture for the most accurate result.

Thanks again.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[flowerbug]

I've used both those processes, and they rely on horizontal running, which you don't really have with an arch. I guess I'll just have to experiment.

i spread some vines out on a rather large chainlink dog kennel. basically i just picked some vines for longer top areas and then selected a few of the lower down ones to fill in. with grapes there is so much you need to cut off to get the right amount of new wood each season for fruiting that you can correct it within a few years even if you make mistakes.

however, that said when i went away to college you could have heard me scream at the other end of the residence hall when i got a letter from Mom that first winter when she said she cut back the grapes and the roses... she sold the house not too long after so there wasn't much i was able to do about regrowing and reshaping, but at least i did get a few good years of harvests from those concord grape vines. you don't find those fresh at the stores too often any more when they come in season. i love eating them fresh from the vines and of course for making some grape jam.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Great call leaves tell a story if you know how to read them. Thank You!

The soil PH is a little on the high side for grapes. The farm soil was limed by FS (Farm Services) 6 years ago. So the PH of the soil is 6.8 to 7.0. This range is ideal for most plants including pasture grasses and hayage.

Grapes however prefer more acidic soil with a PH of 5.5 to 6.5. It's looking like I'll need to admend with a little sulfur. I don't want to drop the PH by a full point because I plan on using some sulfur as a fungicide, which will also drop the soil PH a little more Over time. i'm going to shoot for 6.0 or a .8 PH reduction, with the initial sulfur amendment. I'm trying to stay as organic as possible.

Reading taken at a depth of normal moisture for the most accurate result.
View attachment 26603

Thanks again.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

Grapes at my old house thrived for over 40 years with a ph over 8. I wouldn't worry too much about PH.