The shoot should be strong and nearly upright, and it should also come directly out of your original stem. Do not choose a shoot coming out of the underground root system.
Throughout this first summer, continue tying your shoot to its support system, keeping it as straight as possible. This shoot will act as the permanent trunk of your grapevine and will last throughout the duration of the vine’s life.
If the vine is not yet tall enough, cut it down to three buds again and repeat your initial pruning routine. This step is necessary if you want your grapevine to have a sturdy enough trunk to last over a long lifespan. Do this in February or March, just before the plant exits dormancy but after heavy frosts are over.
When done, tie the shoot to the vine’s support system near the top of the vine.
If the shoot has already started to put out side laterals, choose the two laterals closest to the 30-inch (76. 2-cm) mark and tie them down to your supports. Prune these down to three, four, or five buds. Tie the main stem to the support and cut it off just above the side laterals.
Good shoots should be trained throughout the summer. Tie them to your support system.
The “head” of the vine is the point at which the trunk intersects with the top wire of your support system. The two canes should be positioned on either side of the trunk. These two canes will be your primary canes. During the following season of growth, they will grow new shoots that can bear fruit. Selecting canes close to the trunk head prevents the arms from becoming too long. Excessively long arms can create nonproductive gaps in the vine. Make sure that your chosen canes have firm wood with a brown outer layer of bark nearly all the way to the tip. They must not have any visible damage, either.
Tie the remaining portions of both canes to your support system.
These spur canes will act as sources of renewal during the following year’s cane production. These shoots should all be close to your primary side canes.
The “head” of the vine lies at the intersection between your main trunk and the top of your support system. The canes you choose should have close buds and a brown outer layer of bark from base to tip. Make sure that they have not suffered any visible damage, either. Note that this method of pruning is not recommended for American grape varieties. It is suitable for use with most wine grapes, but you should do some research about your particular grape variety before you choose to use this method of pruning.
These canes will become permanent arms that will remain intact for the life of your vine.
This is the last bit of pruning you will do during the second year.
As the vine ages, you may need to cut back older spurs to two buds, as well.
Grow one grapevine per post. If you have a two post arbor, grow two vines, training each one on a separate post. Grow four vines if you have four posts, or six vines if you have six posts. [2] X Research source Allow the main trunk to grow to the top of your post during the first year. Tie or secure it to the post as it grows.
Lateral side canes growing below the top of the arbor should be pruned down to trunk level.
While these old canes can remain on the vine without causing disease or damage, keeping them on the vine will cause dense shade to form with little to no fruit. You should also remove any weak, thin, or diseased canes, even if they have not yet produced fruit.
Ideally, the canes on your arbor should be spaced 2 to 3 feet (60 to 91 cm) apart by the time you finish pruning. After your first two or three years, you should have a well-established set of vines that can fill in the arbor top by the end of your growing season without becoming hopelessly tangled.
Grape shoots need to develop 14 to 16 well-exposed leaves for grape clusters to ripen, but if there are too many shoots clustered together, the leaves will not receive enough light. Thinning out your shoots early on can provide more light and more energy to the shoots you plan on maintaining.
Use pruning shears to remove any shoots that you cannot twist off by hand.
Note that the lowest cluster will usually ripen quickest. You might be able to leave multiple clusters on one shoot if the clusters are notably small.
Doing so improves air circulation, thereby limiting the risk of disease. This step also allows the grapes to ripen more efficiently.
