Pruning grapes in autumn for beginners in pictures

Beginning growers often do not know how to properly cut grapes, what time of the year is best to do it. The most common mistake made by beginners is too careful pruning, and it is also difficult for a novice gardener to determine the correct time for grafting.

Grapes, on the other hand, are a southern plant, the climate of the middle zone is unusual and too harsh for it, so a lot depends on pruning the bushes: how the plant will survive the winter, how fruitful the next season will be, whether the berries will be tasty and large.

This article is about pruning grapes in the fall for beginners, in pictures and diagrams, beginners can see how to properly plant vines of different ages.

What is grape pruning for?

Прививка винограда или, как ее чаще называют, обрезка, действительно, необходима. Многие виноградари допускают огромную ошибку, пренебрегая этой стадией ухода за растениями, в результате страдает урожайность кустов, лозы болеют и вымерзают, а сами ягоды становятся невкусными и мелкими.

It is difficult to overestimate the role of grape pruning, because it solves such problemsAs:

• increasing the frost resistance of the vine, which is especially important for heat-loving and non-covering varieties;
• increase in yield due to pruning of old shoots, as well as those vines that prevent the bush from developing properly;
• оптимизация соотношения надземной части винограда и его корней, регулировка загущенности побегов;
• prevention of shrinking of berries, deterioration of the taste of grapes;
• simplifying the warming of the plant for the winter period, because it is very simple to cover shortened, properly formed vines;
• acceleration of the sap flow process in shoots pruned since autumn ensures earlier harvests.

When to prune grapes

Opinions are divided on the timing of pruning the vine, but most growers say that the best time to prune the shoots is in the fall. The fact is that spring pruning often leads to “weeping” of the vine, which is why not all buds open, the yield decreases, and the cut shoot may dry out. All this happens because with the onset of warm days, the juice begins to move in the grapes, the plant becomes weak and susceptible to wounds and infections.

Factors such as the climate in the region, air temperature day and night, plant variety, and the need for further shelter of the vine will help to choose the exact date for the autumn pruning of grapes.

Deciding on the date of the autumn pruning of grapes, the following factors should be taken into account:

1. The longer the bunches stay on the shoots, the more nutrients the roots of the grapes accumulate. This means that the plant will be stronger and better endure the winter.
2. Daytime temperatures should not fall below -5 degrees, as at this temperature the vine becomes fragile, the plant may suffer in the process of pruning or tying the shoots.
3. Уже должны наступить первые ночные заморозки, чтобы сокодвижение в винограде остановилось, иначе побег будет «плакать» и неизбежно вымерзнет.
4. Все листья с куста должны опасть, а грозди срезаться.

Предварительная обрезка лозы проводится в сентябре, когда будет убран весь урожай винограда, второй этап приходится на середину октября, когда лозы пора связывать для последующего утепления.

How to prune grapes in autumn

Grapes can be pruned in autumn in a variety of ways, but the pruning method should be chosen in the first year of the plant’s life and maintained throughout the growing season.

The pruning pattern depends on various factors, such as:

• plant age;
• grape sort;
• the need for winter shelter (frost-resistant variety or not);
• загущенность виноградника.

To properly prune grapes in the fall, you need to understand the appropriate terminology:

• it is customary to call a bole a process that emerges from the ground at a right angle;
• the point of growth may be called a cordon or a sleeve. The cordon grows from the trunk, and the sleeves come out directly from the ground;
• on the sleeves, the fruit vines are located on top, and on the cordons they are located along the entire shoot.

Основные схемы обрезки винограда

In autumn, the vine needs to be shaped so that in spring it puts out fruit stalks, on which the crop is formed in the form of clusters. Схемы обрезки зависят от того, будет ли виноград укрываться на зиму. Depending on this, fan and standard pruning of the vineyard is distinguished.

Fan grafting of grapes is performed for covering varieties. Такой способ формирования лозы имеет ряд преимуществ, среди которых быстрое омоложение кустов без снижения урожайности и свободное перемещение побегов, позволяющее пригнуть их к земле и укрыть на зиму.

Fans of vines must be formed in the following sequence:

1. Pruning of young grapes begins in the first year of the plant’s life. In the autumn of this year, the shoot is cut so that 3 buds remain. In the spring, the buds should give new branches, but the young plant may not have enough strength, as a result, not all buds will wake up. If all three shoots have hatched, pinch the middle one.
2. In the second autumn, replacement knots should be laid. To do this, pinch two shoots up to 3-4 buds.
3. Третья осень – время формирования рукавов. Лозы должны к этому времени вытянуться более чем на метр и иметь толщину около 8 мм – это и есть будущие рукава виноградника. Осенью их нужно укоротить вдвое, оставив, где-то, пол метровые побеги. Эти ветки привязывают к проволоке на высоте около 30 см от земли.
4. The vine is further shaped so that the inner sleeves are shorter than the outer ones.
5. The fourth autumn is the time of the final formation of the grape fan. In the spring, all shoots on the sleeves are removed, except for the top two or three. They should be located vertically – these are fruiting shoots, they are tied to a trellis or support.
6. In the autumn of the fourth year, you need to cut the shoots on the sleeves. The upper fruit-bearing vines are pinched in the region of 7-8 buds, only 2-3 buds are left on the lower ones – these are replacement knots. You should get a fan, consisting of four sleeves and four fruit vines.
7. Every next autumn, you need to cut the vines that bear fruit in the current season. The next year they will be replaced by new shoots growing from replacement knots.
8. Old sleeves should be cut two or three buds from the base – this contributes to the rejuvenation of the grapes. Such knots are called recovery hemp.

Autumn pruning of vineyards by the standard method is used for those varieties that do not need shelter for the winter, therefore, most often this method is resorted to by winegrowers in the southern regions.

Standard pruning of grapes in the fall for beginners is performed in several stages:

1. They start pruning in the first year – they shorten the shoot to 2-3 buds.
2. In the spring of next year, the bush needs to be inspected and the two most powerful sprouts should be identified. The one that is larger will be a trunk, it is pinched in the upper part so that the shoot becomes more powerful. The second process is considered a reserve bole. In autumn, both shoots should be cut to the desired length.
3. Осенью второго года обрезают все молодые побеги винограда, кроме двух самых верхних и сильных. Эти отростки прищипывают на две почки – это плечи кордона. На уровне роста побегов натягивают крепкую проволоку и подвязывают к ней плечи кордона.
4. The next autumn, both shoots are shortened: one by two buds – a replacement knot, and the second is cut to the sixth eye – this, in the future, is a fruit-bearing vine.
5. Осень четвертого года – время закладки плодоносящих веток. Для их формирования нужно удалить все побеги на плечах кордона, оставляя самые сильные на расстоянии примерно 20 см друг от друга.
6. На пятый год делают простую обрезку виноградника – просто укорачивают все лозы на 2-3 почки.
7. В шестом году формирование штамба заканчивают. Для этого вызревшие за лето побеги вырезают, только сверху куста остается пара самых мощных лоз. Одна из них обрезается до 2-3 почки – сучок замещения, вторая укорачивается до шестого глазка – плодоносящая лоза.
8. Every next year, pruning old grapes consists in cutting out the fruiting shoot. New fruit vines are formed on replacement knots.

Conclusions

In the first 5-6 years after planting, the grapes do not bear fruit, during this period the plant grows in mass, forms future fruit vines. That’s why the essence of pruning young grapes is the formation of a bush, the selection of those vines that will subsequently bring the harvest.

After this stage begins fruiting period, it lasts, depending on the grape variety, about 20-25 years. Pruning at this age consists in maintaining the shape of the bush, removing old and diseased shoots, and forming young fruiting vines.

After this, the most active phase, the plant dies out, the gardener can carry out rejuvenating pruning in order to prolong the fruiting of your vineyard.

Beginners who find it difficult to navigate through diagrams and drawings can watch a video about the various stages of grape development and the rules for pruning it at each age: