[missmoneypenny]

I pruned the grapevine quite strictly this winter and got it into a good compact shape as it was massively overgrown. It is now romping away again, and starting to look a bit straggly. Can I cut back the long branches and remove the new, green, soft growth below the fruit buds to stop it getting too big again? Or should I wait till later in the year?  Thank you.

[Yorkie]

The article on growing grapes on the main website suggests you should leave pruning to the dormant months over winter, to prevent it 'bleeding'.

[mumofstig]

I do summer prune or I wouldn't get in my greenhouse  I watched this last year and now I'm not frightened of thinning out the long side shoots 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iDj46SjdMk&t=154s

[missmoneypenny]

Thanks Mum that’s the reassurance I needed. Will be getting the shears out this weekend!

[jambop]

It is a better idea to prune your vine every winter. I have only a few but they are Guyot pruned every year in early January. Now if you want you can cordon them and leave say six or seven spurs per cordon. Then every year prune the spurs back to two buds, again do this in early January. In the summer the extra growth must be heavily pruned back you want grapes not vegetation . So all the main shoots have to be stopped  when they are at the top of the wires and then all the side shoots, I let them have one leaf, have to be cut out regularly. In this way you will have a neat vine and also it should be productive. The vine in the center picture is a single Guyot  and the one in the end picture is a single cordon or spur pruned vine, the first picture shows what your vines should look like they should really be kept to about that size. Good luck!

[mumofstig]

It is a better idea to prune your vine every winter....

In the summer the extra growth must be heavily pruned back you want grapes not vegetation . So all the main shoots have to be stopped  when they are at the top of the wires and then all the side shoots, I let them have one leaf, have to be cut out regularly.

To me, It seems as if winter and summer pruning are equally important to keep vines fruiting and within the limited space available in a smallish greenhouse. You are lucky to have the climate to grow them easily outside   

[jambop]

It is a better idea to prune your vine every winter....

In the summer the extra growth must be heavily pruned back you want grapes not vegetation . So all the main shoots have to be stopped  when they are at the top of the wires and then all the side shoots, I let them have one leaf, have to be cut out regularly.

To me, It seems as if winter and summer pruning are equally important to keep vines fruiting and within the limited space available in a smallish greenhouse. You are lucky to have the climate to grow them easily outside   

The vines must be pruned in winter to either a cordon or as stated a Guyot. You, especially if you have limited space , start the growing year with one cane per vine. Now that could be Guyot which means you prune all the old canes with the exception of the one you want to provide the coming years fruit which you will cut at a point that leaves 6 buds and one very short spur with two buds at the head this will provide you with a cane for next year. If you are using the cordon you need to cut all the old canes to two buds each and probably a maximum of six or seven spurs on the cordon when the buds break you can decide which of the two you want to keep, normally the one nearest the cordon. The cordon is esentially a Guyot that you keep permanently trained on a wire. It is important to understand that the fruit is bourne on fresh wood every year so the vines have to be pruned and all the old wood removed every winter. Summer pruning, is as you say, vital to put the strength of the growth into the grapes and not the vine and if you do not do it you end up with a complete mess which is less productive as well. The cordon system is probably favorite for a greenhouse situation because the permanent cane is wrapped round a wire and becomes an integral part of support mechanism.

[Mr Dog]

I've just given mine a 'hacking' today. As with mum, my greenhouse would be taken over without doing so. I wouldn't be surprised to be giving it another trim long before summer's out.

[jambop]

I've just given mine a 'hacking' today. As with mum, my greenhouse would be taken over without doing so. I wouldn't be surprised to be giving it another trim long before summer's out.

Never hack  " prune"    It is very different in commercial fruit production and wine growing because they use a failsafe where the grapes ar between two wires in the center of the structure then a hacking machine does just that without fear of losing the precious grapes... and of course at the right times a health does of outlawed , in the UK , deadly poison   

[Mr Dog]

Never hack  " prune"    It is very different in commercial fruit production and wine growing because they use a failsafe where the grapes ar between two wires in the center of the structure then a hacking machine does just that without fear of losing the precious grapes... and of course at the right times a health does of outlawed , in the UK , deadly poison 

I can assure you it was a hacking, it only gets pruned in the winter 

[missmoneypenny]

@Jambop I did prune in winter. It is an outdoor vine and it does well here in London ( German variety). It’s just it’s going for the trifyd look again so I will do a tidy this week end, cutting below the fruit buds.

[jambop]

@Jambop I did prune in winter. It is an outdoor vine and it does well here in London ( German variety). It’s just it’s going for the trifyd look again so I will do a tidy this week end, cutting below the fruit buds.

Once the vine has started growing you do nothing until the fruit has set. After the fruit has set all the growth above the top wire should be removed and anything coming out in front or behind should be removed. You must not cut below the fruit buds otherwise you will get no fruit. When you tip out the fruit bearing shoot the vine will send out side shoots when these start to grow these must be tipped out as well , I usually allow one leaf and then prune the tip out. In this way you restrict the growth of the vine and push the growth into the production of the fruit. You should prune out the new growth every couple of weeks or so this ensures the vine remains compact and you get good fruiting. If you look at my photos you will see what I mean the photos were taken today and the growth has been restricted but there are plenty of grapes... maybe too many! But there is little extraneous growth. As the summer progresses there will be a little more leaf but not much extra vine growth as it will be checked by tip pruning.

[jambop]

@Jambop I did prune in winter. It is an outdoor vine and it does well here in London ( German variety). It’s just it’s going for the trifyd look again so I will do a tidy this week end, cutting below the fruit buds.

Here is an excellent video on how to prune an outdoor vine... in French but you can see what the man is doing. You are not growing for wine production so you could leave more fruit buds on the cane. The man is performing Guyot pruning but this method can be adapted to form a cordon or spur method of growing. What you would do it make your Guyot cut the first year leaving say seven buds and tie this down onto a wire.  This will then give seven fruiting canes in the first year and at the end of the year in January you simply prune to two buds on each of these canes to form spurs. In the spring these buds will then produce two new canes per spur. I normally, after they have started growing, remove the shoot furthest away from the main cordon so you again have seven fruiting canes in the second year and so on. Growing you vine this way ensures a neat and tidy but above all productive vine. Myself I prefer the Guyot method it produces a nice compact vine.

COMMENT TAILLER LA VIGNE (méthode Guyot) - YouTube

[jambop]

I do summer prune or I wouldn't get in my greenhouse  I watched this last year and now I'm not frightened of thinning out the long side shoots 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iDj46SjdMk&t=154s

If the man had any idea how to grow grape vines he would not be having this problem. If you grow the vine properly you will get more or less exactly the number of bunches of grapes you want.. that is not a grape vine it is a mess.