Chapter 7

Planting and Training Young Grapevines

Training Young Grapevines

Training is the process of directing and controlling growth to form a vine with the desired shape and structure. The final outcome is a vine with specific dimensions, including head height and number, position, and length of arms, canes, or cordons. Proper training is essential for producing a good yield of high-quality fruit and maintaining a balance between vegetative growth and fruiting. Training young grapevines is also done to establish a vine form that meets the requirements of the trellis system (e.g., Geneva double curtain, Smart-Dyson, etc.).

Developing the Trunk

The main goal of training the vine in the establishment year is to develop a well-established root system and a trunk. Two methods of forming the trunk are practiced. The first method allows the untrained vines to “bush” producing multiple shoots the first growing season and the second method trains the vines forming the trunk(s) in the first season of planting. Whether vines are untrained or trained depends on the level of growth and is therefore, influenced by the vigor of the vine, climate, soil type, time of planting, pest and disease pressure, and the availability of water and nutrients.

Untrained Vines

In colder regions, it is common just to grow a bush the first year and train the trunk(s) in the second year. The bush method allows the vine to grow freely on the ground, with little or no training and no attempt is made to attach the vine to the trellis wire (See Figure 7.2).

Trained Vines

In the first year of planting the strongest shoot is selected and trained to a stake or twine is attached to the trellis wire to aid in developing a straight trunk. Prune off all other shoots before they grow longer than 12 inches so the vine can direct its growth to the new trunk. For a very vigorous site, some initial structure training may take place by limiting the number of shoots on newly planted vines from one to three during the first year.

Training First Year Vines

After planting, cut back the young plant to the two best basal buds. The idea of restricting growth to only a few buds is to concentrate the energy of the vine into only a few growing points so at least one shoot will develop into a cane that can be selected for growth the following year. The goal for the vineyard manager is to select and train one or two of these to become the trunk. This requires staking and tying the shoots to a stake, securing to the top wire of the trellis, or using grow tubes. Growing two trunks gives the vineyard manager flexibility in selecting the best one to become the main trunk in year two or three.

Training Second Year Vines

Shoot growth in the second year should begin to fill the trellis space allotted to the vines. In the second growing season, shoots develop from buds on the 1-year-old trunk. Retain two shoots that grow 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) below the training wire. Train these shoots, one on each side of the trunk, along the wire. These are to be trained each way along the wire for developing either cordons or short arms for bearing canes. Remove axillary shoots that develop below this level while still succulent. Remove all shoots, other than the two you selected, while they�re still small. Any fruit that develops is usually removed by flower or fruit cluster thinning, because the fruit will compete with vine reserves needed to develop the root system. Also, remove any suckers that develop at the base of the vine.

Cordon Training Third Year Vines

Continue the process of training the vines. Shoots grow from buds on the 1-year old canes left at pruning last season can produce fruit. You may need to remove any extra shoots that develop from buds at the nodes. If there is an average of more than one fruit cluster per shoot, prune off the extra clusters at bloom to prevent the young plant from overbearing.

Establishing Cordons

Generally, two well placed laterals below the wire on opposite sides of the trunk running parallel to the vine row are allowed to grow along a wire to create the permanent cordon structure. Only strong shoots should be selected to form the cordons, with all others removed except for a few back-up spurs in case the cordon is damaged. If the head height is too close to the cordon wire, the branch angle will be too broad making it susceptible to splitting under heavy fruit load.

Cane Training Third Year Vines

Continue the process of training the vines. Shoots grow from buds on the 1-year old canes left at pruning last season can produce fruit. You may need to remove any extra shoots that develop from buds at the nodes. If there is an average of more than one fruit cluster per shoot, prune off the extra clusters at bloom to prevent the young plant from overbearing.

Establishing Canes

Cane training systems contain all of the same structures as cordon-pruned systems, but their number, spatial arrangement, and orientation are different. The canepruned vine is fan shaped with the arms extending in the plane of the trellis. During dormancy pruning will consist in the retention of renewal spurs and fruiting canes. The renewal spurs are developed from two-lateral shoots selected on opposite sides of the trunk arising from below the fruiting wire.

Vine Balance

Vine balance (i.e., cropping level) is defined as the state at which vegetative and reproductive growth can be sustained indefinitely while maintaining healthy canopy growth, adequate fruit production, and desired fruit quality, namely sugar levels, acid balance, and flavor compounds. Canopy management and production practices can impact vine balance directly by changing yield through flowering and fruit set.

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