Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

The usual way to prune a good rooted vine of average size having a single cane at the top and several good roots at the bottom is to shorten the cane to one or two buds and the roots to two or four inches, according to their size. Shortening the cane makes the vine less liable to dry out before rooting and forces the growth from the lower buds which produce more vigorous shoots. The roots are shortened so that there will be no danger of the ends being turned upwards when planted. If they are to be planted in a large hole, they may be left as long as five or six inches; if to be planted with a crowbar or dibble, they must be cut back to half an inch.

If the rooted vine has several canes, all but one should be removed entirely, and this one shortened to one or two eyes. The one left should be that which is strongest, has the best buds, and is the best placed. Where a horizontal cane is left, it should be cut back to the base bud. Otherwise the main growth may occur at a higher bud and the vine will have a crook which will result in a badly formed trunk.

If canes are growing from different joints, it is usually best to leave the lower cane if they are equally vigorous. This brings the buds from which growth will come nearer to the roots, and leaves less of the original cutting, which are advantages. The upper joint between the canes is, moreover, often more or less decayed or imperfect.

First growing season.

The treatment during the first spring and summer will depend on what growth the vines are expected to make and on whether the vines are staked the first year.

With cuttings and with both rooted vines and grafts where the growth will be moderate, staking the first year is unnecessary, though it has some slight advantages. In these cases, no pruning of any kind is necessary until the winter following the planting, except in the case of bench grafts. The pruning in the last case is confined to the removal of the suckers from the stock and roots from the cion. If the stocks have been well disbudded by the nurseryman, few suckers will develop. In moist soil, the cion roots may develop vigorously and must be removed before they grow too large, or they may prevent the proper development of the resistant roots.

The removal of roots should usually be done some time in July. For this purpose the hill of soil is scraped away from the union and after the cion roots and suckers are removed it is replaced. In this second hilling up, the union should be just barely covered so that the soil round the union will be dry and unfavorable to a second growth of roots. Later in the season, about September, the soil should be removed entirely from around the union and any new roots that may have formed removed. The union is then left exposed to harden and mature, so that it will pass the winter without injury.

First winter pruning.

At the end of the first growing season, an average good vine will have produced from three to five canes, the longest of which will be from two to three feet long.

Soon after the leaves have fallen in December or early in January the vines should be pruned. The method is precisely similar to that used for rooted vines before planting except that the main roots are not touched. All the canes are removed entirely except one. This one should be well matured, at least at the base, and should have well-formed eyes. It is shortened to two eyes. It is well also to cut off all shallow roots within three or four inches of the surface. This is necessary in the case of grafted vines if any have escaped the summer root-cutting.