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On monday march 20th, I started pruning the cold hardy vines at mineral hill winery. There are many ways to prune grape vines and it depends on the variety and the trellising system. climate and soil conditions are factored into the pruning as well. The three rows I pruned took 3 hours and were all the cold hardy frontenac. A variety bred by the Minnesota state grape breeding program. The vines are 6 years old and are not the main supply for the winery. There is only a quarter acre planted on the winery site and the rest of the grapes are grown in east hampton on a non-binding lease.
the training system is a three wire trellis with two stems and 4 cordons. Having two main stems allows for flexibility when one stem dies from weather/pest or other causes. the vines are planted in a wetter plot and there vigor is less because of it. Pruning grape vines is rather easy on the body and more strenuous on the mind, for there is a lot happening on these vines that need attention.
Pruning vines normally consist of a ratio of buds on each cordon. This year we decided to simply prune each shoot back to two buds. I still am a little confused on the logic behind it but Larry seemed to busy to fill me in on it. (I will ask him on wednesday again).
When pruning I noticed a dead cordon and I had to find a suitable replacement closer to the stem and started training it as the new cordon using a plastic tie. I also notices one out of the two stems dying and left a long shoot coming from the bottom of the vine and started training it as the upcoming vine. I found it overwhelming to try and train and prune all the shoots, so I tried out pruning all the shoots first back to the second bud and then went back and retrained the needed cordons and vine.
I am excited to learn more on the pruning of younger vines, and will be posting more about that in the future!
