GRAPES

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GRAPES
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PLANTING

• Most grapes are trellised and grown in
  long, narrow rows spaced about 9-15 ft apart
  depending on training system. Typically, there is
  3-8 ft between vines in a row. Muscadines have
  similar trellises and row spacings, but are
  planted 20 ft apart in a row because they
  are extremely vigorous.

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Vines head trained, cane pruned, and grown on a
T-bar trellis
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TRAINING SYSTEMS

• Training refers to the permanent parts
  of the vine, not the one-year-old wood. Two basic
  forms are used, Head and Cordon. In head
  training, the permanent part of vine consists of
  trunk and some fattened stubs or a bulbous "head"
  at the top. Spurs or canes develop directly from
  the head. In cordon training, the permanent part
  of the vine consists of trunk and 1-4 long,
  straight arms or cordons trained along a wire.
  Spurs or canes are spaced at regular intervals
  along cordons.

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PRUNING

• Grapes are pruned more severely and
  methodically than any other fruit crop. Pruning
  not only controls vine growth, but sets crop load
  as well. Without severe, annual pruning, grape
  vines become tangled masses of unproductive
  shoots that decline in yield and quality
  very quickly.

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A few important points

•     Pruning is done in the late winter
  when vines are dormant.        Pruning
  involves ONLY last year's growth, or one-year-old
  shoots.

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PICKING GRAPES