When you prune, be sure to do the following:
- Cut to healthy wood if removing dead, diseased, or damaged growth.
- Cut back to a lateral shoot or bud.
- Cut to a bud or stem that is pointing in the direction you want the vine to go.
- Cut cleanly and don't leave a stub, which is an invitation to bugs and diseases.
When should vines be pruned?
When to prune and train
The main pruning time is early winter (late November or December). Pruning later can cause the vine to bleed sap, weakening the plant. Training and pinching out of new shoots, as well as thinning of fruits, is carried out in spring and summer.
Can you cut back a vine?
Vines respond well to order, so they need a good, hard prune. ... Most cultivars respond best to spur-pruning, where you cut back all the fruit-bearing shoots (that's this year's growth) to one or two basal buds. From these, next year's grape-bearing shoots will develop.
