Story: Grape Care
Episode: 2
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
Air Date: 22nd August 2020

Grapes are wonderful climbers that are very easy to grow. They deliver a fantastic crop of fruit every year if you know how to grow them and if you prune them right now.

• Pruning grapevines is all about bringing the leaders back to the main trunk.
• You need to set up a structure that will allow it to grow long leading canes down the length of each pergola strut.
• This structure will contain the grapes, allowing some light in and better airflow through the leaves, which is vitally important if you want to avoid diseases such as powdery and downy mildew.
• Don’t be scared to give your grapes a really hard pruning as they are incredibly resilient.
• When cutting your vine back, getting the right shape is crucial.
• Spray the pruned wood with a copper sulphur mix to prevent fungal diseases.
• Copper sulphur is also brilliant for controlling potato blight and peach leaf curl disease.
• Don’t worry if the wood starts to turn a little bit yellow or blue. This just means that you’ve got a little bit more sulphur or a little bit more copper in your mix.