Good afternoon Gil, 

Thanks for reaching out. Your baby grape looks like it is off to an excellent start!

You will want to hold off on pruning for now, and wait until next spring. (In most cases, it is best to prune plants in the dormant season (late Winter/early Spring) to help them conserve their chlorophyll.) For grapes, it is recommended to prune in March, in case there is any winter damage, so that you can trim that part off if needed. 

This link from the University of Maryland Extension offers a nice guide. What they recommend is that in early spring in 2024, for each plant (I can't quite tell from your photos; did you plant two originally?) you will want to select the best shoot (branch) to become the permanent trunk, essentially so that it looks like a big tree (take a look at their graphic for clarity). 

Tie the young vine to your pergola. As the vine grows, tie it to trellis up top. Leave 4-6 buds near the top of the vine and remove the remainder, so that it's not taken in too many directions. You'll also want to remove any flower clusters from the developing lateral shoots.

Take a look at their guidance for the third spring (will be 2025) as well, which differs slightly from 2024. 2025 will likely be the first year that you get grapes. 

Hope that helps -- enjoy!

Rebecca

Hi Gil, 

University of Maine Extension has a good picture here that hopefully shows which part the bud is a bit more clearly. They also have some helpful videos on their page on growing grapes about how to train and prune your grape vines, which might be helpful since they point out the different parts of the vine on an actual plant and provide some additional descriptions of the pruning process. 

Hope that helps!

Rebekah

So glad to hear that your plants are healthy, and it sounds as if they're very productive as well! 

Washington State University has some really helpful guidance  on shoot thinning and training. To summarize their guidance:

Each grape shoot needs 14 to 16 well exposed leaves to properly ripen a grape cluster. If too many shoots are crowded together, the leaves do not get enough light for effective photosynthesis. It's also crucial that all the leaves get good sun exposure to make sure that grap clusters ripen well. 

You do not need to cull the flowers on the shoots yet, but you'll want to begin thinning shoots to 3-4 inches apart as soon as clusters can be seen (usually early summer). If there is more than one fruit cluster per shoot, the one closes to the old cane will usually ripen earliest. Unless you have very small clusters, you should then thin them to one cluster per shoot. 

You can find additional related information on pruning, training, ripening, and harvesting grapes here: https://extension.wsu.edu/maritimefruit/grape-research/pruning-grapes-in-home-gardens-some-basic-guidelines

Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions. 

Yes--thin to one cluster per shoot once the clusters start forming, making sure you leave enough leaves on each shoot to provide the plant with sufficient energy to ripen the cluster (at least 14-16 leaves per shoot). 

In general, when growing for fruit, growers remove unnecessary shoots. Here is a link to pruning for home gardeners: https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/4106/Edible-Landscaping---How-To-Prune-Grape-Vines/#

Although delicious, our humid climate brings many challenges to growing grapes at home. Many commercial growers spray regularly to keep the prevalent diseases, such as Black Rot, in check. https://marylandgrapes.org/resources/major-grapevine-diseases/

Black Rot is a big challenge in our area, but there are strategies for the home gardener to successfully raise fruit:

Hi, I purchased bare root grapes (reliance) that I planted in each of the large pots securing my pergola (24 inch wide pots - pictured). They've grown up the pergola and across much of the top and some of my fence. But I am not quite sure I understand what I should be doing to prune them back in the winter to encourage fruiting next year or in two years and in general to keep them productive. I've read guides and I'm rather confused by them

The brown areas might be Black Rot, caused by Guignardia bidwellii, please refer to the Edible Landscaping video sent earlier on preventing Black Rot on leaves from spreading to fruit,  titled, “How to grow grapes without spraying.”

Unfortunately, Reliance is susceptible to Black Rot, and our humid climate  and high rainfall contributes to its spread. Pruning to maximize airflow can help: https://utia.tennessee.edu/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/269/2023/10/SP277-J.pdf

More on Black Rot: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/plpath-fru-24#

Another possible culprit for the small black spots could be Black Spot, Anthracnose, caused by  Elsinoe ampelina.

Professional grape growers spray their grape vines on a regular schedule, alternating fungicides, to stay ahead of disease, https://extension.umd.edu/resource/early-season-disease-management/. Many home growers often want to avoid spraying  in their back yard, so they bag the grapes, prune for air circulation, keep vines in very sunny locations, etc. to help manage disease. Another option is to try some native grapes such as Carlos Bronze  or Scuppernong muscadines, which have thicker skins than the supermarket grapes we are used to, but thrive in our climate. For more information on American grapes: https://grapes.extension.org/american-grapes/#Fox_grape_.28Vitis_labrusca.2C_V._labruscana.29

Meanwhile, bag the fruit, avoid working the vines when the leaves are wet,  prune for ventilation and maintain hygiene. You are doing a good job of catching things early! Please keep us posted!

Kate