Do I need to cut new vines from my Ruby red grapes?

Hi, I am new to GardenStew and want to know if I need to cut new vines from my Ruby red grapes, since the Vine grows vigorously, making the fruits so small. This vine of mine has been in my garden for about 7 years now and the last 3 years has been giving me small fruits. I also want to know the most effective way to drive away those birds that eat my fruits. :-? 8)

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moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic

 

Hi Rolfast, welcome here. Are they ruby red grapefruits, or are they ruby red grapes... ? Hopefully, someone will have a better idea for you.

You can cover the fruit with old sheer curtains or netting that you can buy to cover fruit trees and such. I think some have tried 'scarecrows' of various types too.

 

You need to first determine whether your grape needs to be cane pruned or spur pruned. I believe that your variety is cane pruned. Utube has some great videos on how and when to prune grape vines.

 

My GRAPE is Ruby Red. I prune it the way it should be pruned (cane pruning). Now the fruit it about 1/4 inch round and birds are starting to eat them. I think it will still get bigger but it looks it will not be as big as the one sold at the market. I have netting, but it is very hard to use. It keeps being tangeled every time I move it. I have not tried scare crow yet.

I also use plastic bags I get from the market but last year moisture got inside and messes up the fruits.


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Hi Rolfast, My FIL prunes back to 7 buds when he prunes the grapes. It looks rather intense, but there is always an abundance of foliage every summer. This year, for the first time, in a very long time there is also an abundance of grapes. We usually get a late frost that does them in.

Our problem with the grapes is not birds, but we put out fake snakes for the birds in other areas of the garden and it seems to help. just move the snakes around so the birds don't get used to them.

The bird netting is a hassle, you really need to put it around a frame around the grapes, not the grapes directly. that makes it much easier to use. Hope this helps some. have a great day!

 

Thanks everyone. I really LOVE these forums of any form, places to meet nice people. It seems a fake snake is a bright idea. I will try it. Thanks again.

 

Last year with my two ruby red grapes, I pruned one by spur and the other cane. I left two to three buds each cane. This year after each but produce fruits the vine starts to crawl too far up to 20 ft. Do I need to cut it? I have seen the commercial growers where their vines are about 5 to 6 ft from the main tree.

 

Rolfast, as I posted last year my FIL prunes his grapes back to 7 buds on each cane from the main trunk. He does this every spring before they start growing. hope this is the info you are looking for.20' is a huge vine. impossible to harvest from.

 

I agree that pruning is the cause of small grapes. The farther the clusters are from the roots, the smaller the fruit will be. Better to have fewer clusters of large fruit than zillions of tiny ones.