Training The Vines

[Kyle M]

There is a local businessman who operates a vineyard not far from where I live, and I noticed something last week. Something clicked. People "train" the vines in the offseason the way they train tomato plants. I don't know if the two crops are that different in terms of how hard it is to grow and maintain them, but I thought it was a neat observation.

 

[MC]

I've got a vine growing and am trying to train it. One thing I've learned already is that vines have a mind of their own when it comes to where they will grow. I had everything set up to grow the vine straight and the first real explorer branch decided to grow 90 degrees in the other direction. But it's an easy fix.

 

[Jack L]

Ivy is a vine and people in certain areas train them in order to cover their houses. I have an old fence out front that I plan to do that with. Cover it with a natural cover instead of replacing it. That would be out of my budget.

 

[FarmHand]

Makes sense to me. I've seen nurseries train vines with different stakes and then the vines that are already spread out nicely are charged at a premium.