(Question)
Hello!
I live in Toronto and I got my house with beautiful grapes vines already growing and producing wonderful grapes. I love the canopy so much too! But rats have come and found the grapes and are grossing me out! I have used an exterminator but was told they will keep coming back to the food source. I don’t want to lose the vines but wondering if there is a way to prevent them from bearing fruit? I see lots of info on reviving old wines so maybe stop pruning? Anything else? I really don’t want to lose the wines!
(Answer)
Well, we’re frequently asked how to get more fruit, not less! But you can do what you ask, in two ways.
- Pruning the vines: Grapes bear fruit on the green shoots that arise from one-year-old canes. The old canes that produced fruit this season will not produce again. Therefore, pruning is based on producing fruit in the current season, and renewing young canes for the next year. Instead, keep pruning the new growth back to older canes and you will not get fruit.
- Simply removing the developing grape bunches as they appear: The young bunches are very visible and are of no interest to animals while small. So just snip them off.
