OSU to host Grape Pruning Workshop

While they do not take up as many acres as wheat in Oklahoma, grapes continue to be a popular crop in the state. To help growers understand the importance of proper pruning, Oklahoma State University is hosting a Grape Pruning Workshop.

The workshop will take place March 9 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Cimarron Valley Research Station, 10820 S. Jardot, Perkins, Oklahoma. This event is free and open to the public.

Becky Carroll, OSU Cooperative Extension assistant specialist, fruit crops and pecans, said the workshop will cover principles of pruning, pruning sanitation and cleanliness and pruning methods and techniques, as well as a hands-on demonstration pruning demonstration in the vineyard.

“Dormant pruning is a critical component of the grape production system,” Carroll said. “It provides the mechanism to maintain the training system, allows the grower to select the fruiting wood and to manipulate the potential quantity of fruit produced. Because of the way grapevines grow and produce fruit, it’s important for growers to prune annually.”

Fruit is produced on shoots growing from one-year-old canes. Because of this, healthy new canes must be produced every year to maintain annual fruit production.

Carroll said the training system is designed to encourage the production of new fruit canes at specific positions on the vine.

On hand to share their expertise will be keynote speakers Justin Scheiner and Michael Cook, both with Texas AgriLife at Texas A&M University.

Participants are welcome to bring pruning tools. The hands-on demonstration will be outdoors and participants are encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather.

For registration information, please contact Stephanie Larimer at 405-744-5404 or email [email protected]. For additional information about the workshop, contact Carroll at [email protected].

This event is co-sponsored by OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and the Oklahoma Grape Industries Council.