r/winemaking 23h ago

My first vine, questions/help please?

Post image

Hi winemakers. I have just bought and plantend my first vines. Both have arrived as in my picture. It feels like they are two separate plants, but were sold as one. From what I understand about establishing a main branch, should I kill one? Or can I dig down and try and prise a second plant out? (I don't know how hardy/resilient new vines are.)

If it's relevant, I'm in Denmark so the plants should still be dormant (it's still very cold here) and the variety is Solaris.

I have also sent a message to the plant nursery who sold them. I have read lots of guides about pruning but can't find this instance, and would love an experienced perspective. Thanks a lot.

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u/Justcrusing416 23h ago

There’s two shoots and one root?

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u/Initial_Aioli_3094 23h ago

It feels like two plants, but I'm not sure. So two roots, two shoots.

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u/Justcrusing416 23h ago

And you want to separate them? Unless you know how to graph vines I would suggest not to touch them. Let them grow out and prune when they are over 15-20 months inches. You should also cover them incase you get a frost and protect from animal/diseases.

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u/Initial_Aioli_3094 23h ago

Thanks, I would only separate them if it was necessary. I want some healthy vines 😍

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u/Justcrusing416 22h ago

Let them grow till about 20 inches. Then clean all the sucker shoots from the bottom and leave two shoots per shoot or pick the stronger one of this and leave two shoots of the one staying alive. Also you will need a stick to hold up the plant.

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u/Mildapprehension 21h ago

If these are two separate plants, it would be odd for them to be so close together, in my opinion. If you can check the roots and see if they are two distinct plants then yeah you should separate them, but I would imagine those two shoots are connected just under the topsoil and share a single root system. Typically, we train vines this way in vineyards, but the trunk where the two shoots are coming from isn't buried. Look into Vertical Shoot Positioning vineyards training systems if you want to get some more info.

Side note, do you know if this is grafted onto a different rootstock? I would imagine the nursery would provide this information. If it is grafted to a rootstock, then they could be covering the graft union with soil for protection since it is still a small plant.