Topping indeterminate vines
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My Black Cherry’s and Juliet’s have cleared the top of the 10’ stakes and have drooped over and started flipping up again. ( I thought 10’ would be enough…)Unfortunately I noticed one of the Black Cherry’s didn’t do so well with the big storm we had and has a significant break where I tied it at the 10’ mark. So here are my questions:
1) Should I just make a clean cut at this break?
2) How about topping off all of the vines at this height? Does it cause any problems? I am not seeing much fruiting at this level and we are getting on with the end of the season here.
3) If I do top them all, is it possible to root the top’s for the next season? Transplants are due to go in by mid-July and I’ll definitely put in Black Cherry again.0 thumbs up!Posted almost 4 years ago -
The only problem I can see is that you’re creating access for disease to enter the original plant. Over here in TN, we’re very prone to soil-borne blights that travel up the vine. You mention blight around here and everyone panics! ;)
Because of that I don’t know that I’d top the plants unless I knew that I was going to be losing them soon anyway, but I would at least take some cuttings to start a new family. -
0 thumbs up!Posted almost 4 years ago
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Topping is a common practice here. Make a clean cut, and if you are worried about disease dust some fungicide on the cut, or use a freshly sterilized with alcohol blade. And yes, the tops can be rooted, but I don’t know how long the new plant will last until your next growing season. I would say if you have the room and the pots, might as well give it a try. The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work. :)
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0 thumbs up!Posted almost 4 years ago
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Om & Whirligig – Thank you so much for the advice. I am going to top them this afternoon. With the onset of the summer heat we are nearing the end of the harvest for the season so if I loose them I won’t be too upset. I do have loads of pots so I’ll go ahead and try to root the cuttings, who know’s I may get lucky and have transplants for July.
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0 thumbs up!Posted almost 4 years ago
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