I just want to make sure. Lou just said the tree was now officially a three inch stump. That is right. I saw another comment about cutting it to ground level--that would scare me. Here is why. First, I have to admit that I have not done studies and have no official knowledge--what I have is just a lot of ovservations. The sprouts I have seen on red oak trees seem to me to come from points above the root collar--I can't recall ever seeing red oaks sprout from roots, even after the tree is cut. I can't say it doesn't happen, but I do know that a red oak tree will usually sprout vogorously from points just above the root collar. Hence my recommendation for the three inch stump. If the tree were much larger, I would have recommended a 5 inch stump above the obvious root flare. Anyway, to be on the safe side I recommended a three inch stump, "no more, no less." But if any of you have any more specific knowledge concerning this recommendation, let me know. I do know that the vigorous sprouts that come from as close to the root collar as possible make the better trees and have less risk of inheriting any rot from the old stump. But I recommend a "margin of error," hence the idea of leaving three inches above the root collar for sprouts to grow from. Also, the more sprouts for the first two or three years, the better, to maintain the health of the root system, which will be the support of the future growth of the tree. I know some other trees will sprout from the roots if cut. But I have a serious question about whether red oaks do, and if they do, whether the probability and/or quantity of sprouts would be sufficient. Well, I invite information from others on this point--even though I am getting "long in the tooth," I am as eager to learn as ever, if not more so. --Spruce

I grow a few varieties of grapes but not sure I would call myself an expert. From your pictures, it looks like you have one or more fungal infections on your grapes. The treatment is essentially the same if it is black rot, downy mildew, phomopsis cane, etc. At the end of the season, you'll need to prune off the infected canes, clean up around the vines, and make sure that there are no infected grapes laying around. Start the vine on a spray program next year and it should clear up. My vines looked worse last year but this year I followed the spray program and they are nearly perfect. The season isn't over but I may have more grapes than I know what to do with. Although our regions are a bit different, here is the guide I used to manage the spray routine. Midwest IPM Guide

I am growing seedless table grapes in zone 4b/a. My plants are in 50 foot rows planted 8 feet apart, 5 plants per row. The trellis is a Geneva double curtain (2 parallel wires, 4 feet apart @ 6 feet from the ground). Rows run North – South. Due to the cold I am growing multiple trunks to have backups in case of winter kill. I have the following questions: 1) Is there a benefit to having a fewer number of trunks in that energy more easily reaches roots? Eg. 2 trunks with 1 or 2 canes each. 4 trunks with 1 cane each. 2) Is it better to have fewer long canes or more shorter canes? Eg. 2 canes, 8 feet long each or 4 canes, 4 feet long each? Total cane lenght each (mature) plant of 16 feet. 3) General advice it to trim trunk at top wire and in next year grow a cane from trunk along top wire and then either cane or spur prune. Right now my trunk has grown up to top wire AND 8 feet along the top wire. Why can’t I just leave the whole thing as one long trunk as opposed to trimming and growing a cane to replace the potion of trunk I cut off. Something to do with the canes fruiting better right? I am going to experiment with different growing options and cane vs spur pruning. Given that I have multiple trunks I will probably try both cane and spur pruning for each plant as well as laying down the trunk vs leaving trunk exposed during winter. Now onto my training questions. I have several options. As metioned it is a Geneva double curtain running north-south with a east wire and a west wire. Option A) 1 trunk growing up to east wire and growing cane 8 feet north with other trunk growing up to east wire and growing cane 8 feet south. I would alternate plants, eg the next plant in the row will grow on the west wire. Option B) 1 trunk growing up to east wire and growing cane 4 feet north with 2nd trunk growing up to east wire and growing cane 4 feet south. 3rd trunk growing up to west wire and growing cane 4 feet north with 4th trunk growing up to west wire and growing cane 4 feet south. Option C) 1 trunk growing up to east wire with 4 foot canes growing north AND south. 1 trunk growing up to west wire with 4 foot canes growing north AND south. What do you think?

"I been reading that if I have a over grown grape vine I could cut it down to nearly the ground and it would regrow." What variety is it? Where are you located? Regardless of the variety, if it's been grafted onto rootstock, cutting below the graft union will remove the wood that produces the fruit you enjoy. Nobody wantsberries from riparia x rupestris. Pruning during dormancy is optimal and I suggest waiting until late winter. Not only is it better for the vine, but pruning when there are no leaves makes it much easier to see what you're working with. Like FarmerBill said, "spare parts" training is a good idea, so keeping a single new shoot each spring will help offset the delay should the main trunk(s) not survive the winter. One or two main trunks and a spare is fine and will help keep the vine in better balance. Too much vegetation comes at the cost of lower fruit yield just as cropping to heavily is equally unbalanced. pruning-of-concord-grapes-cornell/