The vines are now growing well thanks to a few weeks of warm weather. I’m still aiming to get one single shoot on each vine to grow up nice and strong, and get to the top wire (about 6ft). Each of the vines now have a few buds that are shooting and so it is time to select the best one (one that is growing well, in a good position and growing vertically upwards). All others can be removed to allow all the vine’s energy to go into one shoot.
Here are a couple of pictures (before and after) of one of the Orion vines:
They are not all at the same stage of growth and in fact there is quite a bit a variance between varieties. The furthest ahead are probably the Phoenix and Solaris – but then that’s no real surprise since they have been in the ground a year longer than the others and so should already have established a good root system.
The slowest at the moment are the Regent, which are only just starting to show signs of budding. The two pictures below are of a Phoenix and a Regent to show the comparison. You have to look quite closely to see the buds breaking through on the Regent:
Mmmm … can’t quite see the buds on the Regent. I’ll have to inspect it for real next time I get the chance.