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No dates are given, because a vine in a mild maritime climate and one in a hot dry summer region reach the same stage weeks apart, and the whole thing inverts between hemispheres. Work from the plant's stage and from frost, not from a calendar. Each block below names the trigger you are actually looking for.
Two structural facts drive the whole year. The vine is evergreen, so it transpires and can be damaged in every month, which means it never gets a full rest from watering or from winter exposure. And it fruits on short shoots from wood at least a year old, which means the two operations that decide next year's crop, pruning and pollination, both happen in a narrow window and cannot be moved.
The year at a glance
The table is the short version. The sections after it explain the judgement calls inside each block.
| Season | Main jobs | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Late winter to early spring | Remove winter-damaged wood once growth restarts; feed lightly; renew mulch | Where green live tissue begins on scorched stems |
| Spring, at flowering | Hand pollinate between two genetically different plants, every two to three days | Female flowers among the males; frost forecasts on open bloom |
| Late spring, after set | Check set; water consistently; tie in and shorten unfruitful whips | Small green fruit dropping, which means drought or overload |
| Summer | Water through dry spells; keep the canopy thinned; watch for scale and mite | Sticky leaves, sooty mold, congested interior growth |
| Late summer to autumn | Net or bag fruit as it colors; harvest over several passes | Even purple color, slight give, shrunken stalk |
| After harvest | Main structural pruning; renew one or two old framework stems | Dead wood, tangles, stems strangling the support |
| Late autumn | Stop feeding; mulch the root zone; check ties and the support | Soft late growth that will not harden before cold |
| Winter | Protect in marginal areas; clear snow load; leave pruning alone | Wind scorch, frozen bright days, damage to the frame |
Spring: the crop is decided here
As growth restarts, go over winter damage and cut back to live tissue, then feed lightly with a balanced general fertilizer and renew the mulch. Keep it light. Heavy nitrogen at this point produces vigorous leafy whips that carry no flowers and shade the wood that would have.
When the flower clusters open on last year's wood, the pollination work begins and everything else waits. Two genetically different plants, a soft brush, mid to late morning on dry days, and a return pass every two or three days through the two to three week bloom. This is the single highest-value half hour of the year on this plant.
Watch frost forecasts while flowers are open. A vine in a mild-winter area often blooms early enough to be caught, and one frosty night on open flowers costs the entire season's fruit. Light row cover over the flowering section on a clear still night is enough.
Summer: keep it fed with water, not fertilizer
Once fruit has set, consistent moisture is what carries it to size. Irregular watering on a young vine is the usual reason small green fruit drops in early summer. Water deeply through dry spells rather than lightly and often, and keep the mulch topped up; container plants need checking daily in heat.
This is also when the vine makes most of its length, and when the canopy closes up. Tie in the shoots you want as future framework, bringing them toward the horizontal so they flower next spring, and shorten or remove the surplus vertical whips. Keep light reaching the interior. A canopy that never sees light is where scale and mealybug build up and where flowering spurs quietly die out.
Do not feed after midsummer. Late nitrogen pushes soft growth that will not harden in time and gives you winter dieback on the newest and most valuable wood.
Autumn and winter: harvest, prune, protect
As fruit colors, net or bag it and start the tasting checks. Harvest runs in several passes over three to five weeks, taking only fruit that has colored evenly and gives slightly under the thumb.
The main pruning follows the harvest, while the weather is still mild. Remove dead and damaged wood, untangle and thin, shorten unfruitful whips and take out one or two of the oldest framework stems to be replaced by young ones. This is deliberate: prune now and the flowering spurs are left intact through winter and spring.
Then prepare for cold. Mulch the root zone, check every tie and the whole support structure, because an evergreen vine in a winter storm is a sail. In marginal areas, wrap the base and lower framework and be ready to row cover the whole plant during a severe spell. Clear heavy snow off the canopy before its weight breaks stems. Then leave it alone until growth restarts.
Keep one running note per year with these entries: first flower, dates of each pollination pass, first fruit set seen, first and last harvest, total fruit picked, date of post-harvest pruning, and the lowest temperature the vine saw with what damage followed. Six lines a year, and by the third year you can predict your own vine instead of reading generic advice.