Did you actually plant the grape?
I ask because many times people have a wild grape sprout up and they expect to get commercial quality from it.

If it's a cultivated grape variety I suggest you google "training grapes".

The plant was a gift from my older sister who bought it down in the valley in Texas. I can't stand it when she buys us a plant or a tree she just buys it without knowing the name of the plant. I'm hoping to get more vines from this plant, I thought it died because the plant looks like dead wood.

It's extremely difficult to overprune an established grape.
After my horticulture class whacked my parent's grapes back to nothing but the trunk the horses managed to get loose and over prune them but the extreme human pruning didn't hurt.

If you whacked back to the main truck and left no spurs I would think it would manage to put out new growth somewhere.

It's hard to understand what you're describing because you're not using the right terms to describe the different parts (the whole plant is a vine).
It may be a training issue.

Since the plant has never produced satisfactory grapes why would you want a clone of it? You'd probably be better off finding what grapes do well in your area for other people.
I would've given up on it long ago.

Here is a page with a lot of training options. Read that and you should pick up the terms to better describe what happened.

Here is a link that might be useful: grape training systems.

Yeah I need to post photos of it so you all could see what I am trying to explain, it's just that I do not know how to post photos on here.

Here is how to post picture:
1) go to http://www.tinypic.com .Other photo hosting sites are fine, I like this site because you don't need to register first.

2) at 'file:' use 'bowse' button to find your picture on you computer; leave "file type" as "image"

3)hit "upload now" button, wait until it finish loading

4)copy the link in "HTML for websites" box and paste it here in GW.

When you "preview message" the picture will be shown. Good Luck!

It sounds to me like mama-in-law pruned like a grape should be pruned.

You now have two cordons (branches) which will send up shoots.

Prune out every other shoot when the vine goes dormant next winter (you can make new vines from those cuttings), and the grapes will come from the shoots you leave, unless this vine is not a grape, in which case, dig it up!!

I agree that you need to do a little research on grape pruning and training. They can be very vigorous and get out of hand if not pruned properly. "Over pruning" them will not cause permanent damage, but can lead to zero fruit if all the fruiting buds are cut off (fruit buds are on 1-year old wood).

I tend to agree with desertdance that it sounds like you now have two 1-year old shoots that should fruit well this year (a picture would really help). The real question is what kind of grape vine is it and it is worth messing with? Why bother if the fruit is not good - replace it with a known variety and harvest good fruit.

I'm going to try and post some photos later on. Thanks for the replies and I am trying to see if this grape vine could be saved before I whack it to pieces because it was a gift from my sister.

Well I finally have a small cluster of grapes on the vine after all these years but the sad thing is that it is the only cluster of grapes on the whole entire vine.

How much sun does it get?

I have a canopy next to the grape plant for about two weeks. Will the shade from the canopy deter it from giving more fruit?

Grapes need full sun. All day, every day!

Thanks sara for helping with the pics.

May be give some artifical strength to the plant, let it grow naturally with sunlight.

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