Pruning the vine is a process necessary to properly form the bush and increase the yield. He has many subtleties that need to be learned and understood before starting with it for the first time.
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Bush structure
The base of the vines is a well-developed, powerful root system with a thickening called the heel. From it comes an underground trunk of grapes - a stem. The thickening at the top of the trunk is called the head. In southern regions, where grapes are not harvested for the winter, the bole may protrude above the ground. This method of forming a bush is called high-standard.
Perennial lignified shoots from the head of the bush to the fruiting link, as well as two-year-old vines that have fruited, are called sleeves (shoulders).
The fruit link consists of a fruit arrow (a vine, from the buds of which new shoots of fruiting will develop next year) and a replacement knot (briefly, into two buds, a cut vine).
Fruitful in grapes are shoots and stepsons, annual vines from the bud of the fruit arrow. The curl at the top of the shoot is called the crown, and the state of the shoot is determined from it. Straightening the crown indicates that the plant lacks moisture or nutrition.
Pruning a grape bush
The length of the pruning vine is short, 2 - 4 eyes; medium - 5 - 10 eyes; long - more than 10 eyes. Different methods of forming a bush use pruning of different lengths, and two or three methods can also be used.
The shape of the bush is distinguished:
- Stamp - there is an aboveground part of the trunk up to 80 cm high. They are mainly used for a non-covering growing method in the southern regions.
- Fan - used with a covering breeding method. Allows you to bend vines to the ground for cover during the winter cold. The fan is formed by gradually increasing the number of sleeves.
Pruning time
The best time for pruning is autumn. Autumn pruning is carried out 2 weeks after leaf fall ends. At this time, the vine accumulates enough nutrients and completely stops sap flow.
In the southern regions, both autumn and spring pruning are often combined.
In regions with colder climates, growers carry out the procedure twice in the fall. At the first stage, diseased and weakened shoots are removed, doing this immediately after the end of fruiting. You can pinch young vines at this time. After 15 - 20 days after the complete fall of the foliage, the final pruning is done at an air temperature of at least -3.
Spring pruning is done only if you want to remove frozen shoots. Do it when the air temperature reaches +5 - +7 degrees. In this case, the vine must be positioned so that the juice (sap) released in the process drips to the ground. If it gets on the buds, they can "burn" and new shoots will not grow. Together with the sap, the vine loses moisture and nutrients, this can hinder the growth and development of the plant.
Forming a bush using the Guyot method
The generally accepted method of forming a grape bush is the method of the French winegrower Guyot.
In the first year of cultivation, the shoots formed from the two lower buds are tied to the trellis in opposite directions. In autumn, after leaf fall, pruning is carried out. One sleeve is formed short, leaving 2 buds on it, 4 are left on the second. The vine is removed from the trellis and covered with a covering material.
In the coming spring, the sleeves on the trellis are again tied up in the opposite direction. The grown shoots are tied up vertically. In the fall, both sleeves are cut, leaving two buds. Substitution knots (two buds) are formed from annual shoots near the head of the bush, and fruit arrows (4 buds) from those farther away.
In the third year, by mid-August, the overgrown annual vines are cut by 10 - 20 cm (minting is carried out). Autumn pruning is done by removing four shoots along with the sleeve. The remaining shoots are formed in the same way as last year. Then the procedure is repeated for the third year.
Correctly and on time pruning will make the grape bush strong and hardy, increase the yield and even improve the taste of the berries.
Have you already planted grapes on your site?
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Read about watering grapes in the summer in the following article:Watering grapes in summer is the key to a good harvest in autumn