Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Throughout the year, you will be tending to your vines in order to manage their growth.
If you follow the steps of pruning and training, you'll maximize photosynthesis, encourage
strong growth, and help your vines to produce the best possible fruit.
Your goals in pruning and training are to:
→ maximize exposure of the leaves for photosynthesis
→ control the vigor of the vines
→ control the amount of fruit
→ control the quality of the fruit
→ encourage even ripening of the fruit
→ allow air circulation to prevent fungal diseases
→ make the fruit accessible for harvesting
Our goal in working with the vines is, ultimately, to develop two cordons per plant,
with about 10 to 15 spurs on each cordon. Each spur should have two buds after pruning.
In the spring, these spurs will be the basis for shoots that will be trained up into the posi-
tioning wires as canes—the grape-producing parts of the vine.
Remember that photosynthesis during the growing season makes carbohydrates that
are stored in the plant to supply food for the next year's growth. So during the growing sea-
son, you want to promote as much photosynthesis as possible by positioning the foliage to
get maximum sunlight—this is called canopy management. Then, in winter, you will prune
the plant so that all that stored food is directed where you want it to go: into the shoots
that will become strong canes with good foliage growth up top and healthy grapes along
the fruiting zone. The goal is to have all canes be fruiting canes. Each cane will bear one to
three bunches of grapes.
As you gain experience in your vineyard, you will learn how many canes to cut back,
how many canes to leave as fruiting canes, and which canes to select from one year to the
next. Avoid selecting “bull” canes—thick canes with widely spaced buds. But for those
who have never pruned before, keep a few things in mind. Plants do not develop uniformly,
so many of these rules do not apply 100 percent of the time. For instance, you may be un-
able to prune a cane to two buds because the spur is not mature enough and has only one
bud. And remember that grapevines are vigorous and so forgiving plants. Don't hesitate to
make a decision on pruning. Even if you make a mistake, the plant will grow again and
give you another chance to get it right the following season.
Pruning is a once-per-year activity, done when the vines are dormant. However, in the
first couple of years while you are training the vines on the trellis system, you may be shap-
ing them with cuts during the growing season. This could be considered a form of pruning-
training. I like to prune the dormant plants as late in the winter as possible; depending on
