Grapes are a wonderful plant that delights us with delicious berries, excellent wine and stewed fruit, juices, raisins and other extremely useful, healthy food. However, the vine, as well as any plant, must be carefully looked after and be sure to carry out annual pruning.
Spring pruning
Of course, even the most experienced owner, in whose garden this culture grows, absolutely cannot know everything about grapes. However, he simply needs to take the basic information into account, otherwise, instead of an abundant harvest of such a sad gardener, miserable clusters with small sour berries are expected. First of all, you should remember: the vine has a large supply of vitality. And if its growth is left to chance, the branches of the bushes very quickly turn into a real forest of vines. Yes, and dry twigs, knots will clog the plant, contributing to its wildness. That is why one of the main sanitary measures for the care of cultivars is the obligatory spring pruning.
How to prune grapes in spring? There are rules for this:
- the event is held before the vines begin active sap flow. In each region where grapes grow, this period sets in different ways. The south is the area, the sooner there is an increase in air temperature, general warming and awakening of plants from winter "hibernation". On average, planning when and how to cut the grapes in spring, focus on the end of March - beginning of April. It is important that the vine has already “woken up”, otherwise it will be difficult to distinguish between dead, dry branches from living branches suitable for growth and harvest;
- pruning often depends on how old the vineyards are. If they are young, then one of the main tasks of the event is to form their correct shape so that each bush is evenly lit by the sun, and receives the necessary dose of light and heat. Therefore, when processing a young plantation and choosing how to cut the grapes in spring, use either a fan technique or cordon technique. Fan is applied if the plant is one year old. Specialists select on each bush several vines, the most powerful, viable, and cut them into 3 “rings”. The remaining shoots are completely cut off. Thanks to this selection, the vines grow strong and give grapes plentiful in number and weight of clusters. And it ripens well. The following year, the whole procedure of how to cut the grapes in spring is repeated in the same way;
- cordon technique guides the winegrower to form one full “sleeve” at the bush. Those. only one branch is left on the bush, the strongest, healthy. It is trimmed along the length of the adult, mature part. On the vine itself, all the lower shoots are cut, as well as a possible young shoot. Before pruning the grapes in spring, carefully examine the buds on the branches - they should be located at a distance of 30 cm from each other. Next spring, each such “sleeve” is cut off for another 2 rings. And 2 upper shoots are left for fruiting. The rest are cut off;
- if the vineyard consists of bushes bearing fruit for 5 years or more, each of them is trimmed - in this way the culture is rejuvenated, and the yield increases. Firstly, you should get rid of those branches that have already completed the fruiting cycle. From their "nest" there will be new shoots that will give good clusters. Secondly, too weak branches should be cut - they will only take away the strength from the bush, and the yield will be weak. Too thick branches have also outlived themselves - they may not grow clusters on them at all, and they will draw juices from the entire plant onto themselves. All other shoots are trimmed into 3-4 "rings" - to the largest, well-formed kidney. Naturally, all the basic techniques are followed during the procedure.
Separate recommendations
In order to carry out spring pruning correctly, it is important not only to choose the right time period and technology. How the vine will undergo the operation, how long it will heal or hurt - depends on the garden tool.
Garden shears or secateurs must be sharp, without rust, and the cut should be flat and smooth.