Spring pruning is needed for early ripe and mid-ripe grape varieties. Also in spring, it is recommended to cut varieties that are not highly frost resistant. Thanks to pruning, gardeners increase the yield of grapes and the quality of berries - they grow large and sweet.
What is spring pruning for?
Grapes - a sun-loving plant, it always reaches for the sun. He constantly has new sprouts, shoots grow continuously, randomly and unevenly. What is pruning for?
- The formation of quality kidneys. If the shoots grow randomly and unevenly, the buds are weak and rare. They give some inflorescences, many of which are empty flowers.
- Improving the taste of berries. Good buds give powerful inflorescences, from which large grapes with a rich taste are obtained.
- A vine is formed and extra shoots are removed.. The plant is trying to direct nutrients to young shoots. When there are excesses of intensively growing branches on the bush, the plant has a lack of forces for the formation of fruits - all the forces go into shoot growth.
If you skip spring pruning of grapes:
- the bushes become overgrown;
- grapes will grow smaller every year;
- the bushes eventually run wild and lose their varietal characteristics.
Pruning is a mandatory event that allows you to update the bush and ensure a high yield of berries.
Inexperienced gardeners often regret to trim the excess - it seems to them that by cutting branches, they lose their crops. In addition, the trimmed bushes at first look rather pathetic. The essence of pruning is to ensure access of sunlight to the upper and lower parts of the vine.
When is the grape pruned?
The timing of grape pruning depends on a set of factors:
- varieties;
- bush age;
- growing options;
- climate.
Grapes are cut in spring:
- early and mid-season;
- with low frost resistance;
- young, with unformed bushes;
- harboring for the winter.
Spring pruning begins under these conditions:
- Active sap flow did not begin. If you trim, later, the open slices will begin to exude molasses, and this process cannot be stopped. The bush, losing life-giving juice, weakens. As a result, the vine grows worse.
If you carry out spring pruning after the start of sap flow, you can not only lose the crop, but also completely lose the vine bushes.
- The air temperature is set at 5-6 ° C.
- Pruning should be done before kidney enlargement. If the kidneys began to grow - you are late!
Missed time for spring pruning - what to do?
If the sap flow is in full swing, and you did not have time to cut the grapes, you can:
- postpone cropping;
- tackle crown formation by blinding.
The blinding method is the formation of a crown, in which the shoots are not pruned. Blinding involves cutting shoots:
- old
- frozen out;
- extra young.
So that the new shoot does not pull juices from the bush, they “pluck” part of the eyes.
Tools for cutting
To trim you will need:
- Secateurs - if pruning a young vineyard.
- A powerful garden pruner used to prune fruit tree branches. Such a tool is necessary for the anti-aging removal of perennial thick branches.
- Hacksaw. To remove any thickened branches.
Tool before use:
- Sharpen.
- Wipe with alcohol.
In the video, an experienced gardener shows how to sharpen a tool for cutting grapes:
Basic pruning rules
It is important to consider the age of the bushes. Rules for spring pruning of grapes:
- The cut is done at an angle of 90 degrees - so that the open cut heals faster. At right angles, an open wound will heal faster.
- Eliminate branches:
- sick;
- frozen over the winter;
- received other injuries.
At this stage, the cropping pattern is not taken into account.
- Overly elongated shoots are shortened - so that they develop and form correctly, they leave 7-12 buds.
- The shoots bearing fruit in the past season are cut carefully so as not to break them at the base. The shoots are cut, retreating from the perennial branch by 1.5 cm.
- To make substitution possible, you need to keep the shoots near the main trunk.
- Leaves of shoots with a diameter of 5-7 mm are left. Branches that are not in this range are pruned.
Thick shoots with a diameter of more than 10 mm are called fattening - they interfere with fruiting, so they must be removed.
When the pruning is finished, the bush looks bald for the first time, but a little time will pass and it will turn lush green. Young shoots, quickly formed, will start inflorescences - the source of the future harvest.
Pruning not only allows the formation of young bushes, but also restore neglected or frozen. The grape is known for its vitality - it is ready to be reborn again and again, most importantly, to take the chance correctly.
The specialist in viticulture tells on the video how to correctly carry out spring pruning:
Varieties of cropping
During the first 3-4 years of life, vine bushes are pruned in order to form them correctly - branches are created that will bear the entire load. Bearing branches form in stages. You can form a bush using the following methods:
- standard;
- stampless.
In both cases, you must observe:
- recommended cropping pattern;
- trim dates;
- care requirements.
The standard and non-standard formations differ from each other in such features:
- Stamping. The main stem is formed - the bearing branches of the grape bush depart from it. The stem has a height of 200-800 cm.
- Hammerless Trimming. The root head emits several load-bearing branches - 2 or 4.
Stamping
This pruning method is used if grapes are grown without shelter for the winter, for frost-resistant varieties grown in large volumes. Also, grapevine is used by vine growers in warm climatic zones.
Grape bushes, which are provided with good care, have been growing for more than a hundred years.
The formation of the stem is made in the first year of grape planting. Performing trimming by years of life:
- First year. Circumcision of the top. Leaving 2 buds after the root, they save the seedling from excess growth.
- Second. The stamp is not affected. The shoots that have grown over the past season are being cleaned. Having found the most powerful shoot, cut off its top so that from 7 to 12 kidneys remain. One small shoot is left for replacement - it is shortened to 2-3 eyes.
- Third. This year, the height and shape of the stem are formed. The shoots left earlier become bearing "sleeves" - they are reduced by 2 buds, and then tied to supporting supports. Then the shoots left for the sake of shortening are shortened - 2 kidneys are removed from one (left as a replacement knot), 5-6 eyes are removed from the second.
- Fourth. The time comes for trimming the upper "sleeves" and removing all unnecessary shoots - the bush is formed as the vine-grower wishes.
- Fifth. Leave only the main branches forming the fruit structure of the bush. All excess is cut off.
- Sixth. Forming a bush, 2 kidneys are cut off at the substitution knot, and the fruit arrow is shortened, leaving 7-8 kidneys.
Thanks to the standard pruning, it is possible, economically spending the area, to obtain abundant crops.
Hammerless Trimming
This is a faster way to form. Enough three years to get a properly growing grape, giving an enviable harvest. The order of non-standard trimming by years:
- First year. Shoots are removed with damage and deformation. It is also necessary to remove 90% of young growth. The remaining sprouts - 2 pieces, cut, leaving 2-3 cm after the 2nd kidney.
- Second. This year 60% of shoots are removed. Only 2 shoots must be left on the shoots - the most powerful ones are chosen, since it is they who will have to carry the burden of sleeping clusters. Shortening should leave 2-3 buds on the shoots - many shoots will sprout here before the fall.
- Third. Stage of formation of fruit links. The lower vine is cut into 2-3 eyes, the upper (fruit arrow) - 7-10 kidneys. This is how bearing "sleeves" are formed - each of them is left with two vines, and all other shoots are removed.
In order for grapes to please their harvests, it is important to follow the rule - when pruning, leave fruiting shoots and 2 or 3 knots, which in the future will help renew the crown.
Pruning fruit
Thanks to green operations on fruiting grapes, it is possible to regulate the growth and yield of bushes. Sometimes you have to remove extra fruiting shoots - if the vine bush is overloaded.
Wreckage
The formation of a fragment bush is accelerated, errors made during pruning are eliminated. Improves airing and warming. Debris Rules:
- Removing unnecessary shoots growing on the head and sleeves of the bush. Leaves shoots for replacement and upgrade. In varieties with uneven germination of shoots from sleeping eyes, the debris is carried out twice.
- First of all, break off the green shoots grown in crowns.
- If the bushes are underloaded, no debris is needed.
- Debris is produced by breaking the shoots to a stiff trunk.
Late wreckage is performed by secateurs, but it harms the bush - weakens the plant.
Pinching stepchildren
Pinch young grassy shoots growing on the fruit arrow. The goals of pinching stepsons:
- acceleration of the restoration of the leaf crown or skeleton;
- stopping shoot growth - to prevent shedding.
Vigorous shoots are nipped on underloaded bushes - several pieces, over 3 or 5 buds. Stepsons obtained after pinching can be used the next year - to form a fruit link.
Chasing
It is made to accelerate the ripening of berries - while slowing the growth of green shoots. The retracted crown of 4-7 kidneys is removed. Conditions for minting:
- irrigation;
- strong shoot growth;
- weak ripening.
If the grapes are grown without watering, they do not mint. Also, it is not needed for undersized varieties.
Spring pruning of damaged bushes
If the grapes are frozen during the winter, there is a big chance to restore the plant. At least in part. Consider a method of restoring pruning after various damages.
Bushes froze
First, they check the condition of the kidneys by making incisions on them:
- green indicates kidney health;
- black and dark brown - about damage.
The incisions are made, moving from the base to the top of the branch. After counting the dead eyes, calculate the amount of damage. Depending on the damage, the following actions are taken:
- If the death was less than 80%, leave more buds when forming than is provided for by the scheme.
An additional crop is obtained due to shoots on fruiting branches left during autumn pruning. - If more than 80% died, sanitary pruning in two stages is needed. Before budding, frozen branches and damaged bearing arms are removed. When greenery appears, sanitary pruning is completed by removing excess growth.
- At 100% damage, stepchildren are tested - being more frost-resistant, they often survive the winter. If the stepsons also died kidneys, you can form fruit-bearing links from young shoots or fattening shoots growing from buds on perennial branches.
Frostbite root system
In frosty, but not snowy winters, part of the root system of grapes is damaged or dies. Necessary actions:
- Dig the ground to the will of the bush.
- Root incisions are made. In intact roots, the slices are white, in frostbitten - dark brown. With a diameter of frostbite of the roots up to 2.5 mm, the vine will recover next year. The main task of the gardener is to reduce the load on the root system by shortly cutting off the fruiting branches.
Spring hail
If hail has passed in the spring and the bushes have lost a lot of foliage, young shoots cut to 1-2 buds. Then shoots appear that thin out - this is done to activate the reserve buds, the fruiting of which will take place next year.
Sharp cooling
Often in the spring frosts occur just when the buds open. They are able to not only destroy new buds and shoots, but also a year-old vine. Further actions depend on the degree of damage caused:
- Damaged vine. It is recommended to cut last year's branches briefly to activate the growth of other shoots - then sleeping buds will wake up.
- If frost has damaged the green part and flowers, to awaken sleeping buds, you need to shorten the annual shoots - this will help partially restore the crop.
- If the tops of the branches are damaged, as well as a small part of the leaves and inflorescences, you can do without special pruning.
Arch trimming
For arches, frost-resistant grape varieties are chosen, since for winter the branches are not covered. The cropping scheme is selected taking into account:
- features of supports;
- grade characteristics.
Pruning arched grapes is no different from pruning bushes tied on a trellis. Arched grapes are distinguished by abundant fruiting, incomparable with yields obtained on trellises.
If you have a warm climate, you can plant the varieties Original and Svetly, since they do not differ in frost resistance, but they grow very quickly - in 1-2 months, even with strong spring pruning, they cover the entire arch with greenery. It is recommended to prune fruit arrows for 10-12 kidneys.
If you need a blanket frost-resistant variety, it is better to take varieties Timur, Arched, Talisman - these are strong-growing varieties that are resistant to disease. The formation of bushes is carried out together with the arch device:
- the first wire of the arch is placed at a distance of 50 cm from the ground;
- further - at intervals of 30-40 cm.
When shoots appear, leave only one - all the rest are cut out. From the left shoot form a stamb. The shoot, which has grown to the first wire, gives two shoots. The task of man is to leave his stepsons, to form the sleeves - left and right. At a distance of 2 m, two more sleeves are laid. Trimming Rules:
- Fruit vines are laid along the sleeve and cut to a certain number of eyes - it depends on the variety. From each left kidney, an shoot grows. The formation of the bush is carried out using fruit shoots.
- The vine that has finished bearing is removed along with the growth. On the vacant place lay the upper vine, grown on the knot of substitution. The lower shoot substitution is shortened by two buds.
Popular grape forming methods
The formation process is started 1-2 years after planting seedlings, and it lasts from 3 to 6 years, depending on the chosen modeling method. The process is completed when the model of a bush and a vine appears, and full fruiting is provided.
Guyot circuit
Apply in cold places for covering grapes. It is considered a classic of the genre. This simple method allows you to cover the entire bush with the sun. Suitable for beginner gardeners. Guyot's scheme:
- In the first year, a strong shoot is grown. It is cut in the fall, leaving 2-3 eyes.
- In the second year, two shoots grow, they are cut in the fall - on one leave 2-3 buds, the second leave long - on it clusters will ripen.
- A year later, a knot and a vine will again grow out of a knot.
Fruiting vines form, showing imagination, adjust the load of the bush. Changing the length of the arrows, change the size of the clusters.
Fan-shaped
The most popular option when modeling bushes. Guyot differs from the scheme by a large number of sleeves - they are left 3-5, not 1-2. Different fan formations can be performed:
- big or small;
- with short sleeves or with long;
- standard or non-standard;
- single and bilateral;
- single and bunk.
In cold conditions, the non-standard version is often used - a fan and a one-sided half-fan.Its advantages:
- it is convenient to take care of the bushes;
- convenient to cover;
- easy to rejuvenate;
- berries will turn out with excellent taste.
The procedure for forming a bush with a fan:
- The first two years of work do not differ from the previous method.
- In the third year, sleeves are made - on each of them 2 vines are formed. By the third year the bush bears fruit, at least 4 shoots are obtained - they grow up to 1 m in length and 6-10 mm thick.
- The first tying is done in the spring. Tie the sleeves to the lower wire (30-60 cm from the ground), forming a “fan”.
- In spring, cut shoots are cut, inside the fan they are made shorter than outside.
- While there is growth, annual shoots are constantly being removed on the sleeves, leaving 2-3 pieces at the top - they are needed to form new fruiting links and lengthen the sleeves. Garter to the trellis is performed vertically.
- For 4-5 years on the sleeves create fruit links. For the formation of the arrow forming the fruit, the upper vine is cut into 4-6 kidneys, and the lower vine into 2-3 buds.
Care after trimming
The larger the cut diameter, the greater the danger. The plant weakens after multiple pruning, even its death is possible. To minimize damage, you need:
- use a sharp secateurs;
- remove branches with a diameter of 2-8 cm using a bow saw, and cut old branches with a hacksaw;
- try to ensure that the slices are located on one side - then the food will flow to all branches;
- hemp of thick branches should be less than 1 cm. Otherwise, they, cracking, will violate the integrity of the wood.
To smooth out the damage done, it is recommended:
- Clean wounds with a garden knife. This prevents the accumulation of water on the slices - a fungus that causes rotting can penetrate through it.
- Loosen the soil regularly in a radius of 40-60 cm from the bushes.
- Weed, water and feed plants in time.
- Timely process plants from diseases and pests.
- When the shoots reach a length of 25 cm, bend them, tying them to the supports.
Common mistakes
When pruning grapes, inexperienced gardeners often make the following mistakes:
- Pitying the plant, they do not cut the growth, but only shorten the tops and remove dry shoots. After a few years, the vine will be intertwined so that it obscures the sun - the fruiting branches will not receive energy, and the fruits will be small, tasteless.
- Cut the shoots to the wrong length. In spring, you need to consider - the length of the cut part is determined by the thickness of the shoot. The thicker the vine, the greater its length after pruning.
- Thinking that there are more yields on a thick vine, gardeners instead of them harvest the young vine.
Thanks to the correct and timely pruning, grape bushes will produce abundant harvests. And the berries ripening on bunches will be juicy, large, with a rich taste.
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