They do not put out new growth again until spring begins. Winter dormancy is the ideal time to prune your grapevines by removing up to 90 percent of old growth and unwanted canes. During dormancy, you should also monitor grapevines for various pests and diseases. Prune 1-year-old grapevines by cutting the main vine at the first bud above the trellis wire or other support.
Use this method for vines shorter than 30 inches. Tie first-year vines longer than 30 inches to the trellis wire or support. Cut the vine to remove the first four buds past the tie.
Bend the tip of the vine down and tie it to the support. Use the cane pruning system to establish one main, permanent trunk. Select one or two thin canes, ideally with eight to 10 buds each, on either side of the trunk.
Tie them to the wire or support. Many leaves on each shoot are fully expanded, and the vine no longer depends on stored carbohydrates for its energy source. For the next few weeks, shoots and berries grow very rapidly. Approximately five to seven weeks after fruit set, veraison begins. Berries expand further, begin to soften, and accumulate sugar. The color on red cultivars is readily apparent, while the visual indicators of maturity on white cultivars are more subtle.
During the next four to six weeks, sugar, pigments, and other flavor compounds increase in the maturing fruit, while organic acids decrease and change forms. Unless there is an excess of water or fertility, shoot growth slows greatly or ceases. The bark of green shoots begins to turn brown from the base, becoming woody by the end of the period. This process is called lignification.
On managed plantings, the veraison period ends with harvest. After harvest, grapevine leaves continue to photosynthesize until frost if temperatures are warm enough.
Take the vines out of the bags and sawdust the night before planting. Soak the roots in five-gallon buckets of water. The tops of the vines can stick out of the water, or you can soak them in larger bins so that the entire vine gets soaked.
Take the vines into the field in these same buckets — you can use the water in the buckets to give the planted vines a first drink.
You do not want the vines to be out of water, soil or moist sawdust for more than an hour before they are planted to avoid dehydration. Trim the root tips with sharp pruning shears so that the root ends will be vital and fresh when put in contact with soil.
I usually take the entire root bundle in my hand, stretch the roots out like I was giving them a haircut, and then trim the last few inches of all the roots with a quick snipping motion, taking care to cut off broken or crushed roots as well.
Efficiency is key to the planting of dormant vines. I recommend having a strong helper digging holes with a post-hole digger or a narrow-bladed planting shovel, and another helper following behind to plant the vines. The hole should be about six inches across and at least 18—20 inches deep.
Do not just stick a shovel in the ground, yank it back and forth to open a crevice and toss a vine in. Do everything you can to assure the walls of your hole are loose and not compacted further than the soil would be naturally.
Drop the vine in the hole and then spread the roots out so roots are facing the sides of the hole, as well as facing down into the subsoil. Packing the dirt back into the hole, around the vine, is an art form in itself.
We use the hoe end to pull dirt into the planting crevice. It is also important to make sure that the graft union is at least four to six inches above the finished soil level, as the vine will settle a bit in the dirt. If you bury the graft union, roots will sprout underground from above the rootstock, and the vines will prefer them to the stock.
You will soon have vines growing from their own roots rather than from the rootstock, which defeats the purpose of rootstock. This will make it easy to tie growing shoots to the stake. Make sure you keep the vines moist and cool prior to planting. Trim the roots, make a deep hole and position the vine with your hand to a correct depth that keeps the graft union above the ground. I tell my planters I want the union four finger-widths above the finished soil level. Then sweep the soil back into the hole, packing it firmly in with the butt end of a sawed-off hoe.
This would be an appropriate time to water the vine to help the soil settle and soak the root area. On top of that, having a nicely manicured row instead of a crazy bush makes the execution of the vineyard work much easier, and quite frankly, more aesthetically pleasing, which does hold merit. Also of importance is the leaf-to-fruit ratio.
If this ratio is out of balance, there will either not be enough leaves for the photosynthesis needed to fully ripen the grapes, or on the flip side with too few clusters, the plant will not have an outlet for its growth potential, leading to herbaceous flavors in the grapes, as well as an unnecessary reduction in yield and loss of income.
January is usually a quiet time for the winery, but with the new bottling line being installed, it is anything but. Stay tuned for a time-lapse video of our bottling line installation. In addition, a seemingly endless stream of barrels came rolling in through the back warehouse door, each to be unwrapped, stamped, inspected and tested before employed.
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