Spring pruning of grapes: technology and features for the regions

Pruning is an integral part of agricultural technology, a necessary stage in the cultivation of this crop. Spring pruning followed by garter shoots helps the formation of sleeves, regulates the growth and development of the vine. As a result of this operation, a balanced ratio of the aboveground part and the root system of the bush is created. Pruning favors the proper development of the autonomic organs of the grape and its fruiting.

The need for pruning grapes in spring

A fundamental feature of the grape culture is its ability to bear fruit only on annual shoots (vines) grown on two year old shoots. This feature underlies the pruning of grapes. Pruning is an operation during which the vegetative parts of the grape bush are removed in order to regulate the number and length of the sleeves, fruiting vines, and the load of the bush with fruit shoots (eyes).

The annual spring pruning of grapes, performed competently and in due time, allows you to:

• adjust the development and growth of the bush;
• regulate the yield, size and quality of berries;
• protect the grapes from the development of fungal diseases caused by bush thickening and poor ventilation;
• provides convenience in grape care;
• promotes rejuvenation of plants.

Trimming Dates

Spring is considered the best time for pruning young vine bushes. New shoots formed during this period, before the end of the growing season, have time to grow stronger and mature, replenishing the supply of perennial bush wood and guaranteeing a successful wintering for grapes.

Adult bushes that have entered the fruiting period can be cut both in spring and autumn. This usually depends on the particular variety (covering or non-covering) and the growing region. In any case, pruning should be done during the dormancy of plants, before the start of the growing season. For grapes of non-covering culture with high frost resistance of bushes, it is advisable to start pruning in late autumn (2-3 weeks after leaf fall) and continue until early spring, when sap flow begins. The limitation for trimming is only lowering the air temperature below minus five degrees.

For covering grape varieties, pruning is carried out in two stages:

1. Preliminary (autumn) - before the onset of cold weather and shelter of bushes for the winter. Pruning is done on a matured vine to form the fruit links of the next year's crop.
2. The main (spring) - after opening the bushes in early spring, before budding. In the process of pruning, the number of intact fruit buds (eyes) is determined.

During spring pruning, all damaged parts of the bush, weak and fat-growing shoots, old sleeves without fruiting vines are removed.

Video: when to prune grapes, choosing vines to prune

Technology of spring pruning of grapes

There are various types of pruning of grapes during the spring-summer period:

• pruning to form a bush - performed in early spring on unopened buds;
• a fragment of green shoots - allows you to adjust the load of the bush with fruit buds (eyes) and improves the conditions for the development of grapes (light and airing);
• stepsonovka - an operation to remove (shorten) second-order shoots (stepsons) to reduce lateral growth of the vine, makes it possible to regulate the nutrition of the bush during the period of active vegetation;
• pinching - pinching the tops of fruiting shoots to limit their growth and prevent shedding of flowers (carried out mainly on vigorous grape varieties).

To correctly prune the vine bush, you need to know the structure of fruiting shoots (vines). A combination is characteristic of the vine: the fruit arrow is a knot of substitution called the fruit link. It is pruning a bush to a fruit link that is the simplest and most common form of pruning grapes.

Fig. 1. After spring pruning, the fruit link consists of: a - a knot of substitution, b - a fruit arrow. Fig. 2. The seedlings of the vines are cut off in early spring, forming a new fruit link (arrows indicate the removed parts of the shoots)

The fruit arrow is a vine cut into six to eight eyes, on which the next year's crop is formed. The substitution knot is an annual shoot, cut into two or three eyes and located on the outside with respect to the center of the bush. It is left as close to the main sleeve or the stem as possible. From this shoot the next year a new fruit link is formed. If fruit shooters are underdeveloped or the grape variety has a low yield, when pruning, leave two shooters and one substitute knot. This fruit link is called reinforced. The fruit-bearing arrow is cut out, replacing it with a new fruit link.

Important: when trimming the knot of substitution, the slice should be done obliquely so that the top of the cut is located on the outside of the shoot.

Video: pruning grapes to the fruit link

Pruning a young bush of grapes

As a rule, the grape begins to bear fruit in the third or fourth year after planting in a permanent place. But under good growing conditions, you can get a crop already in the second year. During the first three to four years, the seedling is formed by pruning it. The importance of this operation is that when forming, the foundation of the future bush is laid - its sleeves, which serve as a support for fruiting shoots, conductors of water, mineral and plastic substances and a place for their supply. Before carrying out work on pruning a young plant, you should learn about the main types of grape formation and their features. Depending on the climatic conditions of the region and the type of culture (covering or non-covering), several types of formation are distinguished: non-standard, standard, arched (arbor).

Photo Gallery: Examples of Formation of Vine Bushes

For beginner winegrowers, the Guyot system formation and the multi-stemless fanless multi-sleeve are of interest, as the simplest and most effective for all grape varieties.

The formation of grapes according to the Guyot system

This type of formation is used mainly for covering varieties, as in this case, it is easier to remove the sleeves from the trellis, bending them to the ground and shelter for the winter.

The process of pruning a bush according to the Guyot system is as follows:

1. In the spring, a young grape seedling planted is cut to a height of 15-20 cm from ground level, leaving two or three of the most developed buds. When favorable conditions are created in the first year of vegetation, by the autumn 2-4 well developed, mature shoots with a diameter of 6 mm in the middle part and a length of more than 1 m grow on it.
   

   In the autumn of the first year, two future sleeves are formed on the seedling

2. In the fall, shoots are cut off: one for four buds, the second for two. The shoots of the first year are the future sleeves of the grape bush. Pruning should be carried out not close to the kidney, but backing 2-3 cm. For the winter, shoots are removed from the trellis and covered.
3. In the spring of the second year after the sapling is released from the shelter, the shoots are tied to the bottom wire at an angle of 45 degrees, directing them in opposite directions. Six vertical shoots grow from the eyes during the growing season. If the shoots are thin (less than 7 mm thick), then all four selected shoots are cut into two or three buds. Thin shoots signal that the bush is not yet ready for fruiting. If the thickness of the shoots is more than 7 mm, then you can carry out pruning for fruiting.
   

   In the second year of life, fruit links form on the young branches of the grapes

4. In autumn, the shoots closest to the stem are cut off for 2-3 buds (these will be knots of substitution), and the more distant shoots will be cut off for 4-7 buds (these are fruit arrows). Thus, two fruit units are obtained. Excess shoots are removed.
5. In the spring of the third year, fruit arrows are tied horizontally to the lower trellis wire. Fruit-bearing vines growing from eyes during the summer are tied to the second and third wires, respectively. In order not to overload the bush with eyes, at the beginning of summer they make a fragment of them, leaving three or four upper buds.
   

   By the fall of the third year we get a four-arm bush, ready for fruiting
6. In the fall of the 3rd year after harvesting, the prolific vines are completely cut out. Of the two shoots grown on each of the knots of substitution, new fruit links are formed. In this case, the upper shoot needs to be cut off as an arrow of fruiting, and the lower one - as a new knot of substitution.
7. In all subsequent years, pruning of the grape bush is similar.

For pruning to the fruit link, you need to choose the most developed shoots. The vines with the greatest thickness can be cut longer than thin ones (by 8-10 eyes). There are times when only one shoot grows on the substitution knot. It should be trimmed by the type of substitution knot, i.e. two or three eyes. In this case, the strongest shoot on the vine of last year is used to form the fruit shoot.

When pruning the shoots, care should be taken to ensure that the fruit arrow is always higher, and the replacement knot is lower relative to the base of the bush.

Fanless grape formation

The development of the sleeves of the grape bush takes place in several stages and depends on the type of formation: a standardless or standard. With a stampless formation, the sleeves grow directly from the head of the bush. The number of sleeves on one bush varies from two to eight. But the best option is a two- or four-arm formation. The most common are stemless multi-sleeve grape formations such as fan, one-sided semi-fan and cordon. The principle of formation of the fruit link in these types of formation is similar to the Guyot system.

The fan formation conditionally got its name from the shape of the arrangement of the sleeves of grapes in the trellis plane in the form of a fan. In the process of pruning and developing the bush, the shoots are mounted at different levels on the trellis wires, starting from the lowest.

The layout of the fan four-arm formation of a young seedling is given below.

As a result of the annual spring pruning on the 4th year of the bush's life, a four-arm fan formation is formed

1. In the spring of the first year, the stem is shortened on an annual seedling, leaving two or three of the lowest eyes. The shoots that have grown over the summer bend to the ground and shelter for the winter.
2. The two most powerful shoots that grew on a seedling in the first year of vegetation and located as low as possible, in the spring of the second year, cut into three eyes each, the rest are removed.
3. Four or six shoots that have developed over the summer are tied to a wire trellis symmetrically in different directions. In autumn, shoots are removed from the trellis and covered.
4. In the spring of the third year, the four best vines are used to form the sleeves. To do this, after trimming 0.4-0.6 m, the shoots are bred two in opposite directions in the form of a fan and tied to the wire obliquely. The remaining eyes break off, leaving two or three top ones. Thus, four sleeves are formed on the bush.
5. At the end of each sleeve in the spring of the fourth year, fruit links are formed, that is, a knot of substitution and a fruit arrow. In this case, the vine located on the outer side is cut short (by 2-3 eyes) to a knot of substitution, and the upper vine is cut into 5-10 eyes as a fruit arrow and tied horizontally.
6. In subsequent years, from the vines grown on the knot of substitution, a new knot of substitution and a fruit arrow are formed, as described above. And the frustrated old arrow is removed. In this case, the cut must be done with a small stump of 1.5-2 cm left, otherwise a deep wound will form on the sleeve, causing the death of tissues, blood vessels and weakening of the nutrition of the remaining vines.

Video: features of fan formation of an annual grape bush

The one-sided semi-fan formation does not fundamentally differ from the fan one. The difference is that the sleeves are located on one side of the head of the bush. As a rule, with this type of formation, the bush has at least three sleeves.

Grape cordon

Cordon formation of bushes with different height of the stem is used mainly in areas of non-covering grape culture, as well as in frost-resistant varieties that do not require shelter for the winter. The difference between this type of formation and the non-standard one is that when the grapes are standardized, the main trunk of the bush is first grown - the standard, from which the sleeves will subsequently depart. The height of the stem is usually from 0.2 to 0.8 m. Traditionally, with cordon formation, the sleeves are located on a single-plane vertical trellis. As a result, all parts of the grape bush are sufficiently lit and well ventilated. The cordon has a different shape: horizontal, vertical, inclined, can be one- or two-arm. It depends on the direction of the location of the sleeves.

Horizontal and inclined cordons are used mainly for the formation of cover varietal bushes, which provides the convenience of removing and covering the hoses in autumn in the northern regions. This type of formation is characterized by the presence of several horizontally located sleeves of grapes. When removing the horizontal cordon, the sleeves are tied to the lower wires of the trellis. Fruit links are formed by trimming all the lower shoots located below the sleeve. The upper eyes are left to bear fruit.

Fig. 1 - Bush of the first year of life. Fig. 2 - Trimming the bush in the second year. Fig. 3 - Bush in the spring of the third year. Fig. 4 - Bush at the end of the third year. Fig. 5 - Bush after pruning in the spring of the fourth year

1. In the first year of life of a vine bush, one or two long shoots are grown. High quality seedlings and good care ensure the shoot length by the end of the growing season more than 100 cm.
2. In the spring of the second year, 50 cm are measured on the most powerful shoot for the formation of the stem, and four or six eyes are left above this place. The lower eyes break off. If necessary, one or two fruitful shoots may be temporarily left from them.
3. In the third year in the spring, all shoots on the stem are cut off. Of the four or six upper shoots of last year, the two lower shoots are cut into knots of substitution (2-3 eyes), and the two strongest shoots located above are cut into fruit shoots (from 6 to 15 eyes each).
4. As a result of pruning in the spring of the fourth year, new fruit links are formed on the knots of substitution (the knot of substitution from the lower shoot and the fruit arrow from the upper). At the same time, all shoots of the last year are removed, and new fruit arrows are tied horizontally to the lower wire.

A vertical cordon is formed during the cultivation of frost-resistant grape varieties, especially when trellis is located along a structure or fence. In this case, the sleeves are tied to the trellis vertically.All eyes in the region of the lower wire break off, leaving only two eyes: one above the wire, the second under it. As a result, two shoots are formed on the sleeve, directed in different directions from the wire.

Thanks to the trimming of the sleeves in two or three receptions by the spring of the fourth year, the grape bush has the formation of a vertical cordon

1. In the year of planting, one long shoot is grown on the bush.
2. In autumn, it is cut to the length of the entire well-ripened part so that the outer eye is located on the lower side - to continue the sleeve.
3. In the spring of the second year, the shoot is tied obliquely to the bottom wire. When the eyes begin to open, then all the lower ones, except the extreme one, break off. The upper eyes are also thinned out, leaving a distance of 30-35 cm between them. All shoots, except the last (extreme), should grow on the upper side of the sleeve and be directed upwards.
4. In the autumn of the second year, the vines that developed on the sleeve are cut into 2-3 eyes, and the last vine, grown from the lowermost eye, is cut to the full length of the sleeve.
5. In the third year, in the spring, the buds break off in the new part of the cordon, leaving several shoots at a distance of 30-35 cm.
6. By the fall of the third year, two shoots grow on two-three-eyed shoots. The lower ones are cut by 2-3 kidneys, receiving knots of substitution, and the upper ones by 5-6 buds, which form fruiting arrows.
7. In the spring of the fourth year, after raising the sleeve, the fruit bearing arrows are tied to the lower wire, achieving their horizontal position.

Thanks to the powerful perennial stem and sleeves during cordon formation, the grape bush has a large supply of old wood, which allows it to withstand a large load on the bush with a crop

Green operations on a young bush of grapes

Green works (operations) include auxiliary works in the vineyard, which are carried out in late spring and early summer and complement the pruning and shaping of plants. This is a fragment of eyes and green shoots, their pinching and pinching.

During early spring pruning (before the buds open), it is impossible to distinguish a fruitful kidney from a sterile one. To determine the optimal number of fruitful shoots, a green debris is used. It allows you to adjust the final load of the grape bush with eyes and helps maintain the withdrawn formation of the bush. The operation to fragment green shoots is very gentle for plants, as the wounds that form during debris are small and heal quickly enough. A young growing soft run breaks off with light pressure on the thumb at its base.

When blooming, up to three shoots can come out of the kidney, but you need to leave only one, the strongest, and the rest should be broken off

As a result of the wreckage, it is possible to achieve a better ratio between fruitful and fruitless shoots, as well as maintain normal light and air conditions in the crown of the bush. In total for the growing season, you need to make two or three fragments. The first wreckage is made when the shoots on the sleeves are 2-3 cm long. Do not break off the eyes, which in the future may be required to create and maintain the shape of a bush. The second wreck must be completed when the shoots reach a length of 10-15 cm. With this size, it is already possible to distinguish between fruitful shoots and sterile ones. Inflorescence is always the first to appear in the fruitful, and the antennae in the infertile. If the grape variety is high-yielding and there are many inflorescences, all fruitless sprouts should be removed. With an insufficient number of inflorescences, part of the sterile shoots are left to maintain the growth and development of the bush.

On an 8-12 cm long shoot, inflorescences are very clearly visible, this shoot is fruitful

With a debris, you can correct the pruning to a certain extent, if mistakes were made, adjust the overall growth force of the bush, create better conditions for lighting and airing the bush. Extra shoots on overloaded fruit-bearing bushes are especially harmful. They are removed first.

Galushchenko V.T., Berezovsky Yu.S. "Grapes". Publishing house ACT-Stalker, Moscow, 2008

Green shoots are always broken if they:

• problematic, sick, weak, unsuitable for further growth and development of the bush;
• are doubles and tees of the main eyes, because they tend to break and damage the vine;
• superfluous in comparison with the required number of eyes on the vine, they delay the nutrition and inhibit the development of the main parts of the bush;
• underdeveloped shoots from among the fruitful, their removal helps to improve the quality of berries.

Video: fragments of eyes on a young bush of grapes

In spring, with the onset of heat and the beginning of the active phase of vegetation, in addition to the main shoots, shoots of "second order" - stepsons are formed on the grape bush. Their role in the development of young grapes is ambiguous. On the one hand, stepsons take food from fruitful shoots and contribute to the development of fungal diseases, a thickening bush. At the grape ripening stage, a large number of stepsons can even slow down this process.

The thickening bush, stepsons interfere with its sufficient lighting and ventilation, so they are removed as much as possible

However, in some cases, stepsons are not removed. Due to the stronger development of stepson shoots in comparison with the main ones, new fruit links are formed from them on problem vine bushes. They are used in the restoration of frost damaged or improperly formed bushes. In this case, on the stepsons 15-20 cm long, the tops are pinched to accelerate their growth.

Video: stepsoning a young bush

Pruning an adult vine bush

Under normal development, the vine bush has a high energy of growth and forms many growing shoots of the main, substitute, sleeping and axillary buds. If you leave them all, then:

• most of the growth energy will go to the development of sterile fatliquoring and shoots in the lower part of the plant, where the main reserves of nutrients are located;
• not the most favorable conditions will be created for the formation of a future crop, since fruit buds do not form on the shaded shoots of a thickened bush.

Therefore, in the spring, from the very beginning of the awakening and growth of grapes, it is necessary to prune and break off obviously unnecessary shoots, weaker twins and tees, which distort the formation of the bush. Of the fatliquoring shoots, single ones should be left growing on the outside in the middle and lower parts of the sleeves, which will be useful subsequently for the formation of new sleeves or branches. When the inflorescences begin to form, it is necessary to carry out a second wreck - to thin out the fruitless shoots.

During spring pruning, excess and weak shoots, as well as prolific vines, should be removed.

In general, the processes of pruning, green debris, and pinching of an adult grape bush are similar to the processes used for a young plant using the formulations previously considered. The main criterion for proper pruning should be the total amount of kidneys (eyes) left on the bush. As an adult, it should not exceed 40 buds, that is, you can leave 5-7 shoots, and cut the rest.

Video: pruning technique for an adult vine bush

There are the following methods of trimming: short, up to 4 eyes - on the queen cells, capitate and cordon formations, knots of substitution; average, up to 7-8 eyes - when pruning fruit vines of most varieties in the covering zone; long, from 9 to 14 eyes - on vigorous varieties and in the gazebo culture. In most areas of viticulture, mixed pruning is used - short and medium

A.Yu. Rakitin, doctor S.-kh. sciences, professor"Fruit growing. Golden councils of the Timiryazev Academy." Lik Press Publishing House, Moscow, 2001

Trimming grapes on an arch

Arched culture is one of the oldest forms of grape plant management and enjoys well-deserved popularity in many grape regions of the world. Arbor formation is characterized by a wide variety of supporting structures, as well as the ways of arrangement of vines in their space. Supports can be either single (arbor), or connected in the form of complex galleries, tunnels or arches. Pergolas, arched and tunnel structures are most common in the form of a rectangular arch or a rounded arch. They can consist of rows of arched rods connected in the upper part, or in the form of vertical supports connected in two adjacent rows by crossbars. A wire is traditionally stretched between the rows or wooden slats are attached, forming a kind of mesh, twined from top to bottom with a vine, which creates the impression of a kind of green tunnel.

When the gazebo is formed in the form of a tunnel, bushes are planted along two vertical single-plane trellises, interconnected at the top by arcs or crossbars; shoots are cut to the fruit link

When arbor forms of conducting grape plants are used vigorous grape varieties, formed in the form of large vertical cordon, long-arm fan formations and their various combinations. Bushes are planted on both sides of the gazebo structure, while their crowns are evenly distributed in space, occupying a horizontal, and if necessary a vertical plane. In principle, it doesn’t matter at all what you get in the end - a fan, cordon, their combination, or a formation still not known to science at all. The main thing in this case is to rationally and evenly distribute fruit links (fruiting vines) in the support space, not allowing excessive thickening of the leaf cover.

If the bush on the gazebo is formed in the form of a vertical cordon, then the pruning of shoots is performed similarly to the usual formation of a vertical cordon

Video: trimming grapes on an arch

Features of spring pruning in the regions

When pruning grapes in the spring in the regions, it is necessary to take into account the climatic features of a particular area, its topography and the possibility of critical situations in the form of sudden return frosts or hot weather with a drought unusual for this time of year.

In the cover zone, grape bushes are cut in two periods: in autumn - before sheltering the bushes before autumn frosts and in spring - after opening the bushes before buds open and shoots develop. In areas of uncultivated viticulture, the bushes are pruned in the autumn-winter period, 15-20 days after leaf fall, and continue throughout the winter (on frost-free days) until buds open in spring.

When determining the pruning length of fruit vines in the general case, it should be borne in mind that the eyes of the middle tier (4–9 nodes of the vine) differ in the highest productivity.

Grape pruning in spring in Ukraine

Pruning of grape bushes in Ukraine begins in the second or third decade of February - on days when the air temperature does not drop below minus 6-8^⁰FROM.

According to the structural formula of the grape harvest, pruning of bushes significantly affects the development of vine shoots, fruiting coefficient and the average mass of grapes. As a result of such an operation, a certain load of grape bushes is set with eyes or fruit arrows. The main purpose of pruning the vineyard is to leave the optimal number of cells (shooters) on the grape plant, in which shoots with the appropriate varietal productivity will ensure the proper harvest without weakening the growth force of the vine bushes.

When grape bushes are formed according to the type of horizontal borders on the horns, fruit links are formed: regular (knot for two or three eyes and fruit arrow for four to eight eyes) or reinforced (knot for two or three eyes and two arrows for four or six and six to eight eyes), the choice of which depends on the number of horns on the sleeves and the results of determining the optimal load.

Pruning grape bushes to the fruit link allows you to implement the principle of annual restoration. The fruit arrow provides a grape harvest, and the knot provides the formation of well-developed shoots, from which a full-fledged fruit link will be formed next year. However, each individual vine bush is distinguished by the nature of the development of annual shoots. Therefore, in practice, a certain deviation from the usual circumcision to the fruit link is also possible.

Video: grape pruning in Ukraine

Pruning grapes in spring in Belarus

In the conditions of the south of Belarus, shearing varieties are trimmed in November, a couple of weeks before the vineyard is covered and the first steady frost sets in, and non-covering bushes of Alpha and Baltic selection varieties on arbors - in early spring, after snow melting, during pruning of fruit trees and bushes. In view of the long duration of daylight hours, a lot of vines grow during the growing season. Therefore, “green” grape pruning in Belarus has its own rules. Like everyone, this is pinching, but also chasing the shoots at an earlier time than is required for the ripening of the vine. Usually it is made to the height of the trellis, and new leaves are already growing on the stepsons, which are periodically pinched too.

Video: grape pruning in spring in Belarus

Grape pruning in the middle of Russia in spring

Damage to grapes in winter frosts - the situation in central Russia is quite common. In the suburbs, pruning is the only way to save the situation. At the same time, they try to leave more eyes on young shoots. In the case when the entire upper part of the vine was damaged due to frost, they cut it off, trying to form more shoots from the remaining hemp. If a sufficient number of tops of shoots is formed, there will not be any special difficulties with this.

Given the climate of central Russia with its relatively short growing season, it is important to select fast-ripening varieties. To speed up the ripening process, a strong pruning of the plant should be done. Unlike pruning of fruit trees, pruning of grapes is carried out not only during the dormant period of the plant, but also during the period of active growth. It is important to remember that grapes bear fruit only on lateral growths of the current year.

Video: features of pruning grapes in central Russia

Reasons and methods for eliminating the spring "crying" of the vine

When the air temperature rises to +8 ^°From the grapes begins to “cry”: from the slices or from damaged places juice oozes abundantly. This is not to be afraid. Grapes "cry" - it means that life has awakened in it and its root system is functioning normally. It is important to remember that grapes tolerate frosts well until sap flow begins. And when the buds burst, plants need to be especially carefully protected from frost.

Before the swelling and during the swelling of the eyes, from all cuts of fruit shoots and perennial parts (sleeves) of the bush, a clear liquid abundantly flows - apiary, which indicates the beginning of active life of grape roots

At the beginning of the sap flow phase, little apiary is secreted, then its amount increases and decreases towards the end of the phase. The most active sap flow lasts no more than 10-15 days, and its total duration, depending on the region and conditions of the year, is from 2 to 66 days. Sleeves and shoots become elastic, flexible, so they are easy to tie to a support and lay layers.

In areas of uncultivated viticulture in the phase of sap flow continue pruning bushes. In areas of sheltering viticulture, these works are preceded by the opening of bushes. With the budding of buds and the development of leaves on the shoots that begin to evaporate water, the sap flow stops.

Pruning grape bushes is a creative, useful and exciting activity.Regardless of whether you are an experienced winegrower or a beginner gardener, even with a minimum amount of knowledge about grape care, you can successfully grow this tasty and healthy product and get a high yield.