Autumn pruning of grapes

There are few people in the world who do not like grapes - juicy and fleshy, sugary-sweet or with light sour, blue or white. Growing grapes on their own site is an occupation, although quite troublesome, but it brings a lot of pleasure. Today, the conversation will be about the most important operation to care for grapes - autumn pruning.

Rules of pruning of grapes in autumn

1. Pruning of grapes in autumn should be made in the right time, namely - after the fall of the leaves, but before the onset of frost. The best time for pruning grapes falls in the fall of October-early November. Do not cut grapes at an air temperature below +3 ° C, as the branches will simply break and the bush will leave for wintering with heavy damage.
2. Correct pruning of grapes in the autumn helps to accomplish several important tasks at once. First, at the same time, out-of-control and out-of-control shoots are removed from the bush, which prevents diseases and pests from developing. Secondly, during the autumn pruning the bush is formed, that is, the bush is given the most convenient form for caring for it. Thirdly, in the process of pruning, the most accurate correlation between the ground and underground parts of the bush is established, which avoids berries and harvests with minimal losses.
3. Young grapes, ie bushes under the age of 5 years, are pruned in autumn, starting from the very first year. Usually pruning of young grape bushes does not cause any special problems even for the most inexperienced viticulturists, since in this case it is necessary to leave only 3-8 main sleeves growing at an angle to the ground, while the rest are ruthlessly removed. The most popular is the four-arm scheme of pruning young grapes in autumn. Produced as follows: if a young bush of the grapes formed two shoots, each of them should be cut into two eyes. If the shoot on the bush formed only one, then it must be cut into four eyes. In the spring of the third year, two eyelets are left on each of the shoots formed from the eyelets, and the rest of the growth is cut off. In the autumn of the same year fruit branches are formed from shoots, in order to later cut grapes according to general rules.
4. Old grapes, when pruned in autumn, will require much more ingenuity and knowledge, but even the most neglected bush can be turned into fertile fruiting by means of proper pruning. Old parts of the vine and unnecessary shoots should be removed completely, without leaving hemp. The resulting sections should be smooth and smooth, which will significantly reduce the time for their healing and reduce the risk of fatty shoots.
5. The pruner during pruning should also be kept correctly, namely, so that it faces the part of the shoot that is left of the convex side of the blade. The emphasis of the secateurs, respectively, should be directed towards the cut off part of the vine.
6. Crop the vine must be so, so that the cuts and wounds are turned inside the bush. With this orientation of the slices, the bush will lose much less nutrients, which means it will recover faster.
7. Select fruiting and knots substitution is necessary from those shoots, whose diameter is within 6-12 mm and which are located on the outside of the bush. The length of pruning is directly proportional to its thickness - the thicker it is, the longer it should be cut. It should be noted that during the wintering under cover a part of the kidneys may die, therefore, the pruning should be done with a margin of 30-40% of the eyes.