Top 3 Mistakes When Pruning Grapes in Spring Don't do them if you want to see Berries this year.

Spring pruning is required for early and mid-season grape varieties, as well as those that do not tolerate frost. All others are best pruned in the fall.

And talking with friends, I was surprised - how many people unknowingly make mistakes that can ruin the entire vineyard! Therefore, I hasten to share information about what should not be done during spring pruning in any case.

Incorrect timing

It is a popular misconception that grapes can endure any treatment in spring. In fact, it tolerates pruning well only before the start of sap flow.

If you risk holding it later, nothing will be able to stop the loss of juice, and at least in the current season, you can not count on good fruiting.

In addition, two important conditions must be met for trimming:

· The air has warmed up to stable +5... 6 ° С;

· The buds of grapes have not yet begun to grow, to grow.

In the case when it was not possible to start pruning on time and the juices began to actively move in the bushes, I advise you to perform the formation of the crown using the "blinding" method.

With it, you can fearlessly remove frozen and old shoots, and on the excess young shoots - they "pluck" part of the eyes, preventing too greedy intake of nutrients.

Keeping excess volume

It often seems to winegrowers that healthy branches need to be preserved - after all, they have already developed, they look normal. And therefore, they only slightly shorten the upper shoots.

The only problem is that the annually thickening bush grows more and more young shoots - they simply do not have enough sun and nutrients.

Plus, in conditions of dense green mass, pests feel more at ease and diseases arise more easily. As a result, the vine becomes thinner, the yield drops, and those berries that have ripened are not so tasty, almost not juicy, quickly begin to ferment right on the bush.

Therefore, in the spring, grapes need to be pruned simply mercilessly - removing 50-90% of the growth.

Choosing the wrong shoots

Chaotic pruning of grapes is not acceptable. You need to remove strictly defined shoots:

1. Fruiting last season and at the same time from a perennial branch, you need to indent 1.5 cm.

2. The diameter is more than 10 mm, since they only “fatten” and inhibit fruiting.

3. Excessively elongated - it is enough to simply shorten, keeping 7-12 buds.

Ideally, most of the shoots preserved on the bush should be 5-7 mm in diameter.