Page 45 - Grapevine May-June 2019

Around The Vineyard

ed, as is desirable fruit composition and disease
avoidance. It follows a few basic principles, which
follow:

• Maximise sunlight interception, remember it is
Sunlight into Wine. Preferably use north-south
rows, spaced about as far apart as they are tall.
If you are in a hot, sunny region, you might
avoid N-S rows and the heat caused by after-
noon sun on west-facing canopies. Taller can-
opies are of course more efficient than shorter
ones.

• Maintain a sufficiently wide spacing between
shoots to avoid dense canopies, around 5
shoots per foot of canopy length, or 2.5, 2-bud
spurs per foot of canopy. Most canopies are
more crowded than this. Shading of bunches
has serious effects on wine quality, and shading
of the base of shoots reduces bud fruitfulness.

• Fruit exposure will generally be sufficient in
such low density canopies as above; perhaps if
very leafy there may be a need for some leaf or
lateral removal.
Marquette trained to Scott Henry in Wisconsin trials.
• Vine balance is very important, and this is large-
ly determined by winter pruning level; the bud
count should be matched to the vineyard vigor.
The best way to assess this is by weighing prun-
ings on a few average vines. To obtain vines of
moderate vigour, the rule of thumb is retain
about 14 buds per pound pruning weight. This is
often more buds than are normally left. Ideally
the vines should be spaced 5-6 ft apart in the Call Us Today
row.
315.904.4007
These general rules apply to any vineyard trained • WILDLIFE CONTROL
to any system, not just the Scott Henry. The Scott • TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Henry (SH) is like the Smart Dyson (SD) and Geneva • TRELLIS/FENCE SUPPLIES
Double Curtain (GDC) systems. All three have two • IRRIGATION/HARVEST SUPPLIES
feet of canopy per ft of row, in other words they • POSTS/WIRE
are a “divided canopy” system. The Scott Henry
and Smart Dyson are called vertically divided. One
canopy grows upwards, one downwards from mid Finger Lakes Trellis Supply
height (3 ½ ft) fruiting zones. The GDC on the other 4041A Railroad Ave.
hand is horizontally divided, with two pendant cur- Williamson, NY 14589
tains about 3 ft apart. www.fingerlakestrellissupply.com
sales@fingerlakestrellissupply.com

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