Page 49 - Grapevine May-June 2019
P. 49
Around The Vineyard
hedge and skirt shoots multiple times during the that sunlight exposure improves berry colour and
season, and will implement shoot and leaf removal phenolics. A recent article in this magazine (Smart
to increase light exposure of clusters, all of which 2018) emphasised the need to do shoot position-
requires labor and increases production costs. ing on the high wire trellis to avoid shading, which
Particulary time consuming is the task of tuck- causes loss of yield and quality.
ing shoots into the trellis wire in the VSP system,
which can be a constant battle with cultivars that Conclusion
have a procumbent (droopy) growth habit such as
‘Brianna’ and ‘La Crescent’. We think that Scott Henry and Smart Dyson might
have application in the Midwest USA, as has been
Alternatively, divided canopy training systems, found elsewhere. Certainly the initial research
such as Scott-Henry (SH), can be used to control results are encouraging. The SH training system
vine vigor, as these systems increase the number is a great option to control vegetative vigor and
of shoots and clusters per unit of row length, com- increase yields in cold climate hybrid grape culti-
pared to those grown on single canopy systems vars without reducing fruit ripeness, and quality for
like VSP or high wire. Studies across in the Midwest winemaking will likely be improved.
of the United State (Atucha and Wimmer, 2016;
Cochran and Nonnecke, 2016) have shown that References Cited
cold climate hybrids trained on divided canopy
systems can achieve higher yields, reduce canopy Atucha, A. and M. Wimmer. 2016. Brianna,
shading, and improve fruit composition, compared Frontenac, La Crescent, and Marquette Training
to single canopy systems. Trial. West Madison Agricultural Research Station
(WMARS), Verona, WI. Northern Grapes Project
In a 5-year training system evaluation study in publication. http://northerngrapesproject.org/
southern Wisconsin, yield of vines trained to the wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WI-training-study-
SH system produced more than double the yield Year-4.pdf
than those trained to the vertical shoot positioning
(VSP) system, and 25-35% more than vines trained Cochran, D.R. and G.R. Nonnecke. 2016. Iowa
to the high cordon (HC) system. For example, in Training Systems Trial. Snus Hill Winery,
‘Frontenac’ the 5-year average yield on SH was 30 Madrid, IA. Northern Grapes Project publication.
lb/vine ( 8.7 t/ac), compared to 16 lb/vine (4.7 t/ http://northerngrapesproject.org/wp content/
ac) in VSP, while in ‘Marquette’, HS and VSP pro- uploads/2016/02/IA-training-study-Year-4.pdf.
duced 17 and 10 lb/vine (5 and 2.9 t/ac), respec-
tively. In addition to higher yields, vines trained Smart, R. E. (2018) Managing high wire trellis for
in the SH system had more consistent yields year improved yield and quality. The Grapevine. Nov-
to year, compared to the high variability in yields Dec, pp 54-58.Wimmer, M., Workmaster, B. and
observed in VSP. Atucha, A. 2018. Training Systems for Cold Climate
Interspecific Hybrid Grape Cultivars in Northern
The higher yields in SH resulted in a considerable Climate Regions. HortTechnology 28(2): 202-211.
reduction in vegetative vigor, which required no to
minimal hedging to control shoot growth in vigor- About The Authors
ous cultivars such as ‘Marquette’ and ‘La Crescent’,
and an overall more open canopy with a higher per- Dr. Richard Smart: is an
centage of clusters exposed to sunlight (Wimmer et Australian viticulturist and leading
al., 2018) . There were no differences in sugar and global consultant on viticulture
acid composition at harvest between the higher methods and is often referred to
yielding SH vines and those in VSP or HC, despite as “the flying vine-doctor”. He is
the significantly higher crop load of vines trained considered responsible for revolu-
to SH. Separate studies in Wisconsin have shown tionizing grape growing due to his
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