I want to share with you a trick I use to improve the ripening & coloring of my grapes.

When you look at picture below, you will notice a gap in the growth, between the two rows (where the two slanted poles are tied together). This picture was taken at about 300mm (+- 12 inches) shoot length and is in the middle of the growing season – about two months after bud break.

In the following picture you will see that the vines covered the whole trellis system, closing the gap there was in the previous picture – we call it “the vines take hands”. As you can imagine, allowing the vines to take hands, will decrease the airflow and sunlight penetration into the vines. By now, you should know that a poorly ventilated vine is more susceptible to diseases and therefore you will have to prune away some shoots to allow a the air and sunlight into the vine.

I normally open up the vines when I see the first signs of coloring. When grapes turn color, the sugar concentration will increase dramatically over the next few week, and it is a known fact that grapes with higher sugar, will get less sunburn damage.
By opening up the canopy, you will not only improve the airflow, but the sunlight will also penetrate the vine, improving the coloring and ripening of the grapes as well. So, if you have problems with poor coloring, opening the canopy will definitely improve the coloring of your grapes.

How to open up the canopy.

When you look at the last picture, you will notice that I pruned the vines to open up the canopy. One very important thing to remember, is that you must never prune away shoots you want to use for dormant pruning during the following dormant season, especially if you cane prune. Remember, that if you cane prune, you need canes of at least 10 – 12 buds long, therefore you will have to make sure you leave enough shoot-length.

When you prune away these green shoots, make sure you remove them from the canopy!

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Filed under: growing grapes • how to grow grapes

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