{"id":377,"date":"2009-09-16T10:34:57","date_gmt":"2009-09-16T08:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.my-grape-vine.com\/blog\/?p=377"},"modified":"2012-09-11T11:35:56","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T11:35:56","slug":"will-pruning-a-grape-vine-earlier-advance-bud-bread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.my-grape-vine.com\/blog\/will-pruning-a-grape-vine-earlier-advance-bud-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"Will pruning a grape vine earlier, advance bud break?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Being working online and offline with thousands of vineyard owners from all over the world, the past four years, I know that this question still remains a mystery.\u00a0 Well, I’m about to show you proof that early pruning will for sure influence the time of bud break.<\/p>\n

During the past dormant season, we started pruning before my staff took their annual vacation.\u00a0 We stopped pruning one of my Flame Seedless vineyards, halfway through the vineyard, when it was time for them to take their vacation.\u00a0 After two weeks, we came back and pruned the rest of the vineyard, as well as the rest of my farm.<\/p>\n

Now from the pictures below, you can clearly see that the grape vines in the section we pruned two weeks earlier, have develop more leaves and that the shoot length is much longer.<\/p>\n

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Why?<\/p>\n

The buds at the tip of the canes come out of dormancy first.\u00a0 This is the point where all the enzymes are transported to, as the sap flow in the vine increase.\u00a0 Obviously, if there are less buds on the cane, more enzymes are available per bud and therefore, the buds will break earlier.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Early pruning will not necessarily advance the harvest date.\u00a0 The later vines will catch up, as the season progress, but one thing is for sure; it absolutely does advance bud break.\u00a0 This is extremely important to know, if you live in a climate where early spring frost is a problem.\u00a0 If you prune your grape vine too early, your grape vines will break bud too early and will increase the chance of frost damage.<\/p>\n

Now the question remains: “When is the best time to prune a grape vine?”\u00a0 A rule of thumb is, to prune just before natural bud break, but this isn’t always feasible if you have acres of grape vines. \u00a0\u00a0You need to know when bud break occurs in each of the vineyards or on each of your grape vines.\u00a0 Each year, write down the dates of bud break, as this will give you more or less an idea of when you can expect it next year.\u00a0 Although the annual climate, snowfall, rain and so on, will influence the actual date of bud break, it will give you more or less an idea of when this will happen.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, pruning too late, also has it disadvantages.\u00a0 If you start pruning too late (after bud bread), you will damage the cracked buds, and new shoots that developed.\u00a0 If you damage the bud, the secondary bud will have to break to reveal a new shoot, and this will influence your crop size.<\/p>\n

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Remember; after pruning, the canes are twisted and secured around the trellis wires.\u00a0 If there are small shoots and cracked buds on this cane, you will damage them, no matter how careful you work.<\/p>\n

To sum up this article:<\/p>\n