Index
What is a vine trellis?
A vine trellis is a support to support and drive the vine plant , as it is not capable of supporting its own weight as they grow.
Advantages of the trellis vine:
The greatest advantage of trellised vineyards is that they allow the mechanization of the cultivation , (and therefore a very important saving in labor), since there are no branches that hang between the streets, the machinery can circulate without stepping on or breaking shoots at any time of the growing cycle.
Other advantages of trellising are:
– Greater leaf surface : therefore a higher concentration of sugars.
– Ease of handling in pruning . Possibility of mechanizing part of the pruning process with pre-pruning. On the trellis in line.
-Easy to introduce green pruning , trimming and clusters thinning.
– Ease of harvesting , even manual, since the bunches are all at a height around the waist.
-Possibility of mechanized harvesting.
-Ease of handling phytosanitary products. The treatments are less necessary and more effective.
-Reduction of the risk of fungal diseases (mildew for example) due to the better aeration of the plant and the fruit.
-The chlorophyll function is intensified, therefore, the ripening of the grape is improved as the bunch receives the sun’s rays more directly, obtaining healthier and sunnier fruits.
-Allows a better use of the soil in relation to the traditional system (greater number of plants per unit area).
-The resistance of the plants to the action of the wind and other weather accidents is increased, reducing the damage caused by breakage and the risk of burns in bunches.
-Significant savings in labor , providing a much more comfortable work by leaving the strains at a suitable height so that the work can be carried out with greater perfection and speed.
-The fertilizer in trenches is facilitated as well as the possibility of eliminating weeds using herbicides.
All these advantages make the quality of the grape and therefore of the wine much higher.
Parts of the vineyard trellis:
There are many ways to mount a trellis or trellis, but the purpose is the same: the conduction of the aerial parts of the vineyard.
Basically we can distinguish between two types, the vine and the trellis in line. Typically (though not necessarily) vine is used in warm areas for table grapes and in-line training is often used for winemaking varieties.
A trellis line is basically made up of:
– Two head or end posts , one at the beginning and one at the end of each row, which are about 40 cm longer than the intermediate ones and are stronger, as they will withstand significant tension. They are usually nailed with an inclination of about 60º.
– Intermediate posts that will normally be placed every 5 vines or every 6 meters. They are not as strong as the extremes. All the intermediate posts are drilled, along their entire length, at a distance that will allow us to place the wires at different heights depending on the vegetative growth of the vine at that time.
– Wire strand for the vine formation phase and another for vegetation (they can be 2, 3 or 4 strands). The thread can be from 0.2mm to 0.6mm depending on the type of load it will bear. Normally those for formation are 0.4 / 0.6mm and those for vegetation 0.4 / 0.2mm.
Recommendations for the material and assembly of the trellis.
-All the materials used must be galvanized to increase both resistance and durability to the elements.
– The tension must not be excessive. The forming wire should be taut, but not the vegetation wire.
-You can place a wire to hold the irrigation rubber .
Some diagrams of the mounting of trellises:
