When is the vine pruned? Early or late pruning?

When the first cold temperatures arrive, the winegrower doubts about the best time to prune the vine.

In general, it can be said that the most suitable period is when the plant is at rest , between the fall of the leaf, approximately in the month of November and the moment of bud break, at the beginning of spring. And it should always be done in the dormant buds dormant period.

The best time to prune is during the entire vegetative stop of the plant.

If the grape pruning is carried out before the plant comes to rest, the leaves have not sent all their carbohydrate reserves to the woody parts, thus weakening the plant and causing it to sprout late and less vigorously.

If the pruning is carried out after the plant starts sprouting, the cutting removes a large amount of the reserves already mobilized by the plant and located in the pruned organs, which delays the new sprouting and weakens the plant.

This late pruning, with the consequent delay in sprouting, carried out in a timely manner and not continuously over the years, would be interesting to avoid the damage caused by spring frosts in newly sprouted plants, and mainly in young plants.

2- When is the vine pruned in tropical climates?

In tropical climates, where there is no growth stop and the plant does not go into real rest, pruning must also be done between November and February.

In addition, different studies have determined that with a pruning at the beginning of winter (in December or January) sprouting is early and irregular, significantly reducing production, since there are buds that do not sprout.

However, pruning closer to the start of sprouting (February) achieve a more regular sprouting, somewhat later and optimal production.

3- Early and late pruning. Programming the pruning of the vine.

When to prune the vine: Even when pruning within the period of vegetative rest, there are several reasons for the vine grower to prune the vine earlier or later, but few effects are produced on the plant depending on the early (November) or late pruning. (February March).

When there is little labor and many vines to prune, the farmer schedules pruning from November to be able to finish the work before spring , taking into account that on plants that have been pruned one year early, this should be done. work the following year later and vice versa.

4- Effects of early or late pruning on the vine cycle.

Within the rest of the vine, the early pruning undergoes a slight advance of the moment of the bud break , while the late one delays it. This is due to the fact that in the early period the total accumulation of reserve substances in the perennial parts (which goes from veraison to the fall of the leaves) has not taken place, while in the late period the accumulation period has been completed.

On the other hand, the time of pruning has no influence on the productive development of the plant in the agricultural year, since the beginning of the harvest depends on the conditions of the year before the pruning is carried out.

5- Conclusions: Considerations to take into account for the organization of the vine pruning work:

The climatology and pruning of the vine:

Avoid days of fog, rain or high relative humidity. Most wood diseases ( vine tinder …) are transmitted by pruning wounds. The days with high relative humidity favor the entry through the pruning wounds of the wood fungi.

The orography of the land:

Leave the troughs and deeper areas, which are usually the coldest areas by the end of winter. In this way, we will be able to delay sprouting a bit and avoid frost in these areas.

The age of the vine plant:

It is important to prune plantations less than 3 years old as late as possible. Younger plants are more sensitive to frost and recovery from its effects. A frost does not affect a young plant the same as an adult vine, so we will delay the pruning of the young plant at the end of winter or early spring, always before the movement of sap.

The early and late varieties:

When is the vine pruned? Normally, pruning would start with the later maturing varieties and would end with the early maturing varieties. This is done to delay the sprouting of the earliest varieties and somewhat advance the sprouting of the later varieties.

The influence of the rootstock on the sprouting of the vineyard. There are some rootstocks that influence the cycle of the vine, so we would also have to take it into account:

They advance the cycle: Fercal , 161-49 , Gravessac , 3309-C , 101-14

Delay vine cycle: 333-EM , 41-B , 420-A , 110-R , Lot Rupestris

Other articles related to pruning the vine are:

• The first year, the formation of the strain. Vine formation pruning.
• Objectives of pruning.
• Pruning Guyot. Vine conduction systems.
• Trellis pruning. Royat cord.
• Pruning the vine in glass.
• Pruning the vine green. Leafless from the vine.