Pruning Update
Going with the flow to combat trunk disease SOPHIE PREECE
UNIMPEDED SAP movement is crucial for a healthy vine, but often foiled by pruning techniques, says Simonit & Sirch master pruner Mia Fischer. “I’d like you to start thinking of the vine as a living thing”, she told a group of growers eagerly huddled mid-row in Marlborough recently, when she visited for a workshop and pruning demonstration. Fischer emphasised the need to ensure vascular health from the root up, using a controlled branching structure, small cuts and protective wood to minimise and mitigate the impact
of desiccation. The objective was to reestablish uniformity, improve quality and production, extend vine age and reduce susceptibility to trunk disease, by respecting the vine‘s own natural defence mechanism, taking into consideration the area allocated for it to grow into in its lifetime, she said. “Year-on-year pruning results in desiccation - the quality and quantity is determined by the pruner with each cut annually made to the plant structure.” Simonit & Sirch is an Italian training and consultancy company that has spent more
Small cuts require only secateurs.
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NZ WINEGROWER OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
than 30 years researching vine health and longevity via winter pruning and spring shoot thinning. Its pruning model is based on the formation of a sturdy branching structure and incorporating cut separation by keeping cuts on one side of the vine in cane pruning , so that sap can flow unimpeded on the other. Once growers had forged the desired structure, decisionmaking became simple, with an established procedure for where year-on-year pruning cuts could be made, she said. The quantity of cuts needed would be
reduced to a minimum, speeding up the process in winter and spring. “It’s a clear message for the pruner and the plants, so it is a lot easier.” Fischer wielded Felco 13 Secateurs as she demonstrated in the Farmlands/Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative Innovation Vineyard, and turned down offers of larger loppers to take out canes, explaining that no one should need them for a well-structured vine. Small cuts reduce desiccation (dead wood) and heal sooner, putting less pressure on the plant and providing a