LEAF REMOVAL IN THE VINEYARD

SUMMER BRINGS MORE THAN JUST SUNSHINE TO THE VINEYARD. IT BRINGS WORK, AND GREEN OPERATIONS ARE NOW IN FULL SWING.

Leaf removal in the vineyard, or breaking off lateral shoots, involves removing unnecessary green parts to direct more nutrients toward the growth of berries and grapes.

Without quality grapes, there is no good winemaking. True winemakers know that numerous vineyard operations are a prerequisite for grape quality, which every winegrower expects, but even more so the cellar master, during harvest.

A series of agrotechnical measures carried out in the vineyard throughout the entire growing season share a common goal: to maintain the vineyard in good condition and produce the highest quality grapes possible.

This is difficult to achieve, as it is well known that quantity and quality are opposing factors in grape production.

On the other hand, producers must contend throughout the entire season with a range of negative factors, from diseases and pests to climatic conditions that are often poorly distributed during the growing season, along with increasingly frequent occurrences of natural disasters.

Green pruning of grapevines is an important agrotechnical measure performed during the growing season on the green parts of the vine.

It includes the following agrotechnical operations in productive vineyards:

• suckering,

• pinching,

• girdling,

• cluster thinning,

• lateral shoot removal,

• berry thinning,

• leaf removal,

• topping.

Leaf removal in the vineyard, or breaking off lateral shoots, involves removing unnecessary green parts to direct more nutrients toward the growth of berries and grapes.

Young lateral shoots are completely removed, while more developed ones are shortened to one bud to prevent damage to the winter bud or its sprouting in the same year.

This is performed several times during the growing season, depending on the vigor of vegetative growth and the intensity of lateral shoot development.