Jeff et all

First point: This is one of the best discussions I have seen on this
News group, vis-a-vis pruning, canes, spurs, growth etc. Second: I
am glad to see that there are many who have questions related to vigor
and growth this year, as we have been having amazing growth here on
the Central Coast of California. We have the same questions.
Interestingly, as we visit vineyards in the area, it seems that all
theories of viticulture abound. Perhaps there are few "right" or
"wrong" answers.

We have internodal distances of 6 and 8 inches on the new canes!
(Spur distance is 4-5 inches) We barely finish pruning the 15th row,
and it seems as if the 1st row needs attention again. Usually we keep
our trunks clean of any kind of growth so that the energy is targeted
at the new fruit and the leaves necessary to nourish them. This year
we have left some trunk growth on the plants longer than in the past
in an attempt to slow them down a bit, and do removing them, but not
as diligently as we have in our previous 6 growing seasons.

It has been a very wet year here, and the soil is still damp a few
inches below the surface. We have had to leaf and lateral thin twice
already just to be able to see the fruit! Someone noted that taking
off leaves and laterals now was not a problem as there would be plenty
of growth to come. Absolutely our case and belief. While admittedly
a bit lax on the trunks this year, we have been a bit more aggressive
on the canopy side this year, as we see how fast the vines are
growing. The fruit crop is more plentiful than normal, and at this
point we are letting it grow to stress the plants a bit. We will drop
some later.

In all, this has been a schizophrenic growing season for us thus far,
and it has only just begun!

Regards

Jerry





"jeff" > wrote in message
...
> on fruiting canes developing a series of fruit bearing shoots, as
> well as non-fruiting shoots...should non-fruiting shoots generally
> be pinched off, or should they be left on for photosynthetic value?
>
> Jeff
>