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More vigour than ever on my vines

Last year,I received some very useful comments from this Group on how to control the vigour of my vines in England(Bacchus,Schonburger,Regent,Rondo). I was advised by some to regularly put compost on the vines in the winter,and by others to leave alone.Also some recommended removing sideshoots from the verticals (Double Guyot ),some not as they help with grape ripening. Well,I put compost +balanced fertiliser on 50%,and only peat on the other 50%,and there is no discernible difference in vigour. The vines are carrying a good crop this year and I will keep as much leaf on as possible,consistent with being able to get good penetration with powdery mildew spray.However,it really is strange that the vines are flowering now,and the vertical rods are already over the top wire! My books suggest that the rods should reach the top wires in early August.This season has slightly above average temperatures,but very very low rainfall. I would really like some advice on how to reduce vigour.I should add that all my vines are from cuttings,and that they all look incredibly healthy. Hope you can help Michael

Reply to
michael
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June is typical for flowering here in California. Then, ideally, you have at least 90 days to harvest.

How tall are we talking here? These are cane pruned? You may want to prune top and sides to give a rectangular look to your vines, as this allows better penetration of sunlight and air, to keep leaves dry and protected from mold and mildew.

How old are vines?

Don't feed. Don't water, unless they become stressed.

Reply to
Billy

You can't control the rains and therefore vigor control is very difficult. You could experiment by trying to grow some on a high wire. downward growing shoots are less vigorous.

You will get a LOT more fedback by going to

Winepress.us and joining (its free)

Paul

Reply to
Paul E. Lehmann

Mussolini.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUghttp://radwisdom.com/essays/this-is-your-brain/-

I use the plastic coated twist ties but they will still slip around. I, and other growers in my area also use "C" clips. An example is here:

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I am assuming you have your catch wires on both sides of the posts and not a single wire. If so, then you just pull both wires together and put a clip on them. You can bracket about a half dozen shoots at a time and just put a clip on each end. If you need to add a shoot or rearrange, just unclip, reposition and put the clip back on.

Reply to
Paul E. Lehmann

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