Winter means pruning & fertilising.
No I have not been away on holidays - time just got away from me. I am back at it and I promise the blogs will appear more regularly.
Since my last post I have looked closely at the fertiliser results and have put together what I consider a comprehensive fertiliser blend based on the soil and petiole analyses. This will be applied during late August while there is still rain to wash it in and for it to be available to the vine coming out of dormancy.
The weather: For those who follow my blog you would know that I am an avid follower of all things related to the weather. During May the south west corner of W.A. recorded around 14 wet days ( a lot really!) with most falls being less than 6mm. The result was that the total for the month was about 50% of the average. June started the same way until about a week ago when weather patterns changed and we now appeaer to be in a more normal winter system. Lets hope so as heavy rainfall is need to replenish water storages and commence stream and river flows.
What’s in those buds? Similar to last year I have commenced bud dissection in order to assess the fruitfullness of the buds prior to pruning. The warm and sunny conditions during spring last year should have rsulted in an increase in the number of bunches per bud and as far as the Merlot is concerned this was borne out. The number of bunches in the basal three buds is up on average by as much as 50%. This means that I be a little harder during pruning OR be prepared for a more severe crop thinning during the season. Will have to wait and see. I have still to look at the Viognier and will let you know within a week or so.
Pruning: Last year I had started pruning by now, however this year I am thinking I will delay it a few weeks. Why? Well it has been shown that the later one prunes the better the bud burst i.e. more even.
I know a lot of growers have been pruning for many weeks now, making good use of the fine weather. While this is fine, these vines pruned so early will have a tendency to burst early which can make them susceptible to storms during spring. I realise though that growers with large vineyards have a certain amount of time in which to complete pruning and as such have to start reasonably early. I guess the old rule of “prune early ripening varieties late and late varieties early” is still a good one and would apply in most cases!
As a result I am looking at charging up my secateaurs around mid July and pruning through August. This will still give me time to fertilise, mulch and slash etc… By then the season is away again!!!!
Vineman
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