Ongoing Vineyard Tasks

01 Jul Ongoing Vineyard Tasks

Next on the lineup in the vineyard:  shoot tucking, leaf removal, and weed removal.

Shoot Tucking:

Both sides of the trellis now have three catch wires for the shoots to climb up into the canopy. More frequently than not, the shoots miss the next catch wire and begin making their way into the row middles. It is our job to remedy the situation by “tucking” the shoots between the catch wires so they can continue to progress upward.  The longer you let them grow outside of the trellis, the worse it can get.  Thus, it is important to address this issue as soon as possible and as frequently as possible.

Leaf Removal:

Pinot Noir, a tightly clustered grape variety can be a bit more susceptible to disease pressure, especially after the normal rainfall that we receive in the Finger Lakes.  Thus, removing the leaves in the fruit zone is advantageous for better spray protection, better sunlight penetration to ripen and dry the fruit, and better air drainage to keep moisture accumulation to a minimum.

Weed Removal:

While we are working this close to the ground, we will also remove the weeds that would be competing for the same nutrients.  We don’t use herbicides, so this is quite a manual process.  We want to eliminate them as quickly as possible – the longer we let the weeds go, the greater the chance that they would grow into the canopy and block out the fruit from the appropriate amount of sunlight.