Graps pruning continue..........

Methods of pruning and training:
There are two basic systems of pruning. How you prune will depend on the individual grape variety you grow and which part of its canes can be expected to bear the fruitful buds.
 
Cane Pruning
Commonly used for the Concord and other American varieties, is best suited to vines whose canes are most fruitful at a considerable distance from the base. On these vines, fairly long canes are left for fruiting wood and only the wood that is retained for renewal is cut back short.

• Select the best-placed canes for renewal and cut them back to 2 buds each.
• Select the best-quality canes for fruiting.
• Decide how many buds the whole vine should bear.
• Cut back the fruiting canes according to their vigor and size, and that of the vine.
• Remove the rest of the wood.
• Tie the vine to the trellis wire.

Spur Pruning
This method is more successful for most French hybrids since most of these varieties bear their most fruitful buds near the base of the canes. On these vines, all wood is spur-pruned, or cut back to the short spurs for both renewal and fruit production.

• Select the best-placed, most fruitful canes.
• Decide how many buds the whole vine should bear.
• Cut enough canes back to 2-bud spurs.
• Remove the rest of the wood.
• Tie the vine to the trellis wire.

When to prune
Pruning is done during the winter, while the plant is dormant. The later in the dormant season that you prune, the later new growth will begin in the spring. Temperatures as low as -10° to -15° F may result in injury to the wood and buds of most grape varieties. In cold weather the frozen wood is brittle and easily broken: therefore it is advisable not to prune until late winter or early spring. When pruning is done late in the dormant season, the canes may “bleed” or drip sap from the cut ends. This is harmful to the vines.

Summer pruning or pruning while the vine is in a green or growing state can severely weaken its development. The green parts of the plant, its leaves, manufacture its food supply. Once removed, some of the food needed for growth is also removed. If any disbudding, removal of watersprouts, or suckering is needed, complete it early enough in the growing season that it will not injure the vine. Under no circumstances should growing shoots be cut back or any other green parts of the plant be removed.

The best guide for determining how many buds to leave for fruiting is a measure of the past year's growth. Count the number of buds left the prior year and examine the canes that grew from those buds for diameter, length, and quality.

• If the canes are at or near the best size and quality for fruiting wood leave the same number of buds.
• If the canes are small too many buds were left last year. Reduce the number in this year's pruning.
• If the canes are larger than optimum or show excessive vigor of "bull" canes leave more buds than were previously left on the vine.
• If you are not sure how many buds to retain it is better to prune more severely than to underprune. Leave fewer buds especially if the vine is a weak grower. If the vine has been very vigorous retain more buds.

Apparent vigor is not always a true indication of capacity under certain conditions. For example, young blossoms may be destroyed by a late frost, insects, or disease. When this happens, the shoots have increased vigor but not because the vine was under pruned. Do not leave more buds in this case.
Keep in mind the size of the crop produced the previous year and always balance the number of buds on each cane or spur with the vigor of the cane selected for fruiting.
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graps pruning

Grapes: Pruning Techniques

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Pruning is one of the most important cultural operations in grape production because it regulates both vegetative growth and fruit production.
To properly prune a vine, you should know something about its growth and fruiting habit. The following image shows the major parts of a dormant vine after being pruned. This vine has been trained to the four-arm Kniffin system, one of several training systems used.

Pruning Terminology

  

The vines should be pruned during the dormant season, pre­ferably in March. Some things you must keep in mind are:
 

• The fruit is borne on shoots rising from one-year-old wood.
• The most productive canes are about pencil thickness (0.25-inch to 0.30-inch) and have an internodal length of five to eight inches between the fifth and sixth nodes or buds.
• The most productive buds are in the mid-portion of the cane; therefore, it is best to leave canes of 8 to 16 buds in length. Thin canes should carry fewer buds than thicker canes.
• To keep the fruiting wood close to the main trunk, leave one or two renewal spurs on or near each arm. (Cut back to short spurs leaving one to four buds).
• Prune the vine so you will maintain a balance between vegetative growth and fruit production. Where a vine is under pruned, (too many buds left) the vine will produce many small clusters of small grapes that may fail to ripen properly. If the vine is over pruned, (too few buds left) the yield will be low and the vegetative growth excessive. To "balance prune" a vine, the number of buds left is adjusted according to the amount of one-year-old wood removed in pruning.

vegitable production practices

Improved vegetable production practices

Examples of improved production techniques for major vegetable crops, tomato, cabbage, rape, onion, okra and cucurbits were discussed. The techniques covered were:-

· Land/site selection: To take into account crop adaptation to soils, climate and market considerations.· Seed/cultivar choice: Sources of seed, characteristics of good seed, advantages of using high quality seed, adaptability, market suitability, seasonal adaptation, resistance to diseases, disadvantages of using recycled seeds.
· Nursery Management: Nursery as an intensive care unit, nursery requirements - site selection, rotation, good sanitation, irrigation, fertilizer needs, pest and disease management.
· Land preparation for vegetables: Importance of good tilth, different tillage systems raised beds, farrows, flat beds, basics. Suitability of tillage systems according to season, soil types, irrigation methods respectively.
· Fertilisers: Sources of nutrients - organic (compost, green and cattle manures) and inorganic fertilizers. Nutrient requirements of vegetables to determine yields and quality. The importance of following fertiliser recommendations in relation to amounts, timing and placement. Options for improving soil fertility using green manure crops, compost and livestock manure. Handling manure and application of manure. The concept of Integrated Plant Nutrition Systems was introduced. The concept aims at maintaining or adjusting of soil fertility and plant nutrient supply to sustain a desired level of crop production. This is to be achieved through the following:

a. Balanced use of mineral fertilisers combined with organic and biological sources of plant nutrients.b. Improving and maintaing the stock of plant nutrients in the soils.
c. Improving efficiency use of plant nutrients by avoiding losses to the environment.

· Seed rates: The implications of using recommended seed rates were discussed.
· Spacing: The importance of using optimum spacings for high yields were emphasised.
· Crop rotation: The implications of good crop rotations to minimise pests and disease build up and to enhance soil fertility were discussed.
· Irrigation: The functions of water in horticultural crops were reviewed. Moisture requirements for different crops and critical growth stages to avoid moisture stress were discussed. Soil moisture management in the nursery and direct seeded crops such as okra, beans and peas. Use of mulch to conserve soil moisture.
· Staking: The importance if staking tomatoes to avoid diseases was discussed.
· Pruning: Essential to enhance fruit quality in indeterminate tomato cultivars.
· Pest and disease management: This is the biggest problem in vegetable production. Proper pest and disease identification was emphasised. A list of the major vegetable pests and diseases was presented and discussed. The concept of integrated pest management was reviewed. Integrated approach to pest/disease management involving cultural, biological, cultivar resistance and use of pesticides. Effects of cultural techniques on pests and diseases were discussed. Chemical control of vegetable pests and diseases. Judicious use of pesticide, effects of pesticides on environment and humans.
· Weeding: The importance of weeding was emphasised avoid competition for space, nutrients, water. Certain weeds like Nicandra are alternate hosts for red spidermites.
· Post harvest handling: The following were discussed: proper harvesting methods, time of harvest, care in handling of produce, use of field storage sheds, proper packaging materials, treatment of produce and grading of produce.
· Marketing of horticultural crops: Marketing decisions should be made before planting the crop. Some marketing strategies discussed include; knowing the market requirements, when to sale, timing, off-season production, formation of association for better bargaining, formation of marketing days to create awareness, market research and crop diversification.