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RECENT ARTICLES | WYNBOER HOME
WYNBOER GUIDELINES
FOR APRIL 2001
1 PLANNING
Short term
- Evaluate block records and decide which blocks have to be replaced. Select scions and rootstocks in collaboration with your cellar manager and/or viticultural consultant as well as market trends.
- Confirm vine orders for 2001 with nursery.
- Order herbicide timeously for application on berm area, calibrate spraying pump and ensure that pruning shears are in a good condition.
Long term
- Decide on plant widths, irrigation and trellis system for new plantings in collaboration with viticultural consultant and order the required material.
- Sow a cover crop in autumn on soil that must be trenched after the winter so that optimum soil moisture content may be reached earlier for soil preparation. If contractor does not show up in good time, spray the cover crop and cut down with a slasher to conserve ground water for later in the season.
- Order vines for 2001 plantings from a registered nursery.
Financial
Contact VinPro (SA) agricultural economists for information about:
- Purchase of additional land or farm evaluation
- Feasibility studies and breakeven analyses
- Establishment planning and cost
- Budgets and cash flow statements
Arrange financing for vineyard establishment and order trellis and irrigation equipment.
Compile a budget and cash flow statement for the coming production year.
Compare the budgeted expenditure with the actual expenditure on a monthly basis and make adjustments if required.
2 VINEYARD PROGRAMME
Complete the post-harvest programme by following the March guidelines.
Disease and pest control
- Where late oidium or downy mildew infestations occur, a post-harvest spraying programme is essential to keep leaves active for building up of reserves.
- For optimum establishment young vines in particular must be kept disease free.
- Nematode control may still be applied to older vineyards.
- Monitor mealybug infestations and mark infested vines for effective control in winter months according to IPW guidelines.
- Control snails just after the first autumn rains to limit snail populations, seeing that snails lay their eggs in the rainy months.
Post-harvest fertilisation
- The important post-harvest fertilisation, especially with regard to N, must be based on the vigour of the vines. Overprolific vineyards do not receive any N-fertiliser. In intensive irrigation areas, wait 3 – 4 weeks before applying fertiliser to prevent regrowth.
- Only fertilise required elements since mixtures are in many cases unnecessary. Phosphate and potassium application, as well as liming of low pH soils (< 5,5), must be done in accordance with soil analyses.
- Weed control of perennial weeds such as quick grass must be controlled by spot spraying with systemic herbicides. Be careful not to spray the green parts of the vine.
Post-harvest irrigation
- A post-harvest irrigation to thoroughly drench the full root depth is recommended for the uptake of post-harvest fertilisation, while also stimulating root growth and the building up of reserves.
- Since young vines grow actively until late autumn, irrigation should not be neglected.
Sowing of cover crops
- To produce the desired amount of dry material, a cover crop must be sown as early as possible in April.
- A winter cover crop prevents erosion, improves the soil structure, limits the leaching of nutrients, controls annual weeds and improves microbe life in the soil. The availability of various wheat cover crops such as rye, triticale, oats, Saia oats and barley means that the right cover crop for your specific soil type must be selected in conjunction with your viticultural consultant.
- After the application of fertiliser according to soil demands, a shallow seed bed for the sowing of the cover crop is prepared before harrowing the seed into the soil.
Uprooting of old vines
- Vineyards that are past their prime are uprooted after the harvest. Remove as much as possible of the old vine roots to reduce survival chances of harmful soil borne pests such as nematodes.
Young vines
- Install anchors and plant poles in young vineyards that must be trellised.
New soils
- Prepared soils that are to be planted this year, sandy soils in particular, must now be fumigated against nematodes in accordance with the requirements for fumigation.
- To limit erosion, establish a cover crop on soils that were prepared in winter for planting in the growing season.
- Once the cover crop appears, demarcate vineyard rows and spray a broad berm area ± 3 weeks before planting the vines. As an alternative, rows may be demarcated now and the cover crop sown in the work rows only.
- To prevent recompaction of prepared soil, limit tractor movement to the absolute minimum.
A more detailed version may be ordered from Mrs Gerda Kriel at 021-8073027.
Compiled by: VinPro (SA) Consultation Services
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