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WYNBOER GUIDELINES FOR MAY 2000
1. PLANNING
Short term
- Consult experts to draw up or review your overall farm planning.
- Confirm the cost of vineyard establishment so that the budget is not exceeded.
- Trellising, implements and tools should be fixed.
Long term
- "Guide for establishing a vineyard", a manual containing the latest technical and financial information about this subject, may be ordered from VinPro (SA) Consultation Service.
- Soil analyses will assist you in drawing up an establishment guideline for future plantings in conjunction with your viticultural consultant and cellar management so that orders for vines may be placed in good time.
- Identify problematic vineyard blocks and decide about replacement together with your viticultural consultant.
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
- Compare the actual expenditure with the budgeted expenditure on a monthly basis and make adjustments where necessary.
- If your financial year ends in June and you suspect that your tax burden may be heavy, invest in productive capital such as poles, wire, irrigation and equipment and not in vehicles or implements.
2. VINEYARD PROGRAMME
Soil preparation
- Following soil analyses by an expert, soil preparation should be done at optimal moisture conditions (not too wet or too dry) using a suitable implement. The efficiency of the soil preparation should be controlled afterwards by means of profile pits.
Pest control
- Control snails by scattering pellets just after the first autumn rains to limit the snail population, seeing that snails lay their eggs in the rainy months. The pellets should preferably be strewn in the late afternoon and be replaced every 2-3 weeks and more often after rain.
- To control nematodes a soil sample (± 30 cm deep) should be taken for nematode analysis. Root symptoms and distribution should also be checked. In established vineyards only resort to chemical control in accordance with IPW guidelines if nematodes have been identified as the cause of poor growth. In new plantings the use of nematode resistant rootstocks is recommended as the most efficient means of control in the long run. Before establishment on old vineyard soil which is being replanted, or on new soil with a high nematode population, use fumigators for chemical control in accordance with expert advice and IPW guidelines.
Winter pruning
- Pruning, which is one of the most important crop and quality control measures in vines, should not commence before at least 80% of the leaves have fallen and sufficient winter cold has occurred.
- Use well-trained labourers, especially with regard to clean pruning, so that the most important aspects such as shaping of the vine and number of buds per vine receive the necessary attention. Study the video entitled "Wintersnoei" available from VinPro (SA) Consultation Service.
- The development of young vines on vertical trellis systems is discussed in detail in the VinPro (SA) Consultation Service publication "Guides for establishing a vineyard", while "Wingerdbou in Suid-Afrika", pp. 202 - 233 covers winter pruning of adult vines, therefore a few practical tips should suffice:
Pre-pruning may be done to distribute labour more evenly, by pruning the shoots of trellised vines 30 - 40 cm from the base (brush cut).
Clean pruning also contributes to labour distribution in that all the shoots, except the bearers, are removed. These bearers are then final pruned later in the season (1 - 2 buds).
Pre- and clean pruning should preferably only be applied to vigorously growing vines and early cultivars.
Delayed budding is when fertile buds do not bud at all or bud very late, with consequent crop loss and/or poor quality grapes. This can be ascribed mainly to high minimum temperatures in May / June. Cultivars that are susceptible to delayed budding should be clean pruned and final pruned in one stage as late as possible.
General
- Grafting material for scion cultivars should be collected and cold stored for aerial grafting in November.
- Soil conservation should be undertaken by making conduits and by cleaning and repairing ditches.
- Drainage systems should be installed on wet soils which are to be planted.
- The anchors and poles of trellis systems may be planted in young vineyards, and missing wires strung in incomplete trellis systems.
- Quick grass control with systemic herbicides should still be done before pruning, taking care not to spray green vine leaves and shoots.
A more detailed version may be ordered from Gerda Kriel at (021) 807 3027.
Compiled by: VinPro (SA) Consultation Service
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