Removing leaves on vines before pruning. Pruning grapes in autumn for beginners in pictures Is it possible to pick leaves from grapes in summer

Thinning the leaves of grapes is a very important technique, but so that it does not harm the bushes and the harvest, it must be done very carefully.

Why is it needed

Thinning out the leaves that shade the clusters accelerates the ripening of the crop, increases the accumulation of sugar in the berries, and also protects them from decay. This technique is especially effective in years with insufficient heat and frequent rains during the ripening of grapes. Thinning promotes better ventilation of the bush, which facilitates the fight against mildew, gray and white rot. Under the influence of wind and direct sunlight, the skin of the berries acquires an intense color - in white varieties, golden with a beautiful tan, in dark-colored varieties, an intensely pronounced main color.

When needed

Perform this operation before softening the berries 20-30 days before a month, before harvesting. Then the effect is most noticeable. In order not to cause burns on the berries, thinning of the leaves is carried out in the morning or evening hours, on cloudy days. In years with insufficiently warm, but damp autumn, it is recommended to thin out the leaves in late varieties, especially around the clusters. It is only necessary to remember that the leaves are needed for the normal ripening of berries and shoots and for the formation of a supply of nutrients in the organs of the bush, so this technique should not be carried away, limited only to the removal of a small part of the leaves.

How to thin out

Remove part of the leaves (5-7) near the clusters. On light ones, this is done in order to open access to sunlight to bunches of grapes to improve their color. On dark ones, they thin out a little differently - on the bushes of black grape varieties, the leaves located inside the bush are removed to give the brushes more air. This operation is best done with scissors, cutting off only the leaf blades at the place where they are attached to the cuttings.

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Many manuals on viticulture, some gardeners recommend picking off leaves from grapes. There are both fans and opponents of this operation, there are many arguments for and against. Let's try to figure out whether it is possible to remove the leaves on the grapes, for what purposes this is done and what are the contraindications of this method.

Grapes during the summer season builds up a large green mass. From each eye, 1-3 shoots can form, in addition, summer shoots give stepchildren from axillary buds. Clusters of grapes are inside a huge mass of shoots and leaves. As a result, the clusters are poorly ventilated - they do not dry out for a long time after rain, their susceptibility to fungal diseases increases. Once in the shade, the berries take longer to gain color, do not accumulate the prescribed amount of sugars, and berries of late varieties often do not have time to ripen before the onset of autumn frosts.

To eliminate these problems, growers apply the following actions:

pruning (breaking out) of excess shoots;
removal of stepchildren;
pinching the tops of the shoot at the end of summer (chasing shoots);
removal of leaves around bunches of grapes.

When it comes to the timing of leaf removal, gardeners answer these questions in different ways. They call different times when to cut off the leaves of the grapes - from the moment the ovary is dried to the beginning of the coloring of the berries. Some growers begin to remove the leaves around the clusters immediately after flowering.

Leaf removal methods are also formulated differently: cut off the lower leaves to accelerate the growth of the ovary, cut off the leaves above the clusters to improve lighting. There are gardeners who even pluck foliage when signs of disease are found.

Meanwhile, the unwise removal of leaves from grapes weakens the bushes. Leaves are a kind of photosynthesis factory that produces the necessary elements for the production of crops. When we cut off the leaves of grapes in large numbers, we deprive the bush and ripening clusters of food. Thus, we reduce the yield and worsen its quality, and also delay the maturation of the vine by the winter cold.

So, cutting off the leaves of the grapes, we must clearly understand the purpose for which we are doing this. The methods and timing of summer operations depend on this.

What are the leaves for?

Expediency

Grape leaf productively "works" no more than 70 days. After 100 days, old leaves spend much more useful substances on maintaining their vital functions than they produce themselves. The lower leaves of the shoot are cut off, since they no longer support the filling of the bunch, but, on the contrary, take away strength from young shoots and berries.

“Each leaf has its own time and the lower leaves from the brush are already “retired” and do not work for the bunch. Therefore, if the general shoot allows, I remove the lower leaves”

G.V. Belikova

According to Galina Belikova, before the grapes bloom, the first five leaves from the base of the shoot "work" for the inflorescence. After flowering, the brush is fed another 6-7-8th leaves. However, at the beginning of the ripening of berries, from the 14-18 leaves on the shoot, the first four no longer work for the ripening of the bunch, and by the end of ripening, only the 5-18th leaf works for the harvest. After harvesting, only the top 8 - 18 leaves are actively working.

Airing the bush

Air exchange inside the grape bush is a necessary condition for maintaining the health of the plant. Thickened bushes are strongly affected by mildew, oidium, gray rot and other infections. Fungal infections are especially dangerous in rainy cloudy summers. Leaf picking is combined with pinching and chasing shoots. As a result, the conditions for growing clusters are improved - sun exposure, ventilation. There is a saying among winegrowers: "In a good vineyard you can not hide in the summer."

Pollination improvement

Some dessert cultivars with a functionally female flower type tend to pea when underpollinated. Before flowering on such varieties, part of the leaves around the clusters are removed to improve wind pollination.

Cluster ripening

Grape clusters gain color and sugar faster when exposed to sunlight. Some cultivars simply cannot achieve the required varietal coloration without adequate sun exposure. Light grape varieties in the sun acquire a characteristic golden "tan". For them, leaf picking is carried out over a bunch, opening the berries to the sun's rays. Grapes of dark varieties are clarified differently: cutting the leaves around the clusters in order to improve ventilation.

Grapes of late varieties (Biruintsa, Italy, Ataman and some others) also require the removal of leaves to speed up ripening. Most of all, leaf pruning is needed in a cool and damp autumn.

Facilitate harvest

In industrial vineyards, chemical defoliation of bushes is used, since the harvest of grapes of technical varieties is harvested in a mechanized way. For this, special defoliants are used. Amateur gardeners do not need extra "chemistry", so we will not consider them.

Preparing bushes for winter

In the northern regions of viticulture, grape bushes are prepared for the coming cold and shelter for the winter. The meaning of preparation is to accelerate the ripening of the vine, the redistribution of nutrients in the tissues of the shoots. To do this, from the end of August, they begin to gradually cut off the lower leaves, while pinching the tops of the shoots. Two weeks before sheltering, when yellowing, the foliage can be completely removed.

How to properly pick grape leaves

For a more complete ripening of berries, it is recommended to cut off the leaves 20-30 days before the grapes ripen. At this time, the clusters are already fully formed, the berries are gaining full size.
The operation is best done with scissors or secateurs. A small part of the leaf petiole is left, subsequently it disappears on its own.
We cut off 5-7 leaves located around the bunch.
Leaf removal is carried out in the evening or early morning hours, so as not to expose the clusters to sunburn.
To prepare the bushes for winter, the leaves begin to be removed at the end of August - September, and finish by the time the leaves turn yellow.

How not to remove leaves

Grape leaves are undesirable to remove in the middle of the day at lunchtime. At this time, the berries can get sunburned. Some growers recommend removing the leaves gradually over several days to allow the bunches to get used to the increased light.
Tearing off the leaves, you can not leave wounds on the vine, they serve as a gateway for infection.
Winegrowers in the southern regions give their arguments against the removal of leaves. Under the hot sun of the Crimea and the south of the Kuban, berries are “baked”, especially light varieties. Therefore, the leaves are removed only from the bottom of the clusters. Vine growers of the northern zone, in most cases, are in favor of leaf picking, because summer in central Russia is much shorter.
In summer, you can not remove all the foliage from the shoot, exposing the bush! Being carried away by the operation, we do not forget that grape leaves feed the crop and the entire bush as a whole. Above the bunch for its nutrition should be at least 8-13 leaves.
Some growers start removing leaves from grapes when they see signs of mildew or other diseases. In no case should this be done, because cutting off the foliage weakens an already diseased bush.

Summing up all the pros and cons, each gardener decides for himself whether it is necessary to remove the leaves from the grapes and in what quantity. It is necessary to approach this agricultural technique with knowledge of the biology of grapes, reasonably and responsibly. The main thing that should not be forgotten is that picking grape leaves does not make sense if other agrotechnical methods of cultivation are not followed: thinning shoots, removing stepchildren, tying shoots and chasing them. But a well-groomed vineyard even aesthetically benefits from the removal of excess leaves.

In order for the vine to successfully bear fruit for many years, every gardener must know the intricacies of caring for the crop. This science is not simple, but fascinating, having become acquainted with it, it is easy to achieve unsurpassed results. Is it necessary to cut off the leaves on the grapes when it can be done?

An overgrown vine bush should be freed from excess leaves.

Why are leaves removed?

So that the results of labor are not in vain, and every autumn the vine pleases with a rich harvest, it is necessary to provide the bush with proper care throughout the growing season, therefore, removing the leaves, they pursue several goals.

Sufficient lighting

Grapes are a sun-loving culture, without it it is difficult for a plant to exist:

the kidneys will not tie;
it will be impossible to reap a good harvest;
in the shade, the susceptibility of the shrub to diseases increases;
berries in low light will remain sour and tasteless.

Therefore, grapes are placed in the most illuminated areas, and if you plant it under the arch of fruit trees, this means death for the plant. When the sun's rays fall on the fruits themselves, ripening occurs faster, the flow of nutrients from the green mass is stimulated.

leaf aging

From the point of view of a specialist vine grower, he explains the need to remove excess leaves with a scientific approach:

A grape leaf actively lives and develops for 70, maximum 100 days. All this time, he is responsible for the synthesis of substances in the plant, for its nutrition.
After this period, the existence of old leaves ceases to be appropriate. They begin to take strength from the bush, consume a huge amount of components important for life.

Grape leaves older than 70 days do not benefit the vine

Sanitary measures

Ventilation for the bush is an important factor in the health of grapes. If you do not remove the leaves on time, gray rot, mildew and other fungal and bacterial infections spread quickly enough on the shrub. This is important in rainy and cool summers, the greens are also cut at the bottom of the vine.

When the autumn is cool with a lot of rain, late grape varieties in the south - Italy, Biruintsa, Vierul-59 or Crimson Seeds also require thinning of greens.

Variety and removal of leaves

Care depends on the grape variety:

For light varieties, good illumination of the fruit is of great importance, the green mass is removed so that sunlight gives them the opportunity to receive more rays and heat, from which their color acquires a rich golden hue. The leaves are cut directly around the clusters.
For dark species, bush aeration is more important. Therefore, they clean the greens, a little differently.

Black grapes love the movement of air between the bunches.

When to cut leaves

The procedure for removing foliage is a crucial moment, it is important to carry it out correctly, otherwise you can damage the plant, weaken it and lose some of the fruit.

The leaves are not cut off at lunchtime, when the sun is at its zenith.
To avoid burns on the bunches, it is preferable to carry out the procedure in the evening, you can choose a cloudy day.
All foliage at once, do not remove. Once every 2 days it is allowed to remove no more than three leaves. So it is easier for the berries to adapt to increased lighting, and the bush will have time to recover.
Manipulations are carried out with secateurs or scissors, cutting off the plates at the base near the stalk. If you do this with your hands, you can damage healthy organs, they can easily penetrate the infection, and this will damage the health of the vine. The tools carry out the operation carefully, without much damage to the plant tissue, do not deform the shoots, the cut remains even and tightens quickly.
Thin out the leaves before the berries soften about a month before harvesting, then the result will be most pronounced.
In cold, damp autumn, the leaves are first removed around the clusters. Only 5-7 pieces are removed.
On dark varieties, the leaves are cut off inside the bush for ventilation.

If experience is not enough, then the advice of a gardener with experience will help, you can also watch videos on the Internet. After all, the fruiting of the shrub, its ability to produce a crop depends on this.

You need to cut off the leaves a month before the grapes ripen.

Grape defoliation

The term refers to the elimination of part of the leaves of the plant with the help of chemical pesticides. In grapes, defoliation has been applied not so long ago, but today it is recognized as expedient. Sometimes a partial processing of the shrub is carried out, but sometimes it is done completely. It is used for the purpose of:

On covering varieties, it is used to speed up the start of pruning a bush in order to have time to prepare it for winter.
Partial, designed to remove leaves at the bottom. When they begin to turn yellow, photosynthesis processes in them decrease, in order to reduce the load, they are removed.
Sometimes used for harvesting bunches with the help of equipment.
In nurseries, the method is used when it is required to dig up seedlings from a school or scions on mother bushes are treated with a solution.
This is done for the successful harvesting of cuttings before frost. Naked seedlings are easier to dig up and plant for the winter. So they are better stored and less susceptible to the development of the fungus.

Usually sodium chlorate is used. For seedlings, a 1% solution concentration is suitable, and for adult bushes, about 1.5% and even 2.5% are suitable. Processing is carried out in the early morning of the days 10 or 2 weeks before digging or harvesting the fruits.

Defoliation is suitable for areas with harsh climates, and is also used in the south to increase the production of sugars in some varieties.

Sodium chlorate is used for chemical defoliation

Additional activities

But cutting off the leaves alone is not enough to achieve the goal and collect a decent harvest, it is necessary to mint the shoots and remove the stepchildren, because, having got rid of only the leaves, the berries will not be able to fully use the benefits that the gardener provides them.

Leaf minting

Chasing is the removal of the tops of the shoots along with the leaves. This will give more room for the nutrients to penetrate the fruit, making the vine strong and able to survive if the weather doesn't stay warm enough. With a timely procedure, if even a small part of the green shoots is cut off, the photosynthesis of the bush will improve significantly. Above the top bunch leave at least 9, maximum 13 leaves. This is best done 2 or 3 weeks before the grapes ripen. If you carry out the procedure earlier, it can harm the shrub.

Excess vine is removed along with the leaves.

Removal of stepchildren

In the summer, stepchildren are also removed - shoots developing from the side, in the axils of the leaves. If they are not removed, they will grow and form new shoots that will shade and thicken the bush, take away strength from the fruit-bearing branches. Stepchildren are cut one and a half cm above the first sheet. If you remove it at the base, it will grow back very quickly. Events are held every week, when examining a bush, revealing new shoots.

When removing leaves, it should be remembered that the measure is important, and it is impossible to fanatically cut off the entire green mass.

Without it, the bush will not be able to fully exist, it is the keeper of the stock of all the important components of the life of the bush. It is enough to eliminate a small part, otherwise the berries will not be able to fully ripen, they will not be sweet.

An overgrown vine bush should be freed from excess leaves.

Why are leaves removed?

Sufficient lighting

Grapes are a sun-loving culture, without it it is difficult for a plant to exist:

the kidneys will not tie;
it will be impossible to reap a good harvest;
in the shade, the susceptibility of the shrub to diseases increases;
berries in low light will remain sour and tasteless.

leaf aging

From the point of view of a specialist vine grower, he explains the need to remove excess leaves with a scientific approach:

A grape leaf actively lives and develops for 70, maximum 100 days. All this time, he is responsible for the synthesis of substances in the plant, for its nutrition.
After this period, the existence of old leaves ceases to be appropriate. They begin to take strength from the bush, consume a huge amount of components important for life.

Grape leaves older than 70 days do not benefit the vine

Sanitary measures

When the autumn is cool with a lot of rain, late grape varieties in the south - Italy, Biruintsa, Vierul-59 or Crimson Seeds also require thinning of greens.

Variety and removal of leaves

Care depends on the grape variety:

For light varieties, good illumination of the fruit is of great importance, the green mass is removed so that sunlight gives them the opportunity to receive more rays and heat, from which their color acquires a rich golden hue. The leaves are cut directly around the clusters.
For dark species, bush aeration is more important. Therefore, they clean the greens, a little differently.

Black grapes love the movement of air between the bunches.

When to cut leaves

The procedure for removing foliage is a crucial moment, it is important to carry it out correctly, otherwise you can damage the plant, weaken it and lose some of the fruit.

The leaves are not cut off at lunchtime, when the sun is at its zenith.
To avoid burns on the bunches, it is preferable to carry out the procedure in the evening, you can choose a cloudy day.
All foliage at once, do not remove. Once every 2 days it is allowed to remove no more than three leaves. So it is easier for the berries to adapt to increased lighting, and the bush will have time to recover.
Manipulations are carried out with secateurs or scissors, cutting off the plates at the base near the stalk. If you do this with your hands, you can damage healthy organs, they can easily penetrate the infection, and this will damage the health of the vine. The tools carry out the operation carefully, without much damage to the plant tissue, do not deform the shoots, the cut remains even and tightens quickly.
Thin out the leaves before the berries soften about a month before harvesting, then the result will be most pronounced.
In cold, damp autumn, the leaves are first removed around the clusters. Only 5-7 pieces are removed.
On dark varieties, the leaves are cut off inside the bush for ventilation.

You need to cut off the leaves a month before the grapes ripen.

Grape defoliation

On covering varieties, it is used to speed up the start of pruning a bush in order to have time to prepare it for winter.
Partial, designed to remove leaves at the bottom. When they begin to turn yellow, photosynthesis processes in them decrease, in order to reduce the load, they are removed.
Sometimes used for harvesting bunches with the help of equipment.
In nurseries, the method is used when it is required to dig up seedlings from a school or scions on mother bushes are treated with a solution.
This is done for the successful harvesting of cuttings before frost. Naked seedlings are easier to dig up and plant for the winter. So they are better stored and less susceptible to the development of the fungus.

Defoliation is suitable for areas with harsh climates, and is also used in the south to increase the production of sugars in some varieties.

Sodium chlorate is used for chemical defoliation

Additional activities

Leaf minting

Excess vine is removed along with the leaves.

Removal of stepchildren

When removing leaves, it should be remembered that the measure is important, and it is impossible to fanatically cut off the entire green mass.

The bushes are already ready for bed, on some the leaves are even turning yellow - rice. 1, it's time to do the leaf removal work. Science says that after the leaves are removed, the nutrition accumulated in the annual vines moves to the perennial branches and root system. It takes approximately ten days to complete this process. About two weeks before pruning the bushes, I remove the leaves on the bushes.

Video - Removing leaves before pruning
Some tips for doing work - from practice.
It is before the removal of the leaves that it is best to harvest cuttings for grafting or for growing seedlings. It was at this time, before the leaves were removed, in the annual mature vines that the bushes accumulated the maximum amount of nutrients that are very useful for cuttings for growing roots and green shoots after planting in the soil.
The soil under my vineyard is mulched - fig. 2. For making
top dressing, I pre-clean the mulch. I feed the bushes with humus. Since I do not dig the soil under the bushes, I spread the humus over the surface. Humus scattered over the surface must be covered to reduce the loss of nutrients from the humus, which can simply evaporate. Here I cover it with a layer of mulch. In addition, the leaves that I will pick from the vines are also left under the bushes. They are very easily blown away by the wind. To prevent this from happening, I also cover the leaves with a layer of mulch. Here, to perform these works, you must first remove the mulch.
So, in order.

First, I move the mulch layer to the side, freeing the soil under the plane of the trellis, on which I will remove the leaves - fig. 3. I add superphosphate to the freed surface, scatter a layer of humus. Then I pluck the leaves from the vines and lay them on top of the humus, fig. 4, after which I cover them with a layer of mulch - fig. 5 At the same time, I remove the mulch from the area where I will lay the vines to cover the winter. Here, the applied fertilizers have to be buried in the soil. I do it either with a cultivator or
I dig the soil shallow with a shovel.
If top dressing is applied annually on the soil surface, when performing irrigation or rainwater, the food will constantly be washed deeper, gradually reaching the roots.
In autumn, fertilizing is introduced that does not move very quickly in the soil - phosphorus, magnesium. By spring, they will just reach the depth of the roots. The main supplier of nitrogen is humus, which can be applied both in autumn and in spring. It is more convenient for me to do this in the fall - in the spring there is already enough work.
I just break the leaves off with my hands. Along with the leaves, unripe stumps from stepchildren are also easily removed. Only “bouquets” of stepchildren that grew here all summer remain at the top of the plane - fig. 6. I remove them separately by cutting with scissors. Such pieces of vine decompose poorly in the soil, so I burn them at the stake.
After completing the work, the vines remain clean, ready for pruning - fig.
7. Once again I draw your attention - this is clearly visible in the photo - to the absence of stumps from stepchildren on the vines. I remind you that I completely remove stepchildren on vertical shoots. I leave stepchildren, growth points on the tops, so that the shoots have somewhere to continue growing, and with the right balance of nutrition, no awakening of “wintering buds” occurs.
I leave the leaves under the bushes, regardless of the presence of damage from diseases on them. Decomposition under a layer of mulch will also destroy the beginnings of pathogens on the leaves, and this will not affect the degree of disease of the bushes - this is my opinion. In addition, in addition to leaves, there are enough sources of infection in the vineyard, and diseased leaves will not play a special role here - this is not summer.