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Macomb County

In my last post, when I speculated that secondaries become "suckers" too at some point, I was eluding to the fact some growers remove every other secondary. I was also asking at what length for the remaining ones, 8 ft., 10 ft., 12 ft.?
There are those who question the need to prune in the first place. A fair question and perhaps there are growers who don't prune and get the same result by other means or methods, just not widely known and practiced at this time.
However, perhaps Mark Lombardi put pruning in perspective. Last season, he focused on growing the largest plant he could before he set and then terminated his vines slowly over a 10 day period. So not to cause a sudden shock or surge, I take it. With the result, his weights were much higher than the season before.
I hope that clears up any misunderstanding as to what I meant.

4/7/2009 6:34:19 PM

Minnesota

I have a small, genetics, test size patch, I will be doing some pruning.

4/7/2009 9:24:06 PM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

There are a few more reasons for pruning. You need to keep some open space around the vines for better air circulation to hold down fungal diseases. You also need to have enough leaf surface for a good photosynthisis "factory". Since my patch is in a deep valley with limited early morning and late evening sun, I let my plants get a little bigger than some growers. I need more leaf surface to take advantage of the sun when I do get it.

I think another reason for pruning later in the season is to get the plant to "switch gears" from growing vine to growing fruit. If you keep all of the new growth points pruned off, hopefully more of the plant's energy will go to the fruit instead of the vines.

4/8/2009 8:53:07 AM