Shoot Thinning Grapes

By Kathryn Carter, Fruit Specialist (Tender Fruit and Grape), OMAFRA

Thinning grapes is the first canopy practice of the growing season. After bud break, the grape vine canopy can become very crowded with excess shoots emerging from latent buds in the cordon in spur trained systems; and unproductive or poorly positioned shoots growing in cane-pruned systems. Shoot thinning reduces the canopy density resulting in:

• better air movement resulting in reduced disease pressure and improved drying and fungicide penetration.
• reduction in fruit shading, resulting in improved sunlight exposure to fruit and improved bud fruitfulness.
• improved balance of vegetative growth and fruit production (ie. Increased leaf area to crop ratio by removing non-fruitful shoots)
• reduction in shoot density and number of clusters per vine, which helps to moderate the crop yield and bring the vine closer to “balance”

Shoot thinning impact on grape quality

There are increased costs associated with shoot thinning grapes, so growers must balance the benefits of shoot thinning with the associated costs. The impact of shoot thinning on grape/wine quality appear to be less consistent than the benefits listed above.  Research has shown that berry, must, and wine composition of Pinot noir and Cabernet franc were impacted by shoot thinning, however these differences did not have a significant impact on the sensory attributes (Reynolds et al, 2005). In contrast other researchers have demonstrated that shoot thinning can improve fruit quality and sensory perception for other vinifera cultivars such as Sauvignon blanc (Noar et al., 2002).

With grape hybrids, research suggests that shoot thinning of some hybrid varieties resulted in increased fruit sugar accumulation, but not in others (Morris et al., 2004). While other research found inconsistent results in the impact of shoot thinning on grape and wine quality as determined by Brix, pH, titratable acidity (TA), wine anthocyanin, berry and wine tannin content (Sun et al., 2011). With some grape varieties (particularly hybrids), the costs of shoot thinning may not outweigh the benefits to grape and wine quality, especially for hybrids that do not command a high market value. However, in some cases the benefits of reduced disease pressure that results from shoot thinning may justify the costs.

Timing for shoot thinning

Shoot thinning is done early in the growing season, when shoots are approximately 5 to 6 “ long (fruitful and non-fruitful shoots can be identified) and are not more than 10-12” long (approximately 10 days apart). Shoot thinning should be timed after the date of last expected frost, so that secondary or non-damaged primary shoots can be retained in the event of a late spring frost.  Avoid shoot thinning before inflorescences are visible (0.8 inch to 4 inches), as doing so may result in increased vigour of the remaining shoots and lateral shoot growth, negating the benefits of shade reduction.  If shoot thinning is performed too late (shoots are longer than 12”), shoots become lignified at the base and are difficult to remove. If late shoot thinning is necessary, pruning shears should be used to reduce the risk of damaging the arm of the vine. It also takes more time to thin longer shoots, resulting in increased labour costs.

Literature suggests that shoot thinning regardless of timing (pre or post bloom) can reduce leaf layer numbers (Reynolds et al. 1994). Thinning after bloom appeared to be superior to early season thinning in terms of leaf layer number, leaf exposure, cluster exposure, and reduction of lateral shoot growth. Delaying shoot thinning has been shown to have positive impacts on canopy microclimate, but these effects are not of a great enough magnitude to influence wine quality (Reynolds et al., 2005).

Spacing and Density

Grape vine genotype, soil, and climate are all factors influencing vine vigour potential and capacity to ripen a crop. All of these factors, affect the number of shoots to retain at thinning. In addition; the crop load, health of the vine, and markets all play an important role in deciding how many shoots to leave on a vine.

• Vinifera: For vinifera cultivars it is recommended to leave 4 to 5 shoots per linear foot of canopy or one shoot every 2-4 inches. The general rule of thumb is to retain fewer shoots in red varieties and more in white varieties. However, other factors (i.e., cultivar disease susceptibility) should be taken into consideration.
• Hybrid: Shoot thinning is an effective and inexpensive method for reducing yields and increasing canopy openness in hybrids prone to over cropping (Reynolds, 1989). Hybrid varieties that are trained on high-wire systems can have somewhat higher shoot numbers depending on variety, while native varieties like Concord can have as many as 15 shoots per row in highly productive vineyards.

In addition to the number of shoots, the position of the shoots along the cordon is important. Ideally, the shoots retained should be equally spaced to promote a uniform, balanced canopy.

Determining which shoots to remove

Remove weak, non-fruitful shoots especially if they grow in crowded areas of the canopy. Secondary and tertiary shoots can be removed if a primary health shoot has emerged. Remove shoots arising from the trunk which are not retained for renewal wood (i.e. new trunks, canes or cordons).

Shoot thinning a grape vine

 The future of shoot thinning

Dr. Terry Bates from the Cornell University is studying methods to improve the efficiency of grape production using sensors and digital technologies.  Dr. Bates is using NDVI sensors to map the early shoot growth in a vineyard, and then using sensor data to guide a mechanical shoot thinning machine to remove shoots at different rates depending on the density of the early canopy. This strategy provides the opportunity for growers to reduce their labour costs and adapt their management practices to address the natural variation in the vineyard, rather than managing it as one uniform block. Dr Bates will be providing more information on his research at the Shaulis Symposium and the ASEV-ES annual meeting in Geneva this summer. Visit www.asev-es.org for more information.

Conclusion

Shoot thinning is strongly recommended for vinifera cultivars growing in the Mid-Atlantic region. The only exception may be in vineyards that have low or moderate vigour. Although hybrids are not thinned as heavily, thinning can play an important role in reducing over-cropping.

Resources

Shoot Thinning. (2019). [Blog] UGA Extension Viticulture Blog. Available at:https://site.extension.uga.edu/viticulture/2019/04/shoot-thinning/ [Accessed 30 May 2019].

 Efficient Vineyard variable rate mechanical shoot thinning in a California Central Coast Pinot Noir vineyard.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYObKB43hLI

Walter-Peterson, H. (2013). Shoot Thinning: Good for the vines, but good for the wines?. [ebook] New York Grapes Program. Available at:http://nygpadmin.cce.cornell.edu/pdf/submission/pdf75_pdf.pdf [Accessed 30 May 2019].

References

Morris, J. (2004). Flower Cluster and Shoot Thinning for Crop Control in French-American Hybrid Grapes. AJEV, 55(4), pp.423-426.

Naor, A., Gal, Y. and Bravdo, B. (2002). Shoot and Cluster Thinning Influence Vegetative Growth, Fruit Yield, and Wine Quality of `Sauvignon blanc’ Grapevines. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 127(4), pp.628-634.

Reynolds, A. (1989). Riesling vines respond to cluster thinning and shoot density manipulation. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 114, pp.364-368.

Reynolds, A. (1994). Shoot density affects Riesling grapevines: I. Vine performance. J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci, 119 pp.874-880.

Reynolds, A., Molek, T. and De Savigny, C. (2005). Timing of Shoot Thinning in Vitis vinifera: Impacts on Yield and Fruit Composition Variables. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 56, pp.343-356.

Smith, M. (2017). Early season grapevine canopy management, Part I: Shoot thinning. [Blog] Wine & Grapes U.. Available at:https://psuwineandgrapes.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/early-season-grapevine-canopy-management-part-i-shoot-thinning/ [Accessed 30 May 2019].

Sun, Q., Sacks, G., Lerch, S. and Vanden Heuvel, J. (2011). Impact of Shoot Thinning and Harvest Date on Yield Components, Fruit Composition, and Wine Quality of Marechal Foch. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 62(1), pp.32-41.

Sun, Q., Sacks, G., Lerch, S. and Vanden Heuvel, J. (2011). Impact of Shoot and Cluster Thinning on Yield, Fruit Composition, and Wine Quality of Corot noir. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 63(1), pp.49-56.