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Conegliano Veneto, 15.05.2021
The whole VMP Community is close to viticulturists and winemakers of the Prosecco region who have been hit by a disastrous hailstorm.
Unfortunately climate change is increasing the frequency of such extreme events. Changes in temperature, more frequent late frost, extreme weather events, high temperatures in summer and drought are now a new normal to which we must adapt.
What are the effects on plants and how long will they last?
During this phase the plants were not self sufficient, so the plants used the reserve substances accumulated last year. For a new budding they will need to make use of these reserves once more.
What will occur, will be a shooting from the old wood as well as from buds left on the undamaged shoot.
The effects of such an event can be prolonged, compromising not only the production of the current year but also the following.
What to do?
If we abandon the shoot thinning now, as we would be tempted to do to reduce costs, the effects would be the following:
1) Waste of additional resources for the growth of useless shoots for the structure and production.
2) Risk of selecting less fertile shoots from the old wood.
So…the best choice is, once the new shoots develop, try to recover shoots to be used next year in production, which have a good fertility, now thoroughly choosing the shoots also for the growth of secondary structures.
Therefore we must try not to abandon the plants, but rather help them to reduce the amount of resources used for the shoots that will be used in the future.
Plants with more reserve substances are better able to cope with the challenges that these extreme events bring with them.
-Livio and Team VMP Academy-