[ron]

First of all thank you for the webinar today and all the great explanations!

I have a question regarding the removal of old, dray and dead wood. I understand that it is important to remove it, because it is a possible cause for sicknesses in the vine, like the ESCA complex. In my vineyard, there are quite a few older plants, which have been pruned not well in the past years, so they have larger portions of old and even rotten wood. Should I remove it now before spring, even with the help of a saw or large shears?

Thank you!

Grazie mille, Ron

[TEAM VMP ACADEMY]

Dear Ron.

You should be careful on removing old wood. Fist of all when you remove a wood older than 1 year you should ensure a sufficient portion of “Spare” wood. This practice it’s important to preserve the living wood. It’s a kind of “protective wood”.

The lenght of this portion of “spare wood” might be 2-3 times the branch\organ diameter.

In all the “spare woods” you should remove the canes developed on them cutting off also the basal buds (to prevent new shoots developement from the “crown buds”.

To make them dry you should remove all the shoots that can be developed on those parts.

Once it is dry you can remove the spare wood in steps : node by node you should cut off small parts and be sure it is dry. If it is all dry it is recommended to keep a small portion and avoid to approach too much the living wood.

[ron]

Thank you!!!