After the harvest, it is time for the last vineyard management before the vines reach the lag phase. Since each vineyard has a different canopy management and growth stage, it should be managed according to your particular requirements, but there are some general guidelines for post-harvest vineyard management. The guidelines allow winegrowers to prepare the vines for dormancy, as well as to ensure that reproductive development and shoot growth in the following growing season are fine.
Post Harvest Disease Management
After harvest, protection of the vineyards from stem diseases and crown gall should be the main focus. Other elements, such as cleaning the vineyard floor by removing plant debris, can also reduce black rot and Phomopsis (frequent canker in vineyards that can cause damage in young plantations).
December is an ideal time to treat the vineyard with sulfur and lime formulations, taking advantage of the fact that the trees are asleep. Calcium polysulfide is an optimal treatment to protect the vineyard from insects such as the red spider or the most common louse in this type of fruit tree. It also serves as a preventive fungicide.
For this, in Matabi we have battery operated sprayers that are activated by a powerful lithium battery that will allow you to apply product homogeneously in the vineyard without any effort and comfortably.
The rest in which your vineyard is at this time of year, makes your trees have a greater tolerance to phytosanitary products, thus allowing doses that could not be tolerated in the middle of the vegetation season and therefore also reducing their application in the fertile spring season.
When should you apply?
Phytosanitary treatments must be carried out when the following conditions are met:
- From the moment the leaves fall to the beginning of the vineyard's weeping.
- Coinciding with the winter season, especially during December, January and February, when the vineyard has a greater tolerance to the action of phytosanitary products, allowing the use of active ingredients and doses that would not be tolerated in full vegetation.
- Carry out treatments first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon, without sun exposure and with temperatures below 32 ºC.
- The plant has to be really in a vegetative stop, to avoid damaging the buds.
- Depending on how we act with the pruning remains, in the event that they are buried or left piled up on the ground, the treatment must be carried out before pruning.
- If, on the other hand, the pruning remains and the branches are eliminated, the treatment can be carried out after the pruning.
- Do not use rods affected by fungi or other diseases to obtain new plants.
Post-harvest fertilization
After harvesting, the vines enter a new phase. The vineyard will begin to absorb nutrients and minerals from the soil and through photosynthesis it will create a reserve of carbohydrates and store them in its roots and trunks. This is the most critical time of the year for the absorption of nutrients and thus stimulate new growth in the following season.
In other words, for the following season, proper post-harvest recovery is crucial for the productivity of high-yield vineyards.
Nutrients are lost when grapes are removed from the vineyard and are not recycled in the soil like leaves or canes do, so it is very important to apply those minerals.
Nitrogen fertilization in late fall can reduce cold hardiness by promoting vine growth and delaying acclimatization.
The best time to apply compost is usually immediately after harvest and before the soil freezes. For this, the compost must be incorporated into the soil, and in this way its nutrients and microbes will be introduced inside before the arrival of the winter frosts, thus remaining available for the following spring.
The fertilizer can also be used as a foliar application. In addition to nitrogen, treatments containing phosphorus, potassium and even calcium and zinc can be very beneficial for the vineyard. And if your vineyard is not very large, from Matabi we recommend you to apply foliar application with the Evolution 16 sprayer. A sprayer to which you can adapt a wide variety of accessories to reach those higher corners or those that are difficult to access.
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Source: Vinetur and Michigan State University
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