A Spacing, Trellising, and Pruning Experiment with Muscat Gordo Blanco Grapevines

Abstract

Intra-row vine spacings of 1.2 and 2.1 m, singlewire and 30-cm wide T-trellises, and pruning to spur numbers per vine of 10-12 and 16-18 and spurs with one or two nodes, were compared in an experiment on the low vigor grape cultivar Muscat Gordo Blanco at Griffith, N.S.W.

Over the eight crop years of the experiment, the 1.2-m intra-row spacing produced 32% more total crop per 8.5-m plot than the 2.1-m spacing. Incomplete extension of the cordons of the 2.1-m spaced vines is given as the reason for their lower per plot yields.

T-trellis increased total yield by 6%. The number of nodes left on a vine at pruning, either by varying spur numbers per vine or node number per spur, had no influence on yield. In the more severely pruned treatments a compensatory bursting of fruitful basal buds was observed.