Abstract
We investigated the effects of shoot management combined with 1st-node pruning after harvest in summer and 5(7)th-node pruning in winter on growth and yield of the ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ grape in forcing culture beginning in December.
1. The treatment of post-harvest summer pruning alone in soil-less cultures of grapevine resulted in earlier bud break and increased numbers of flower clusters and yield, compared to traditional pruning procedure. However, there were no significant differences in the growth of shoots, timing of flowering, leaf color intensity, and fruit quality.
2. The effects of the combination of the 1st-node summer pruning and 1st-node or 5th-node winter pruning on the growth, fruit quality and yield of soil-less cultures of ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ were examined. The 5th-node pruning following summer pruning encouraged earlier bud break and flowering than 1st-node pruning. The 5th-node treatment augmented shoot growth, leaf color intensity, the number of flower clusters and the fruit yield, compared with 1st-node pruning. No difference in fruit quality was observed between the two treatments.
3. Even when the grapevines were grown on soil, the treatment of 5(7)th-node winter pruning combined with the summer pruning enhanced the growth of shoots, and increased the number of flower clusters and the yield, compared with the 1st-node winter pruning.
These results confirm the positive effects of 1st-node pruning in summer and 5(7)th-node pruning in winter, on the growth and yield of ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ grapevines regardless of whether they are grown in soil-less culture or on soil in forced culture.
