It is important to replace any missing vines in a vineyard so that you maintain maximum productivity. This morning, Ryan Wilson worked with Amanda Gonzales to the Foundation vineyard and note missing and weak grapevines. Ryan and Amanda are students working on their practicum requirements for VIN 111 in the Vesta Online Grape and Wine Program http://www.vesta-usa.org/.
In the afternoon, Ryan worked with Shelia Long, a field and maintenance employee at the State Fruit Experiment Station. Shelia and Ryan collected dormant hardwood cuttings of Vidal Blanc in the Virus Indexed Foundation Vineyard. The cuttings will be put in cold storage and then placed in rooting beds in January. These cuttings will be used to produce vines that will fill in missing spots in the vineyard.
They also selected and buried layers, long canes from a vine adjacent to an empty spot. Part of the cane is buried while still attached to the mother. The buried portion of the layer will root and next spring. The buds on the far side of the mother plant that come up out of the ground will break and grow a new vine next season. This strategy can be used to fill empty places in vineyard where vines are own rooted.