Time and level of pruning with cincturing or PCPA in relation to yield and quality of Zante currant

Abstract

Results of a two-year trial on forty-year-old Zante Currant vines (Vitus vinifera) showed that yields of dried fruit could be increased by about 20 per cent by pruning the usual number of spurs to six buds instead of the customary two, with four-bud spurs giving intermediate results. The yield increases were associated with an increased number of bunches per vine. For the two years of the trial there was no evidence of overcropping. In the same trial, pruning in mid-winter was compared with pruning in spring when t h ~ shoots were 5 cm long. In the first year the earlier pruning gave higher yields, but in the second year there was no difference. Cincturing and PCPA spray were also compared and tincturing was found to give higher yields of fresh and dried fruits.