Planning Leaf Removal

• Basal leaf removal has two different methods that can be used to thin the leaves away from the fruit area, transferring more energy and nutrition to the fruit rather than to the leaves. Some vineyard owners prefer early leaf removal, before the grapes have formed on the vine, and other vineyard owners prefer later leaf removal, once the grapes are already present on the vine. The benefits of early leaf removal include more sunlight into the vine canopy, more nutrition devoted to initial bud production and an easier way to work with the vines once the grapes bloom. The benefits of later leaf removal include warming the temperature of the grapes, preventing fruit rot from moisture accumulation, increased sun exposure on the grapes and tougher grape skin. You should determine which method of removal you want to try on your vines. You may want to try both methods on two vines of the same variety to determine which method is the most effective for you.
  
  

Hand Removal

• Leaves can be removed by hand in small vineyards. If you have a large vineyard, hand removal will be much harder. The best strategy for removing the leaves is to remove about half the leaves growing below each cluster of grapes on each shoot. Try to remove the leaves from the side of the plant that receives the most sunlight. If you remove the leaves early, you can just remove half the leaves from each shoot. Complete the late removal in May or June, and early removal in March or April.
  
  

Machine Removal

• A leaf removal machine can be used with large vineyards. These machines are designed to run along a wall supporting the grape vines. The machine will remove the lower half of the leaves that are sitting just above the level of the wall. The results with machine removal are not as precise, but for large vineyards, this option is more economical. Some machines operate as fast as 2 to 2.5 miles per hour.