Egyptian Grape Growers Manual

FOREWORD
After two visits to Egypt (December 1996 and February 1997), contracted as a grape
consultant for ATUT (Agricultural Technology Utilization and Transfer), I concluded that
it would be helpful to prepare this special manual dedicated for Egyptian technical
personnel and grape growers. This manual provides accurate recommendations on some
aspects of the culture of vineyards, in which I have observed some deficiencies on
fundamental knowledge.
These recommendations include the response of grapes to some of the labor involved in
a modern and technical establishment and the management of vineyards for the
production of good quality table grapes, mainly for export; the influence of sunlight and
shadow on bud fertility and the type of maturity of grapes; the phenomenon of
acrotony, to which some grapevine varieties are particularly sensitive; the effects of the
position of the canes and the number of buds on each plant over grape characteristics,
expressed as size of the berries, color and sugar content; the way grape primordia
develop into buds one year prior to their burst, and other topics.
This manual is divided into different parts, focusing mainly on aspects where I noted
there was less technological knowledge. But none of these chapters is a complete review
of the subject. The manual is not an exhaustive in any aspect. I have also noted that
some Egyptian technical professionals or grape growers have good knowledge of many
of the aspects discussed here, but, unfortunately, other growers have complete lack of
understanding of the basic physiology of the grapevine. I hope this manual will help
the persons involved in grape growing improve their work.
In this manual, some technical terms are used that are familiar to some of the persons I
met on the farms I visited, but need to be defined for others. This is the reason why I
included at the beginning of this manual, a short and simple glossary.
Prof. Armando Vieira Volpi

Manual of Viticulture
GLOSSARY
ADVENTITIOUS ROOTS: Organs of spontaneous and self-

formation, in unusual places where there were only
parenchymatic tissue, which retrograde to a meristematic
condition under the effects of some kind of hormones
produced by the growing summit of a shoot, to form a "root
point".
BARK: Tough covering of a woody stem or root, external to cambium.
BUDS: Rounded organs at the node of a cane or shoot containing an

undeveloped shoot protected by overlapping scales. There are
typically three vegetative primordia at each node, a more developed
primary primordium between less prominent secondary and
terciary primordia. At their earlier stages, they are formed by a small
mass of vegetative tissue, still not well defined. After some time,
through many biochemical steps, the three vegetative primordia are
formed. This primordia are able to form, in lateral positions, two to
four inflorescence primordia.
BUD BREAK OR BUD BURST: Early stage of bud development when

green tissue becomes visible.
CALLUS: Parenchyma tissue that grows over a wound or graft, sealing

and protecting it against drying or other injury.
CAMBIUM: Thin layer of undifferentiated meristematic cells between bark

(phloem) and wood (xylem). When active, it divides to give rise to
the secondary tissues, phloem and xylem, resulting in growth in
diameter of stem and roots.
CHLOROPHYL: Green pigment of plants that absorbs light energy and

makes it effective in photosynthesis.
CHLOROSIS: Yellowing of green portions of a plant, particularly the

leaves, which can result from nutrient deficiencies, diseases,
herbicide injury, or other factors.
CUTTING: A portion of dormant cane, usually 40 to 60 cm long, used for

propagation; it may also refer to a green shoot section to be
propagated under mist.
DIFFERENTIATION: Initial formation of new organs obeying orders of
2
the induction process. We can speak of "differentiation" when these

organs can be seen under microscopic observation. There are "fruit
differentiation", "foliar differentiation", etc.
DISHOOTING: Removal of shoots or buds or very young shoots.
DISBUDDING: Removal of buds.
INDUCTION: Stage preceding the formation of any new plant organ

where there is a biochemical adaptation that orders activity changes
to some parts of the plant in forming some specific kind of organ. In
this stage, there are no visible signs of changes, but once the order
has been given, there is no possibility for the receiving cells to draw
back in that mission.
INFLORESCENCE: Flowering cluster extra # of the grapevine.
LATERAL (Also called feminel or daughter): Branch of the main axis of the
cluster, or side shoot arising from the main shoot.
MERISTEM OR MERISTEMATIC TISSUE: Group of undifferentiated cells

that do not form a real tissue due to their transitory condition. They
are capable of active division and differentiation into specialized
organs. Meristems are characteristic of the plant growing points,
where after division, the new cells grow, forming different kinds of
tissues.
NODE: Enlarged portion of a cane or shoot at which leaves, clusters,

tendrils and buds are located at regular intervals.
PARENCHYMA or PARENCHYMATIC TISSUE: Also known as

"fundamental tissue", is the definitive and mature tissue of the
plants. It forms the main type of structure of every vegetable,
where the reserve substances are stored and the fibers are the
principal sustainers of a plant. The cells of this tissue are no longer
able to divide to form new structures.
PETIOLE: Thin structure or stalk that supports the blade of the leaf. It
also serves to transport the sap up and down where different types
of food are carried.
PHLOEM: Conductive tissue of plants to transport food material

elaborated by the leaves.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS: Process by which a plant converts carbon dioxide

and water into carbohydrates. Solar radiation is the energy source
for this process.
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PRIMORDIA (Singular: PRIMORDIUM): Very little cellular prominences

where new organs will originate. They can be found inside the bud
(vegetative primordia of a shoot, leaf primordia, inflorescence
primordia) as well on the caulinar apex of a shoot.
RACHIS: Central part of a grape flowering bunch or fruit, where the

berries are borne. It has many ramifications or branches.
ROOTSTOCK: Specialized stock material to which fruiting varieties are

grafted to produce commercially acceptable vine. Grape rootstock
varieties are used for their tolerance to some root parasites, such as
phylloxera and nematodes, for vigor, or for resistance to different
soils conditions, like salinity or high lime content.
SCION: A piece of a fruit variety that is grafted onto a stock.
SHOOT: Current season's succulent and green stem growth. It becomes a

cane when more than a half of its length becomes woody, as
indicated by the change in color from green to tan or brown.
TENDRILS: Slender twining organs on a shoot opposite a leaf than can

coil around an object and help support the shoot.
TRANSLOCATION: Movement of water, nutrients, chemicals or

elaborated food material within a plant.
TRANSPIRATION: Water loss by evaporation from the leaf surface and through the
stomata.
TRELLIS: Permanent vine support system consisting mainly of posts or stakes and
wires.
XYLEM: Woody portion of conducting tissue whose function is to conduct water and
minerals absorbed by the roots.
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S OME PRELIMINARY CONCEPTS ABOUT GRAPE

PHYSIOLOGY
THE GRAPE BUDS , THEIR POSITION AND EVOLUTION F RUTAL

INDUCTION AND DIFFERENTIATION .
Grapevines are plants that, from the standpoint of their morphology, are fully
organized. This means that each of their aerial organs has been preformed
through a preliminary process involving the formation of buds during the same
or other previous periods or years. In other words, none of the species of the
Vitis genus is able to develop adventitious shoots, formed when necessity
arises, as happens with apples, pears, peaches and many forestry species, like
populus, willows, and others. Besides, in grape plants each bud is located in a
fixed position along each shoot, needing in turn a previous evolution to form
its new shoots.
This evolution begins the same moment that buds start their formation on the
growing shoot, because they are unable, unless forced, to originate a new
shoot in the same vegetative period in which they were formed. This means
that they need to overpass an annual period of low temperatures, during
which they enter an invernal dormacy. Nevertheless, during this dormancy,
and without any external sign, they undergo many complicated biochemical
changes that depend on certain internal factors within the plant, and external
ones especially temperature, light intensity and periodicity. In fact, what at the
beginning is only an amorphous group of cells begins to form three very small
vegetative primordia which are, indeed, microscopic shoots. On these initial
organs it is possible to see, under a microscope, their secondary parts like
rudimentary leaves, inflorescence primordia, and horizontal divisions like walls
that correspond to the diaphragms in every node. The inflorescence primordia
are formed after and later than the other parts.
Thus, grapevine buds are always vegetative. This means that in the grapevine,
there are no special fruit buds as happens in other fruit tree species. Here, the
fruits are formed in a lateral position on the shoots primordia and from them,
growing in the same lateral position in the succulent shoots that arise from
these vegetative buds and from each bud, one, two or three herbaceous
shoots can originate. If the central primordia, which, is the biggest, is injured
or destroyed, the bud has the chance to bear a secondary or even a terciary
shoot.
The flowers and fruits are the reproductive parts of the vine. Inflorescence is
initiated during the late spring and summer preceding the year in which
flowering and fruiting occur. In FIG 1 a scheme of the development and
5
formation of a grape bunch is shown from its beginning, in the induction and
differentiation, to maturity. This process takes, according to the variety and
factors already mentioned, about 520 days.
The central vegetative primordia, being the biggest, have the opportunity of
forming more or bigger, inflorescence primordia than the other two. So, if the
central one is destroyed by any cause, during or after its burst, the production
of the plant would be considerably diminished, even if one or both secondary
primordia developed in good conditions.
At bud burst, (i.e., the period when the bud starts growing), the bud unfolds,
producing a leafy shoot that bears one to four (usually two) flower clusters
opposite the leaves at the third and fourth, fourth and fifth, or fifth and sixth
nodes from the base, depending on the variety and (or also) some
environmental conditions during the biochemical conditioning of cells tissue,
like temperature and light. This step is named "induction", which is followed by
the physical appearance of the inflorescence primordia, or "fruit
differentiation". It is at this secondary stage when it is possible to observe, by
means of a microscope, the number and size of such floral primordia that
sometimes increase as to exceed the size of the shoot primordia where they
are developing (FIG 2).
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FIG 2. Two
inflorescence primordia
within the bud, exceeding
the size of the vegetative
primordia.
The degree or intensity of the induction that results in a good or a bad

differentiation process depends at its turn, on some internal and external
factors.
The following are internal factors:

• The nutritional status of the plants. Well-nourished grapevines tend to
induce and differentiate more and bigger inflorescence primordia. In
general, nutritional deficiency results in the formation of small fruit
clusters and berries.
• The variety. There are varieties that, due to genetic factors, have a low
capacity for fruit differentiation. Thus, they are less productive because
they have fewer or smaller bunch and berries. Moreover, table grape
varieties vary widely with respect to the position of the more fruitful buds
along the cane. Some of them, like Thompson Seedless and its
descendants, are relatively infertile in the first basal buds. Here,
fruitfulness increases from the fourth to the tenth bud, and decreases
from the tenth to the eighteenth or twentieth bud. This characteristic, in
the chapter related to grapevine pruning, forces discussed growers to
leave long canes during this operation to cover the area of the buds with
larger productivity.
• The sanitary conditions. Pests and diseases can affect the degree of fruit
induction and differentiation on the buds, diminishing the leaf area
(powdery and downy mildew, some virus diseases, red spiders, etc.),
disturbing the growth rate of the plant (thrips, wood diseases and
others), or by simple suction of the sap (mealybugs, scales, etc.).
External factors include soil characteristics (texture, fertility, etc.), proper
7
irrigation, light and shade, and temperature.
The soil is the most obvious factor that determines the productivity of a grape
vine. Soil fertility has to be right because in too rich soils, especially with too
much nitrogen or organic matter content, there is a tendency to increase the
rate of growth of the shoots, which can compete with fruit induction and
differentiation. This is because the growing points can become a very powerful
sink for carbohydrates, reducing their availability for the buds. A partial lack of
carbohydrates could partially inhibit these processes.
Proper soil irrigation is absolutely necessary for fruit differentiation. Sometimes

a little water stress can also cause an important decrease in the degree of fruit
formation.
Light is also an important factor in fruit differentiation. If the bud itself or the
leaf in whose petiols this organ has been formed stays in the shade, the
degree of bud differentiation is affected. Conversely, the more sunlight the leaf
receives, the greater is the intensity of this process. Nevertheless, beyond a
critical point of light intensity, momentary or permanent paralysis of fruit
initiation can occur.
P HYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA INHERENT TO AND

CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SPECIES OF THE V ITIS GENUS .
• Winter cold requirements. The vine grape requires a lesser number of

cold hours (under 7°C) than many other fruit plants of natural subtropical
habitat to break the winter dormancy. There is no doubt that some cold is
needed by this species to begin bud burst. Depending on the variety, the hours
under 7°C required for it range from 280 to 500. This is much less than the
cold hours needed by other fruit plants like apples, pears, plums and prunes.
• Acrotony. This is a physiological phenomenon that affects some fruit

species, but none to the same degree as grapevines. It consists of an
excessive apical dominance, shown by the fact that the buds on the higher
part of the plants, and the distal buds of the shoot left when pruning, burst
earlier than the remainder. This activity is accompanied by the emission of
inhibitory substances for the others, which are translocated downward. Thus,
the buds situated in lower or in basical positions on the cane tend to originate
tardier or weaker shoots, or sometimes do not burst at all (FIG 3).
Today, the exogenous use of chemical substances to avoid the problems of

irregular burst on the buds, due to the lack of winter cold or acrotonic effects,
is a common practice. There are a number of products that favor a more
regular shooting, as citoquinins (especially zeatin), dinitro, ethylene
chlorhydrine, tiurea and hydrogenated cyanamid. Among them, hydrogenated
cyanamid, or amid of the cyanic acid, sold under the trade name of
8
Dormex, is, without a doubt, the most efficient of all.
FIG 3. A plant showing the effects of acrotony. The shoots have grown stronger
from the apical buds. There are also many buds that did not burst.
Nevertheless, to use Dormex correctly, it is necessary to take precautions

because of its toxicity and high causticity. When in contact with human skin,
Dormex causes serious burning, and its absorption by respiration and
accumulation in human blood can cause gastric and lung disturbance for a
long time, especially when alcoholic beverages are consumed.
The hydrogenated cyanamid is absorbed almost immediately by the grape

buds, reacting with the metabolism of the natural substances that the plants
have elaborated to make possible their dormancy, and mostly destroying them.
Thus, the buds become free of their effects and are able to start their growth
as soon as the external factors are favorable.
Dormex is sold in a concentration of 50% active ingredient (a.i.) to be

used in a solution of 5% of the commercial product. However, it has
been proved that this concentration can be diminished to 1.5 or 2%, if
combined with agricultural oils and will produce similar effects.
Dormex has to be applied at least 30 days before the estimated date of

normal bud burst. If used too early, the effects decrease considerably. If
applied close to bud burst, with some of the buds in the cotton stage,
some damage can occur due to its causticity, such as inhibition of
normal shooting.
9
CARBOHYDRATE SYNTHESIS AND LIGHT INTENSITY LIGHT

SATURATION AND LUMINIC COMPENSATION POINTS .
Photosynthesis is the most important physiological process of plants during

which organic food is manufactured in the leaves. The primary product is
sugar, the basic food from which all other foods are synthesized. Light
intensity is a factor that has tremendous effects on the absorption of CO2 from
the air, and thus on the function of leaves as elaborators of carbohydrate
reserves. It has been shown that the maximum rate in the synthesis of sugar
happens when leaves receive 3,000 to 5,000 foot-candles (f.c.), equivalent to
some 200 watts per square meter. On a sunny day at noon, in summer
months, a leaf exposed to the sun receives about 10,000 f.c. Grapevines can
stand some 12,000 f.c. without any damage, but the "light saturation point"
(which is not the same for all varieties) where the leaves stop photosynthesis
is about 9,000 f.c. Damage to the foliage happens at or over 12,500 f.c.,
because under this point, transpiration (water evaporation through leaf
stomata) decreases the temperature that could be reached by a high light
intensity.
The grapevine does not use light efficiently because in its arbour, leaves lie
beneath others, in many layers. Experiments have demonstrated that the level
of light intensity reaching the leaves beneath the inner layer is about 10% of
the light received on the outer layer of the grape foliage, and on the leaves
deeper in the foliage, only 1% (FIG 4). As the point of "luminic
compensation", i.e., the point where the consumption and elaboration of
organic food is the same, is 100 to 120 f.c., the leaves that receive less than
that act like parasites on the plants.
This fact demonstrates the importance of foliar management, the extraction of

excessive shoots and leaves. This allows light to enter through the foliage,
preventing the formation of parasitic leaves. This is especially true in vigorous
varieties and in vines improperly trellised. Consequently one of the primary
considerations , in trellising grapevines should be to expose as much leaf
surface to direct sunlight as possible. Hence, the selection of a proper or type
of trellis is very important.
In addition to light as a factor in photosynthesis, it is necessary to understand

that the photosynthetic capacity of the leaf changes with age and reaches its
maximum activity when the leaf attains full size, 30 to 40 days after
unfolding. Thereafter, photosynthesis declines gradually until the leaf becomes
senescent. When a grape leaf reaches one-third full size, more food is
exported than imported from it, and so a net contribution to growth occurs.
10
ANNUAL CYCLE OF THE VINE .
Vine grapes do not rush into growth early in the spring, as do most deciduous
fruit trees. Their buds remain dormant until the mean daily temperature
reaches 10°C. Then, as the temperature rises, shoot growth accelerates from
day to day. After three or four weeks the season's period of most rapid growth
11
is under way. During this time, the shoots of vigorous varieties may elongate
several centimeters a day. Even weaker varieties have a similar period of rapid
growth, but their daily increase is less.
Young vines grow throughout the season and produce few or no fruitful buds.
When older, the vines that are in good health and carrying normal crops grow
rapidly in the spring, their shoots are succulent, and more carbohydrate
material is used than is produced by the leaves. Soon the reserve foods in the
permanent parts of the plant (spurs, canes, arms, and trunk, including roots)
are reduced to the point where growth is checked. As growth slows, organic
material reserves begin to accumulate in the canes, and the lower mid and
basal parts of the shoot become woody. Thus, within the limits of good
commercial practice, methods that excessively increase the vigor of shoot
growth will diminish the fruitfulness of buds. The best rate of fruit
differentiation is obtained when shoots grow with a moderate vigor. When
growth is below average to weak the production of fruitful buds again
decreases.
Nevertheless, the decreased number of fruitful buds formed by vines of above

normal vigor is usually compensated by the large size of clusters, but the
quality of grapes and shoots is rather deficient because of their sensitivity to
botrytis and other sanitary problems arising from the light consistency of their
tissue.
About the time of bloom, as a result of momentary competition for food

and, probably hormone and enzyme activity, the rapid shoot elongation
slackens. This decrease in the rate of growth is quite rapid; then it continues
at an even slower rate to the end of the season. But the vine growth does not
cease entirely, as it does in trees, by forming terminal buds. Vine shoots never
form such buds, but instead, the apical sector of the shoot abscesses when the
external conditions are unfavorable for growth. This abscission occurs over a
diaphragm on every apex and it demonstrates the cessation of growth.
However, as long as the external conditions for growth remain, but before
the plants enter dormancy, the shoots may increase their rate of growth at any
time if there is sufficient heat and good moisture in the soil, like after
irrigation or rain, and when there is ample available nitrogen. It is for this
reason that young vines, with little or no crop to compete with vegetative
growth for the products of the leaves, often continue growing into autumn and
their green shoots are killed (as in Chile) by early frost. The same is true for
varieties that are harvested early (as sometimes happens in Egypt) in which
the competition of the crop also disappears earlier.
From the moment that a permanent part of a vine reaches its maximum
elongation, it can not resume its growth in length, but starts increasing its size
only in diameter. Thus, the grower can form the trunk of plants certain that
the height selected for them will not change.
12
The rapid shoot elongation, the increase in diameter of the older vine parts,
and the development of flower parts are made possible because of the
reserves of food stored in the dormant vine. The flower clusters, which at the
beginning of shoot growth have developed only the receptacle of the individual
flowers, come out with the shoot, and during the next six to eight weeks,
according to the season and the reserve availability, the rest of the flower
parts are formed.
Carbohydrate accumulation in the shoots, after shoot elongation has slowed

down, begins in the midsection of a new shoot, and progresses downward and
upward during the remainder of the season. This process is slow at first, while
there is still much shoot growth and the berries are increasing in size. This is
also a period in which there is rapid movement of sugar into the ripening
berries. Then the rate accelerates so that, by late autumn, the level of total
stored reserve carbohydrates is high, unless the plant has undergone problems
like over-cropping, water stress, loss of foliage by insects or diseases, early
autumn frost or any other accident that reduces the rate of photosynthesis.
BLOOMING, POLLINATION AND SETTING OF THE BERRIES
As indicated above, by the time of dormancy, clusters have developed to the

stage of receptacles of the individual flowers. Little physical changes occur
during dormancy. In spring, the flower cluster emerges with leaves as shoot
growth starts. Only then is the development of the different parts of the
individual flowers initiated.
Although the flowers of the important commercial varieties of Vitis vinifera are
hermaphrodite and self-fertile, and almost perfect, i.e., having well-developed
male and female organs in the same flower almost purely female and male
flowers do occur, and in the wild, all degrees of inter-sexes occur. Because
Vitis vinifera has been cultivated for a long time, it has been possible to
discard most of the varieties with defective flowers where fruiting is seriously
limited. However, there are some varieties that, despite the fact that they
posses abnormalities in their flower structure of the which affect the process of
berry set, have been kept for cultivation because they have a valuable
condition worth conserving . This is the case of the seedless varieties
(Thompson Seedless, Perlette, Corinth, etc.) and some functional females ones
such as Ohanes, Moscatel Rosada (or Chilean Pink Muscat) and others.
Fruit set generally results from pollination, i.e., the fall of pollen grains on the
flower stigma, after which the pollen develops a specialized tube to reach the
ovary to achieve fertilization and seed development (FIG 5). In this process,
there is real competition among the thousands of pollen grains located on the
stigma (FIG 6), but only one reaches each lower ovule. In most grape
varieties, the setting of berries is determined by this mechanism. However,
selection for a special fruit character has provided varieties in which the
mechanism of set is different. From this standpoint, grape berries can
13
be classified into three types.
FIG 5. Scheme of the

pollination and fecundation
process in a grape flower. The
pollen tube has to grow within
the female parts of the flower to
reach the ovule, penetrating
through an entrance located in
the lower part of the ovary. 1.
Pollen grains on the stigma. 2.
Flower stigma. 3. Pollinic tube
reaching the ovule. 4. Spongy
tissue of the flower style that
allows penetration of pollen
tubes.
A) Seeded berries, in which the normal sequence of pollination, fertilization

and seed development takes place, resulting in normal grapes with one to four
seeds.
B) Seedless berries of the "corinthian" or stimulative parthenocarpy type.
Here, pollination without fertilizing the flower ovule results in a hormonal
stimulus that produces the growth of small shot berries. Thus, there is no
ovule development beyond the time of bloom. There are several causes why
pollination could happen without fertilization: lack of really viable pollen, boron
deficiency, defective female parts of the flower, washing of the pollen by rain,
etc.
C) Seedless berries of the "sultanianan" or stenospermocarpy type, where
pollination and ovule fertilization proceed normally, but are followed by embryo
abortion which can occur, according to the variety, from seven to twenty days
after fertilization.
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FIG 6. Thousands of
pollen tubes "fighting" to
reach the ovule first.
In some clusters, both A and B types can be found together as a result of

partially defective blooming (FIG 7). In other cases, mixed B and C types can
occur. Most frequently, however, each type is found unmixed, except when
type B berries can be transformed in type A berries by artificial pollination
using viable pollen of another variety.
FIG 7. Well-formed berries seen in

a grape cluster, mixed with "shot"
berries that were initiated by the
hormonal stimulus of pollination
without fecundation.
Plants with seedless berries are seldom able to produce hormones in the
15
amount required to obtain maximum size. To reach this size, it is feasible to

treat flowers or young berries with exogenous hormones; the principal one is
gibberellic acid (GA3).
THE ROOT SYSTEM.
Roots, despite having structures anatomically similar to shoots and forming

part of the same conductive apparatus of the plants, differ markedly from
them in other aspects. Unlike shoots, roots are organs that do not grow from
preformed buds, but from mature cells into the body of permanent structures
that are exited by the hormones elaborated on the apical parts of herbaceous
shoots, or in buds that begin to burst. Thus, all roots are initiated in an
adventitious form, i.e., where and when they are needed to accomplish their
functions in the nutrition of the plants (FIG 8).
Fig 8. Adventitious
root emerging from
a piece of cutting.
Growth starts in
the inner part of
the shoot, and root
Also, unlike shoots, roots are not divided into nodes and internodes. Lateral
roots arise at irregular intervals along the surface, from the interior of another
root or from another organ, like canes or even trunks. They start growing in
mature (parenchymatic) cells of the permanent tissue located at some depth
from the epidermical layers that receive orders from the herbaceous tips to
draw back to a meristematic condition so they can multiply and form new
tissues.
The root system of the cultivated vine is both spreads and descends (FIG 9).
Under conditions that favor growth, the roots spread over a wide area,
exploring the soil mass to a considerable depth. However, root penetration
may be greatly limited by shallow soils, hardpan (a substratum of impervious
soil that prevents the root from growing), water table (free water in the soil,
limiting aeration) or presence of components that could be toxic to root
growth. In any of these conditions, root growth is restricted to the soil above
the obstruction. Shallow rooting limits the supply of both water and mineral
elements available to the vine. Lateral growth, however, is rarely restricted by
natural conditions. There are rootstocks well adapted to growth in this
16
kind of situation, mainly due to their habit of mostly horizontal root growth.
ROOTING HORMONES OF EXOGENOUS APPLICATION.
Hormones are rarely used to improve rooting of grape cuttings because of

about the easy way in which these plants form roots. However, there are Vitis
species or hybrids (mostly used as rootstocks) that do not have the same
characteristic of easy rooting and which are favored by the use of root
promoters. The use of such products also proves beneficial when a new
vineyard is to be established directly with grape cuttings and not with rooted
plants coming from a nursery.
Fig 9 The spread and

descent of the grape
root system.
The most used root hormones are indolbutyric acid (IBA) and naphtalene
acetic acid (NAA). IBA is the most employed and the most efficient. It can be
used in various ways. Because IBA soluble in water, it should be treated first
with ethylic alcohol (96° G.L.) as a solvent; 10 cc is enough to dissolve 1 g of
the acid. This solution has 100,000 ppm, which has to be reduced to 2,500
ppm. Thus, it is necessary to add 390 cc of warm (about 40°C) distilled water
to obtain this concentration. The alcoholic solution, when slowly mixed with
warm water, does not form turbidity, but should this appear, the solution will
clear up by warming it a little.
The previous treatment of the cuttings consists of the renewal of the cuts on
17
the base, and also making some wounds near them, and then submerging two
or three cm of this base in the solution for five seconds.
Weaker solutions can be also used, but the base of the cuttings must be
submerged longer. As an example, in a solution of 100 ppm, the cuttings must
be submerged for one hour.
N URSERY E STABLISHMENT
The establishment of a new vineyard is a task with many different
stages. As cultivated grapes build adventitious roots so easily, forming
new plants from cuttings is the main method used in the commercial
propagation of vines.
In its wild state, the grapevine reproduces sexually by means of seed, or

asexually by adventitious roots that form when canes touch the ground and
become covered with soil or plant debris. Under cultivation, grapevines can be
propagated by seed (only as a means to create new varieties with controlled
crossings), and by clonal methods (cuttings, budding, grafting and layering),
that produce vines identical with the plant vines in all varietal characteristics.
The first stage in the propagation of both rooted and grafted vines usually
involves making hardwood cuttings from dormant canes of the last season's
shoots.
Nearly all grape varieties, whether for fruiting or rootstocks, are propagated by
cuttings usually grown in a nursery for one year to produce rootings.
Occasionally, unrooted cuttings are planted directly in the vineyard. The
cuttings may be grafted before being planted in the nursery to produce bench
graft one year later in the nursery, or after two or more years in the vineyard.
PLANTING AN OPEN-GROUND NURSERY.

The most common method of vine propagation is planting the cuttings in an
open-ground nursery.
• Choosing a nursery site. Ideal nursery soil is deep, friable, sandy, well-
drained loam, and free of parasitic organisms like phyloxera,
nematodes or pathogenic fungus. Thus, an analysis of fertility and for
nematodes are strongly recommended.
• Preparing the nursery site. It is recommended that the nursery site be

plowed, well before planting, to a depth of at least 30 cm. The raising
of subsoil should be avoided. Three to six weeks later, the soil is
harrowed or rotary-hoed to a fine tilth. If the soil is infected with
parasitic nematodes, the population of which is above the point
considered critical for every species, it should be fumigated by
18
injecting a suitable nematicide at a depth of 15 cm (FIG 10),

performed with soil moisture at seedbed condition, and when the soil
reaches the temperature recommended for each specific fumigant.
• Planting the nursery. The planting distances for cuttings in a nursery vary
according to the equipment used. This can range from a hand plough
pulled by a horse to a medium size tractor with big plows and discs.
The most recommended distances are from 0.8 to 1 m between rows
and 0.1 m. (10 cm) between cuttings (FIG 11). At these distances,
125,000 to 100,000 cuttings can be planted in each hectare (about
4,000 per faddan).
The method of planting varies with the size of the nursery, the
equipment at hand, and the availability of irrigation. If water is
available at planting time, a handmade trench 40 cm wide and 30 cm
deep can be dug. Before planting the cuttings, water is applied along
the full length of this furrow which is then filled with soft soil to one
half its depth. The cuttings are then placed vertically in the middle of
the trench and more soil is added. This should be tradded, then
mounded, and a new irrigation applied.
FIG 10. Application of

nematicides into the soil can be
done with different implements,
from a small hand injector to
equipment mounted on a
tractor.
19
FIG 11. A nursery planted with 125,000 cuttings per hectare. Rows are
mounded and irrigation is done by furrows. Cuttings are just bursting.
A large nursery can be planted most economically by using a modified

subsoiler to form the rows. A furrowing shovel may be attached to the
standard foot of the subsoiler, about 25 cm above the shoe, to make,
in one operation, a furrow and a soil cut in which water runs to fill the
subsoiler cut. While the water is in the furrow, the cuttings are
pushed into the soft soil, and then, when the row is finished, the
cuttings are covered with a wide ridge of loose soil. As in the above
method, the wet soil settles firmly around the cuttings, giving them an
excellent chance to grow.
Both methods described here are just examples of what can be used
in nursery planting. The important thing is that the cuttings should be
buried leaving only one or two buds above the soil level. The cuttings
should be irrigated as soon as posible, or during the planting itself.
• Selection of cuttings. A cutting is a piece of a parent plant that will

develop into a new plant when placed under conditions favorable for
growth. Dormant cuttings are best taken from moderately
vigorous, well-matured canes which have an ample supply of stored
food to nourish the developing roots and shoots until the new plant
becomes self-sustaining. Cuttings may perform poorly if they are
taken from vines that have been water-stressed, over-cropped or
defoliated by insects or diseases before the wood has matured. Wood
from one or two-year-old vines is often immature, unless the vine has
grown in fertile soil and has been well cared for. Canes (current-
season wood) from any part of the vine are suitable for cuttings.
There is no reason to avoid water sprouts and canes that bore no
crops, or even laterals of good quality from primary canes.
The most desirable canes for cuttings are of medium size, with
internodes of moderate length. Very short internodes usually indicate
20
disease or poor growing conditions. Very long internodes indicate very

rapid growth, are soft and poorly nourished and thus are low in stored
reserves (sugar and starch). These conditions could be improved with
ordinary tincture of iodine, diluted with an equal volume of water,
applied to the freshly cut surface of a cutting. If a deep bluish-black
staining appears throughout the wood of the cut surface, with very
dark staining in the vascular rays, the cutting is well-supplied with
starch.
Another way of detecting this situation is to observe and compare the

transversal cut of some canes. The size of the pith is related to the
condition of the cutting. A small pith in the center of the cut indicates
that the cane is well-nourished. If the pith occupies most of the
surface of the cut, it can be assumed that this cane's nutritional
condition is too poor to use for propagation (FIG 12).
The outer bark should be of the typical colour of the variety light to
dark or purplish brown and without green or clear blotches that
indicate immature areas. Black or dark spots in the internode may be
caused by Powdery mildew (Oidium Tuckerii) that attacked the plant
when the shoots were still green, but such spots frequently are just
scars, the fungus not present there (FIG 13). More care should be
given to clear spots surrounded by a black line (FIG 14) that appear
close to the base of the shoot or near one of the basal buds. In many
cases, they are caused by an attack of Phomopsis viticola, a fungus
that can live in such scars.
When the cane is cut, the inner bark should appear full of sap, green
and brilliant. On Vitis vinifera varieties, cuttings are most commonly
made from 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter. It is better to avoid those less
than 1 cm at the small end. Those larger than two centimeters can
make poor rooting, unless they are well-matured. American and
rootstock varieties usually have thinner canes. In this case, wood of
average and smaller size is acceptable.
FIG 12. Tranverse section of

a poorly matured cane (1)
and a well-matured one (2).
(1) (2)
21
FIG 13. Shoot ending the vegetative

period and showing dark spots
caused by an attack of powdery
mildew (Oidium tuckerii Berk) when
green.
FIG 14. Damage by the fungus

Phomopsis viticola. Notice the
distortion of the wood.
The length of cuttings used for nursery planting varies from 30 to 45

cm. This length depends on the texture of the soil to be planted. In
very sandy soils, it is preferable to plant longer cuttings to avoid rapid
surface dehydration that can comprise the upper 20 cm on a hot
summer day. If the soil is too rich in clay, the cuttings should be
shorter because the water holding capacity of the clay usually does
not allow roots to emerge where the soil is affected by frequent and
extensive periods of water saturation, during which a shortage of
oxygen can occur in the root zone. In this case, the cuttings tend to
root near the surface of the soil.
If the nursery is planted to propagate rootstocks to be grafted on site,

the cuttings should be long enough for this purpose. Thus, before the
cutting is planted in the nursery, all buds except the one at the top,
should be removed by an incision made with pruning shears, and
22
the grafting or budding should be made under this top bud. Such
disbudding is essential to avoid suckers later in the vineyard, because
removing suckers is laborious and costly. The future emergence of
rootstock sprouts in the nursery and in the vineyard can weaken the
shoots of the variety grafted, so that failure to disbud may result in a
short-lived vineyard.
• Time to make cuttings. Grape cuttings have to be made from dormant

vines. A good moment to make the cuttings is usually during late fall
or early winter. Our experience shows that nurseries planted early in
the dormant season are more successful, as shown in Table # 1.
Nevertheless, if the nurseryman is not ready to start planting the
cuttings, he does well leaving this material on the vines until he is
ready to plant.
Table #1
Date of nursery Percentage Percentage Medium
establishment of plants of first class size
obtained plants roots
June 20th 95% 69% 15.3 cm
July 16th 90% 61% 14.0 cm

th
August 18 84% 60% 12.5 cm
th
Sep. 20 53% 40% 11.0 cm
th
Oct. 15 48% 40% 9.2 cm
Nov. 15th 28% 31% 8.8 cm
* Dates correspond to Chilean conditions. In the Northern Hemisphere, nurseries
should be planted with a difference of six months.
• Storing already made cuttings. Pruning has to be done at the best time
of the year, so sometimes the cuttings should be made and kept
under proper conditions if the nursery is to be planted later. Many
reasons can be cited for this delay, e. g., the area selected for the
planting is occupied with other crops; too many different labors at
the same time (pruning and trying of vine canes); newly acquired
land not yet available for planting, etc. In these cases, whenever the
cuttings are made, precautions must be taken to prevent drying.
To facilitate handling, the cuttings are put in bundles of 100 or 200

with the basal ends even and tied with two wires; one near the top
and the other at the bottom. Each bundle should carry a durable label
tied to a cutting where it is not likely to be lost by accident.
Under no circumstances should cuttings be held in the open air. If the

cuttings are to be stored for a short period, no more than a week
before planting, they can be put with their bottoms submerged in the
water of a small ditch. If they are to be held for two to four weeks,
23
they can be stored in a trench made in some shaded site one meter
deep and one meter wide in any well-drained location. It is better to
bury them inverted, tops down, and completely covered with sand or
sawdust and sprinkled periodically to maintain humidity, but not too
much, as fungus can develop and fermentation start. Two layers of
bundles can be buried in this way.
With this treatment, budburst is delayed from 10 to 15 days,

increasing the possibilities of obtaining a higher percentage of
cuttings rooted.
If cold storage facilities exist, the best way to keep cuttings in good
condition is to put them in well-sealed plastic bags. If this operation is
performed with cuttings as soon as they are made, it is not necessary
to wet them nor to add fungicide of any class, if this material is
obtained from normal, healthy plants. In this way, the cuttings can be
maintained completely alive at 3 to 6°C for a long time without losing
their humidity.
• Soft-wood cuttings. The grapevine can be readily propagated from

segments of green shoots collected at any time during active growth.
The cuttings used are one-node segments, and usually rooted in a
greenhouse under intermittent fogging or misting. They should have
at least one bud and the leaf where this is situated. Misting effectively
maintains air temperature in the range of 20 to 25°C, with literally no
transpiration stress on the green leaves, keeping them alive and
elaborating the hormones for rooting initiation. Automatic controls are
used and the operation is usually discontinued at night.
The specialized greenhouse techniques involved in this operation and

the costly installations required for the system have limited this
method mainly to commercial nurseries, and only when it has been
absolutely necessary for the scarcity of propagation material of a
particular variety. The main advantage of using soft-wood cuttings is
the huge number (several thousands) of plants that can be duplicated
from one mother vine in a single season. Bottom heat is
recommended, and when employed, nearly 100% rooting success is
obtained in about twenty days. Thus, in one season, the operation
could be repeated several times. The rooting medium must be very
well-drained to remove any excess moisture that may accumulate
from misting.
The growing soft-wood cuttings should be transplanted to plastic bags

of adequate size as soon as the roots are visible. Otherwise, if the
transplanting is made with too developed roots, this operation can
cause many green cuttings to die. Plastic bags should be maintained
in a semi-shaded site for some time to harden plant tissue.
24
• Care of an open-ground nursery. The care of a nursery established in

an open site is quite similar to that devoted to any field crop. The
supply of adequate water of good quality is probably the most crucial
requirement during the growing season. Soil should be maintained
wet, but adequate soil aeration is also important. Regular irrigations
are needed during the early part of plant growth, especially if the
weather is hot and dry. Guide timing and rate by the water status of
the soil.
Weed control is essential in a nursery as weeds compete for water,

nutrients and sunlight. There are some herbicides that can be used in
nurseries, like Devrinol, Surflan or Trifluraline, at pre-emergence.
They should be tested in a small area before application to a wide
area. If the weed problem is limited to narrow-leaf weeds (Gramineae
family), the herbicide H-1 Super can be used on the green weeds.
Grapevines are not affected by this chemical, not even during
growth.
Grapevine nurseries require little fertilizer if the soil is reasonably

fertile. On soils less fertile, like sandy soils, small quantities of urea or
ammonium nitrate can be applied regularly during the growing
season. Applications should be stopped at the end of summer to allow
shoots to harden.
• Lifting of the plants. Rootlings are usually lifted during winter. This work
can be done by hand or by mechanical implements. A U-shaped or L-
shaped digger fitted to a tractor can be used to cut the roots and lift
the vines. The tops should be pruned back before lifting.
After lifting the plants, they should be prepared for selling or for
planting by grading them according to the quality of their roots and by
making bundles of 25 or 50 plants. If bundles are made too large,
rootlings in the center may dry during storage. They should be labeled
and completely heeled in trenches or at least their roots, in humid,
soft soil or sand, and stacked in the shade. In this condition, plants
can be held for one or two months without damage.
25
OTHER METHODS FOR GRAPEVINE PROPAGATION .

A) L AYERING
Layering as a means of vine propagation has limited applications in modern
viticulture. It is recommended only under two conditions: a) when the purpose
is to replace occasionally missing vines in an established vineyard, and b) to
multiply vine species or varieties whose cuttings can be rooted only with great
difficulty.
• Layering to replace missing vines.

The most common system of layering is done in winter, with a long vigorous
cane from a vine adjacent to the place where a vine is missing. The cane is
bent down and pegged to the bottom of a hole 30 cm deep and buried in
moist soil with the tip exposed. Shoots from the part of the cane that go from
the mother plant to the hole in the soil have to be removed. Roots are initiated
in the buried part at the same time as the buds in the tip burst.
This type of layering is used only to replace missing vines in an adult vineyard
where it may be difficult to fill the empty spaces by replanting because of the
competition for water, nutrients and, particularly, for light. In layering, the
cane that is rooting subsists due to the foods that the mother vine supplies.
These foods are not only mineral nutriments but also organic components for
the growth of roots and shoots because the leaves just formed on the bent
cane, developing in the shade, are almost inhibited from elaborating such
components in the amount needed for growth. This is also the reason why
replanting in an old vineyard is seldom successful.
To improve this operation, a small ring of wire located in the deepest point of
the bent cane. After the bud bursts, this part will grow only in diameter, and
girdling is produced soon with initial damage affecting the phloem only. Thus,
for some time, the future plant receives food through the xylem and the
organic components elaborated by its own new leaves do not go through the
phloem to the mother vine's roots, but directly to its own root system. Plants
formed in this way are much better than those not ringed with of wire.
• Layering for varieties that are difficult to propagate from cuttings.

Some American species or rootstocks are too difficult to propagate by cuttings.
Different reasons account for this, such as the existence of extremely dense
tissue that does not allow root emergence, simple genetic conditions, and
others. These varieties can be propagated by trench layers and mound layers
systems.
In the trench layer system, the mother plant is formed very short over the soil
to obtain many canes that are laid in the bottom of 30 cm deep trenches dug
in early spring as rays around the mother plant. The canes are fixed by a
26
couple of wires or pegs so as to remain straight and are covered with 15 cm of

soft soil. As the shoots arising from the buds of the buried cane grow, soil is
spread over them until the trench is completely filled. The cane roots at each
node. In the next winter, during dormancy, plants are obtained by digging up
the cane and cutting it into rooted sections.
The mound layer system is based on the same principle, but layers are made
in a different way, covering the head of low-headed vines with soil through the
growing season and leaving the tips of the growing shoots exposed. Each
shoot roots near its base and during the next winter it can be removed from
the parent stock as a rooted vine plant.
B) G RAFTING AND BUDDING
The difference between these two terms is minimal. Both consist of the
connection of two pieces of living plant tissue in such a manner that
they unite and subsequently grow and develop as one plant. In grafting,
a piece of cane that can carry one or two buds is used. In budding, the
material consists of only one bud removed from a shoot or cane.
These different words seem to be used only in English. In Spanish, both

methods are called "injerto", a term that seems more logical. In this manual,
we will use the word "graft" for both methods.
Grapevines can be grafted by different methods. Any grafted plant consists of

three parts: the stock, the scion, and the union. The stock is the plant which
receives the fruiting bud, so its most useful part is the root system, including
the underground stem. The scion consists of all the rest, including the leaf-
bearing and fruit-bearing parts. The union is the region where the stock and
scion are joined together.
• Why graft?
Grapevines are grafted for one or more of the following reasons:
* To obtain vines of a fruiting variety with a root system tolerant to
parasitic organisms like phyloxera, nematodes, insect larvae or other
subterranean pests and diseases.
Most varieties that produce fruit with desirable characteristics are
susceptible to the attacks of phyloxera and nematodes. Phyloxera still
does not exist in Egypt, but it is in Europe, so this pest can enter Egypt at
any moment. Egypt has good clay soils in the Delta and in the Beni Suef
region very suitable for this insect. Nematodes are found in many regions
of the country. The only known practical and permanent means of
growing susceptible varieties in soils badly infested by this type of pest is
to graft them on resistant or tolerant rootstocks.
* To obtain vines on roots tolerant to certain soil conditions.
Many fruiting varieties can not stand conditions such as high lime or high
water table. Salinity and, to some extent, top soils with impervious
27
hardpan close to the soil surface, are also conditions that could be
avoided with the use of rootstocks.
* To purify mixed varieties in an established vineyard.
* To change the variety of an established vineyard.
* To increase the supply of new varieties rapidly.
This is the most efficient way to obtain, in a short time, a great amount
of propagation material from recently imported or scarce varieties.
* To increase production and to advance or retard fruit maturity.
• Conditions and requirements for successful grafting

The requirements for obtaining a good percentage of successful grafting
can be summarized as follows:
* Compatibility or affinity between stock and scion, i.e., the adaptability of
both partners (scion and rootstock) to live united for a long time.
* Favorable conditions of moisture, temperature and aereation to permit the
development of the callus to form the union.
* Contact or close proximity of the meristematic tissue (cambium layers) of
the stock and scion.
* Maintenance of mechanical rigidity in new grafted material for the time
needed for the forming and hardening of the union callus.
* Both the stock and scion should be healthy and have a high degree of
vegetative activity.
* Reasonable youth for both partners, but particularly for the stock.
• How is the union formed?
The callus is a white healing tissue very succulent at the beginning (FIG
15), formed by the meristematic cambium to seal any wound, and in this
case, necessary to establish a living contact between scion and stock. If two
pieces of the same variety, or recently cut different but compatible varieties or
species are put together, with both cambiums brought in intimate contact, and
with good environmental conditions (time of the year, temperature, humidity,
safe from oxidation of the callus cells and from direct sun light that can burn
their new tissue), both callues will form in contact one with the other, mixing
their cells. Soon, through this fused common tissue, other anatomical parts of
both components will re-establish. The outer, exposed layers of cells in the
cambial region of both scion and stock produce parenchyma cells which soon
interlock. Certain cells are transformed into new vascular tissue, xylem towards
the inside and phloem towards the outside, thus establishing the vascular
connection between the scion and the stock, a requirement for a successful
graft union.
28
FIG 15. Large amount of cullusing

tissue in a plant bench grafted, after
staying 20 days in a callusing box.
• Changes of grafting on the characters of stock and scion.

Grafting may alter the nutritional status of the plant, affecting the
characteristics of either stock or scion susceptible to changes in nutrition.
Grafted vines may be either more or less vigorous or more or less fruitful,
produce larger or smaller berries of darker or lighter color, and ripen their fruit
earlier or later than ungrafted vines of the same variety. These effects are the
same as those caused by nutritional changes in soil, climate and cultural
conditions or management.
Certainly, these types of changes are not always observable. For instance,
the advancement of maturity is very rare, but not its delay. This depends
mainly on the vigour of the plant which is easily increased by using vigorous
rootstocks. No changes in varietal characteristics have been produced by
grafting. A white grape retains its white color, even if it has been grafted to a
black variety. A muscat variety will give muscat flavored grapes, no matter on
what stock it is grown. A phylloxera resistant stock retains its resistance,
regardless of the scion variety grafted on it.
• Type of grafting systems.

In general, grafting methods can be classified as indoor systems (bench
grafting) and outdoor or field methods. This latter method, when performed
on adult plants, is also called "topworking".
In the past, bench grafting was the most common method of producing
grafted vines of the desired fruiting variety on roots with different
characteristics, like resistance to phylloxera or to some species of nematodes.
Usually the work is done in some well-adapted warehouse where the operators
make the grafts on a bench in late winter or early spring. The material used
for scions and for stocks are cane cuttings made during the winter at
29
pruning time. Thus, this material is in full dormancy and kept in cold storage
for some time and used when required.
All the wood used in this system of grafting should be selected in the same
way as cuttings to be planted in a nursery. The canes for both scion and
rootstock cuttings are often cut 1 m long and cut as desired for grafting.
Just before grafting, the stock and scion material are removed from storage
and soaked in water for 12 to 24 hours. The stocks are cut 30 cm in length
and scions to a single bud. The rootstock buds have to be removed with a
sharp knife or pruning shears to prevent the growth of stock suckers that
sometimes, inhibit the union with the scion. Both stock and scion should be
graded according to diameter at the top of the stock, where the graft is to be
made. Accuracy in grading greatly facilitates and speeds the grafting
operations.
This labor may be done by hand (hand grafting), using the whip and tongue
system, whereby a long, slant whip or diagonal cut is made in both elements
and a tongue is built with a second cut. With some skill, the tongue of the
stock is introduced into the cut of the scion, and viceversa (FIG 16).
FIG 16. Whip and tongue system of grafting. a) Slanting cut canes to be
grafted. b) Second cut to make a tongue. c) both components already fitted
and tied with elastic ribbon. (Adapted from Winkler et al, 1974.)
Different types of machines are often used for this kind of graft, like the
"omega type" that makes a cut like the final letter of the Greek alphabet, both
in the stock and scion, but leaving in one of them a prominence like a
trunnion, and in the other, a hole. Both elements should fit very well (FIG
17). The saw type is an electrical machine that makes cuts like those used
to assemble the boards of a drawer. The whip and tongue cuts can
30
also be done mechanically with a machine that makes them in both partners in
only one movement. There is also the spike or V-shaped cut machine, in which
the cut is made with two knives in a way that will be described later for
topworking, making a cleft in the top of the rootstock cutting in which the
spike is inserted (FIG 18).
FIG 17. The tool to make "omega" cuts.
FIG 18. One bud spikes or

"V" shaped scion cut by a
special machine.
Once completed, all these types of bench grafting should be placed under
favourable conditions of moisture, temperature and aeration to obtain the
growth of the callus. As all the elements employed are dormant at the time of
grafting, the temperature must reach 25° to 28°C to allow the growth
31
processes to bring about the rooting of the stock, the sprouting of the scion,
and the joining of one with the other.
One way to accomplish these tasks is to place bundles of newly made graft
in large boxes ("bins") stratified with wet sawdust, and to use a solution of a
fungicide, like Euparen, Botran or others, to keep the callus free of Botrytis
infection, since the temperature and humidity are ideal for its development. In
about 20 days, the callus should be formed, appearing as a mass of white
tissue along the union. This is the moment to paint this tissue with a warm
mixture made of 1 parts bee wax and 2 part lanolin. This mixture melts at
60°C, and should be applied with a small brush, or else the scion and union
should be dipped in it at a temperature just above the melting point. After
cooling, the dip can be repeated if necessary. If the wax is too hot, it may
injure the callus or the bud.
The grafts can be planted in small pots or containers, such as small plastic
bags, or cartons, and are kept for 2 or 3 weeks in a plastic house with a 70%
shade cloth to harden the callus. They should be put in the containers with the
basal end 5 cm from the bottom of the pot to allow room for good root
development.
• Field grafting.
There are many systems to make field graftings. Usually, in small plants in
nurseries or in newly planted vineyards, hand grafts of the same type
described in bench grafting ("whip and tongue" and "chip budding") can be
made. Also, some commercial nurserymen plant rootstocks in a, nursery and
graft a number of plants one year later, according to the clients' orders relative
to the quantity of each combination of fruit and rootstock varieties, the
number of grafted plants to be delivered as bare roots and ready to be
established in a definitive site in the vineyard during the next winter. In this
case, chip budding is the most commonly used, since it can be done during
summer taking the buds from mature wood of the same vegetative period. The
bud will weld only in that period and will not burst until the next spring.
Nevertheless, the already grafted plants can be dug up from the nursery and
planted in the vineyard to begin growth on site when conditions become
favourable.
Another type of hand grafting is "chip budding", (a"chip" like those

woodcutters make on the trunks of trees to extract pieces to weaken them and
cause their fall). In one bud chip budding obtained from the fruiting variety or
removed by two cuts at different angles, and then is placed in a similar cut in
the rootstock cutting. After this, the budwood just inserted in the stock is
firmly tied, leaving only the bud itself free (FIG 19).
When taking rooted grafted plants to the field, the union should be left
above ground level to avoid the growth of roots from the scion, which can
provoke the death of the rootstock (FIG 20).
32
Other types of field grafting are used for changing varieties. In fact, if such
a change is needed, grafting is much better and faster than pulling up the old
vineyard and planting a new one. For adult vineyards, the "cleft graft" and
the "T bud" are the most commonly used grafting systems.
FIG 19. Chip bud grafting. 1-2. Chip bud is cut from the scion wood. 3. Matching cuts
are made in the stock. 4-5. The chip bud is inserted and wrapped with plastic tape and
fitted in a new plant in late summer. 6. Scion shoot begins to grow the following
spring. 7. The top is cut off the rootstock and the budding tape is also cut. (Adapted
from Nicholas et al, IN Viticulture, Winetitles, Australia. 1995.)
FIG 20. Rootstock destroyed by an error

in the plantation of bench grafted plants.
The union was placed too deep, under the
level of the soil, so roots emerged from
the scion and caused the roostock death.
33
FIG 21. Spikes or "V" shaped pieces of cane with one bud preserved in humid sawdust
in a box during topwork operation to avoid dehydration. Notice the hand machine used
to cut spikes.
• Cleft grafting.
This graft should be made at the end of winter or the beginning of spring,
or even later if the wood of the fruiting variety has been kept in cold storage.
Vines with trunks over 3 cm in diameter are suitable for cleft grafting.
The vine is sawn off 20 to 120 cm above ground level, some ten days before
making the graft. This allows the trunk to bleed, i. e., it permis the almost pure
water already aborbed from the soil that fills the conductive tubes of the xylem
to leak. Otherwise, if the graft is made immediately after sawing the trunk, this
water will inhibit the formation of the union because of the shortage of
oxygen. Thus, the callus can not grow in water. After the ten days, the trunk is
split to a depth of 4 to 5 cm with a knife and a hammer, and the cut kept open
with a metal wedge like a screw driver to allow one or two spikes to be placed
in site, the cambium of both spikes coinciding with that of the trunk. The
spikes or "V" shaped little pieces of cane with a bud at their tops, can be made
by hand with a sharp knife, or with a machine with two knives on a chassis
operated by a crowbar (FIG 21).
The screw driver is then removed, causing the spikes to stay firmly fitted.
The split between the spikes should be filled with saw dust already moist with
a fungicide solution. This material should also be applied to all the sawn
surfaces of the trunk and then covered with a plastic bag of appropriate size.
Little holes in the bag that allow the ends of both spikes with the buds to
protrude. The trunk should be tied firmly a few centimeters below the saw cut
and the holes in the plastic sealed with a piece of masking tape (FIG 22).
34
FIG 22. Two aspects of a top

grafting practical training
class for Egyptian technical
personnel given by this
author.
• "T" bud grafting.

This kind of grafting is also used to change varieties and has to be done
late in the spring, coinciding with bloom. To obtain good results, the canes of
the fruiting variety have to be cold stored to avoid bursting until the labor can
be done. This method may be useful on vines that are 3 to 15 cm in diameter.
The smooth curve of the surface of these large stocks makes possible a fairly
close fit with the flat back surface of the bud piece of small size cane.
35
FIG 23. 1. Knife used for "T"-budding. 2.

Three steps in the extraction of a bud
from a cane used as scion. Two cuts, one
beneath the bud itself, and the second,
as a slant, in a lower position on the
cane. Bud is ready to be grafted. 3. "T"
shape cut made in a old trunk to receive
the bud. 4. Opening of the bark to
facilitate the introduction of the bud. 5.
The bud already in place and the "T"
graft completely wrapped with plastic
ribbon, leaving only the bud protruding
from the wrapping.
36
At bloom, the bark of large vines is thick and will separate readily from the
central wood, even as late as June in Egypt. This is because the cambium in
these months is very active, producing cells that are very succulent with thin
friable walls.
A bud and a thin layer of wood are sliced from a mature cane and placed
beneath the bark of the stock. To remove the bud, the cut should be started 3
cm below the bud and the knife dawn straight upward just beneath the bud 2
to 3 cm above it. Then the shield-shaped bud piece should be cut off straight
across near the top of the first cut. The back side of the bud piece must be
smooth and straight.
The plants are sawn off, and then, a few centimeters under this cut, a T-
shaped incision is made through the bark. To insert the bud, the bark on each
side of the vertical cut should be peeled up just below the horizontal cut. The
bud piece is then pushed down until it is entirely covered by the bark of the
stock, with only the bud projecting through the vertical slit. The whole should
be tied with budding-rubber strips or with grafting plastic-ribbon plastic (FIG
23).
The bud should burst no more than 15 days later. As in the previous case,
the new shoot must be tied to a wire or post to secure it so it cannot be
broken.
Irrigation of the stocks as soon as possible is very important. Humid soils

help to accelerate bud burst. This process should start as soon as the
temperature is favorable. Usually, the shoots initiate their growth very fast,
because they have all the root system and all the reserves in the trunk of the
stock to trigger it. Thus, it is necessary to fasten the growing shoots to a wire
or a post as soon as they reach a size of no more than 30 to 40 cm.
Otherwise, their weight can cause the rupture of the graft, especially if the
location is windy.
• Final warning.
A general advice for all the systems of field grafting in old plants, as well as
in nursery rootings, is that all suckers growing from the trunk must be rubbed
off as soon as they appear.
37
E STABLISHING A NEW VINEYARD
A favorable combination of locale, variety of grapes, and technical management of

the plants and the grapes themselves is essential to success in any vineyard. The
climatic requirements for grape growing have already been discussed in this
handbook. Now, we will assume that the site, considering irrigation availability,
good soil fertility and physical characteristics, etc., has been selected. Thus, we will
refer only to the plantation itself.
With drip irrigation, the topography of the site has lost much of its importance.
Using compensate drippers, one can establish a vineyard where some years ago it
would have been considered nearly impossible. At least in Chile, vineyards have
climbed to hills of an a incredible height (FIG 24). Fortunately, this is not the case
for Egypt, where almost all of the territory is flat or with minimal topographic
irregularities. Nevertheless, depth, texture and composition of the soil can affect
yield, quality and cultivation costs. Deep fertile soils favor heavy crops and lower
the costs of production. Shallower and less fertile soils cannot compete with those
in the production of low cost grapes, unless a very good fertilization program can
be established, but obviously fertilizers are expensive. From this standpoint, the
choice of a soil is fundamental.
FIG 24. Chilean vineyard climbing the hills.
The presence of specific vine pests or diseases should be considered. Egypt

is free of phylloxera, but various species of nematodes can be found. Their
development is favored by the sandy composition of most of its agricultural soils.
As in the case for nursery establishment, again we recommend making an analysis
of the nematode population before choosing a vineyard plantation. If the species
and number of this type of parasite render uncertain the future of the vineyard,
fumigation is not the way to solve the problem. Fumigation is too costly for an
important area and never solves this problem completely. Nematodes cannot
38
be fully eradicated by soil fumigation. The population lessens, but after a few
years, it will increase to its previous level, or even a greater if the nematodes find
enough nutritive resources, such as vine roots.
The site of the future vineyard should be cleared of trees, stumps, rocks
and any other obstruction that could interfere with the care of the vineyard. There
may sometimes be a reluctance to remove trees that have aesthetic value, but a
decision to leave them is often regretted later; as well as competing with a
surprisingly large area of vines, trees within or close to the edge of a vineyard
harbor parasites and are an obstacle to mechanization, especially aerial spraying.
Cultivated land that has been well farmed may require little or no clearing.
Virgin soils always require great labor to prepare them. Cultivated land that has
been poorly farmed usually contains many noxious weeds. Treatment to eradicate
or at least reduce the pressure of such plants before establishing the vineyards
always pays off. Noxious weeds can be eradicated by using specific chemical
herbicides, according to the species in the field, or by special methods of
cultivation.
The soil should be prepared by a good ploughing The depth to which the
soil should be broken up depends on its nature and previous treatment. Where it is
uniform in texture and not depleted in fertility, and without having plough sole,
ordinary ploughing from 20 to 25 cm, like preparing for wheat sowing, is enough.
If poor practice has permitted the development of a plough sole or heavy use by
cattle has formed a hard layer, subsoiling or deep ploughing should be used to
break these up, especially along the planting lines (FIG 25).
FIG 25. Deep ploughing along planting lines to improve the soil conditions.
When the soil is non-uniform in depth, or if water penetration is not steady, the
irrigation system must be designed to meet these irregularities and the water
applied accordingly. If this is not taken into account, the shallow soils will be over
irrigated, thus building up a water table, or the deep soils will not be used to their
full potential owing to a lack of water.
39
Any new vineyard plantation should be planned according to the characteristics of

the land. Long and straight rows uniformly spaced with adequate roads and turning
spaces make cultivation easier. Widely spaced rows are cheaper to cultivate than
those closely planted, since large implements can be used. The cost of ploughing
for a given surface is entirely proportional to the size of the tractor and the tools
used. The bigger the machinery, the cheaper the ploughing.
The planting of rootlings is preferred over cuttings. However, there are examples
where, with careful management and good conditions, vineyards have been
successfully established from cuttings. In fact, such vineyards may develop better
than those planted with a rooted vine one year later, because the root system
grows in its definitive place, without suffering any damage that requires a delay for
recovery. Favorable factors include warm, well-drained soils, good water and
nutrient supply, freedom from weeds, pests and diseases, and the use of callused
or hormone treated cuttings.
Hand planting of grapevine rootlings is usually done in holes of adequate size,

large enough for the roots to spread out. It is advisable to place a mixture of
fertilizer (50 to 100 grams of urea, potasium muriate and triple phosphate in equal
parts) at the bottom of the hole, and then cover it with 5 cm of the removed soil
before placing the rootling. Once this labor has been done, the hole is refilled with
the soil and tamped lightly. During spring or summer, this labor can also be
performed with plants that have been grown in plastic bags, especially when
grafted on tolerant rootstocks (FIG 26). The bags should be distributed very
rapidly on the land and speedily planted to avoid heat influence on the root system
(FIG 27).
FIG 26. A) Grafting a plant with the chip-bud method during late summer of the
previous year to obtain bagged plants ready to place in site in spring or summer of the
following year. B) Two plants already grafted on tolerant rootstocks to be taken to the
planting site.
40
FIG 27. Rapid distribution of grafted and bagged plants to be immediately

located in holes that are made easily and quickly in well-prepared land.
For large new plantings, it is desirable to use a plough fitted to the 3-point
linkage of a tractor to make irrigation furrows. In slightly humid soils, plants can be
distributed and set very rapidly, and then followed, as soon as possible, with an
irrigation (FIG 28).
FIG 28. A group of workers

planting the new vineyards
with rootlings during winter
time.
41
T RELLISES OR SUPPORTS FOR GRAPEVINES .

T HE S PANISH " PARRON "
The grapevine, like any other member of the Vitis genus, is a climbing
plant, provided with tendrils on most of its nodes to sustain the shoots when
growing. These need some kind of support for at least the first two or three years
to strengthen the increasing weight. After this period, and mostly in rainy areas
and non-irrigated soils, the plants form a small trunk that eliminates the need for a
support if a very drastic pruning system is used. Such vineyards are common for
low quality wine production. This, of course, is not the case of Egyptian viticulture,
where the climate does not allow grape culture without irrigation and the crop is
mainly grown for table grape production.
As in any other country where table grapes are produced, it is absolutely

necessary to build permanent trellises to support the foliage of the cultivated
grapevines.
Several types of trellis can be built for this purpose. In almost every grape
region of the world, grape growers have invented or selected one or two kinds of
support. The main condition that a trellis system must meet for the production of
quality table grapes is to allow easy access to both foliage and clusters with
chemicals for pest and disease control, with hormones such as giberellic acid, and
with the operator's hands for bunch pollination, thinning of clusters or berries,
and foliage management.
Over the last decade, there has been an increasing awareness of the role
that foliage management can play in improving the quality of table grapes. This
continues to be an active area of research. Chilean viticulture has obtained world
recognition for the quality of its grape production because almost 96% of its table
grape area has been established using only one system: the Spanish "parron" (FIG
29), an overhead horizontal trellis of beams and wires. Chile has increased its
42
export market of table grapes to 1 million tons in 1997, with a value of almost
$US 380 million. The principal consumers of Chilean grapes are the USA, and
today, Americans are used to finding grapes year-round. Out of every three kilos
they eat, one is from Chile (Table # 2).
TABLE# 2
USA TABLE GRAPE COMSUMPTION
KILOS PER CAPITAND PER YEAR
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
USA CHILE OTHERS TOTAL
1969 4.2 0.8 1.2 6.2
1970 4.8 1.2 1.3 7.3
1980 5.1 1.7 1.3 8.1
1990 5.5 2.2 1.6 9.3
1996 7.4 4.4 1.8 13.6
Based on these reasons, this author feels that the Spanish "parron" should be
adopted as the type of trellis for quality table grapes for export in Egypt. This
system is described in this hanbook, including the steps for building the trellis itself,
and for the necessary foliage and grape management.
The objections usually given for this type of trellis are the high cost involved
in its building and management, and the excessive shading it provides that
43
can affect fruit differentiation in the buds.
Let me comment on these objections. About the cost, the Spanish "parron"
can be more expensive than other systems, but, in the long run, it is less costly
than the systems usually employed in Egypt. The iron "Y" structures are more
expensive than the simple materials used in the Spanish "parron". Compared with
the California "telephone" structure, with two crosspieces (the double "T"), where
each plant is supported by a post, the Spanish "parron" is much cheaper. Starting
from already prepared soil, leveled, ploughed and harrowed, the direct cost of a 4
by 4 m plantation in the Spanish "parron" system is no more than 70% of the cost
of the "telephone" system, which requires central posts of better quality than those
used in a "parron" because they have to be self-supporting, buried at least 50 cm
in the soil. The central post in the Spanish "parron" is positioned only on the
surface of the soil. Moreover, the number of posts used in a vineyard formed in
the "telephone" system, planted at a spacing of 2.4 m between rows, and at 1.5 m
between vines, is 2,666 per hectare. In the Spanish "parron", established at 4 x 4
m, only 625 posts are used per hectare. Furthermore, maintenance costs of a
"telephone" system are much higher than those for the Spanish "parron". In the
"telephone" system, as well as in any other less compact one or made with
galvanized wires, the wires should be stretched once a year. The Spanish "parron",
a very compact structure, does not need such expensive care. Its firmness lies in
its peripherial structure composed of a chain of very strong wire supported on the
higher part of each sloping head post, which, in turn, is firmly tied with strong
wires (called "reins") to the anchor buried in a way that the post, the rein and the
ground form an isosceles triangle. This provides a tremendous capacity to sustain,
together with the vertical central posts, like a table does, the weight of both the
foliage and the grapes.
FIG. 30. Spanish "parron" during grape dormancy in the Valley of Copiapo, 820 km
north of Santiago.
44
At the end of the Spanish "parron" section, a comparative estimate of the

cost for different systems of trellises, and an estimation of the cost of the Spanish
"parron" using different materials are included, with comments on the advantages
of each.
With respect to the second objection to the Spanish "parron" trellis which refers
to the supposed excessive shadow it provides, to this author fells that there is not a
justification for it at all. Since the foliage is distributed in an overhead and horizontal
plane (FIG 30 and 31), the buds that are to be choser for the next year´s pruning,
would be shaded tardy in the
preceding vegetative period, which is
quite different to what happens in
many othersystems of trellis (for
instance, three-wire vertically trained
vineyards, Californian ¨T¨ and double
"T" trellis), where there is a mass
formed by leaves and shoots, and
where ithe fruit canes are shaded
early in the vegetative period, and the
clusters get mixed and confused with
the shoots and leaves. This is what
occurs in most of the systems in
which the foliage is in a vertical plane,
receiving sunlight only during some
hours of the day.
The better quality of the

grapes that can be obtained with
vines on the Spanish "parron", as
compared with that on any of the
other systems, despite the lesser
number of plants employed in it,
confirms these statements.
FIG 31. The same Spanish "parron" of the

previous figure during summer time.
• Building a Spanish "parron"

This is a labor that requires good knowledge and training. A Spanish
"parron" consists of a compact structure, where plants are trained in an
overhead position, like in a table with many feet, each foot sustaining the
trunk of a vine plant, whose foliage stands on a crossed-wire grid placed
horizontally at 2.1 m from the soil level.
Usually a block ("cuartel") of Spanish "parron" is built of about five
hectares (approximately 12.5 faddams), that is 250 m wide per 200 m deep.
45
• Parts of a Spanish "parron".

As already mentioned, the Spanish "parron" is made up of the following elements.
* Corner Posts, that can be made of wood, concrete, or iron tube. All types of
corner Posts should be 4 m long, and those of wood, 10 in wide. The one made
of concrete, that can be made in wood mold of board of 10 in per 1 in with an
iron frame similiar to those used for building structures, made by 4 iron bars of
1/2 in and sustained by 1/4 inches bars embraced every 50 cm.
The concrete post should be made with a strong mix using 275 kg (6.5 bags)
plus 0.4 m3 of sand, and 0.6 m3 of finely broken stones per cubic meter.
* Head Posts measure 3 m long per 4 to 5 inches. They can be made of wood
or cement, but with molds of 8 inches wide, and a frame of iron. The
composition of the mixed cement should be the same as that used for corner
posts.
* Anchors support the structure on the soil. There are many different types of
anchors, like those made with a simple stone tied with iron wires and buried 0.8 to 1 m
deep. This type is not
recommended for all cases,
because in humid and acid soils, or
in soils rich in alkaline components,
the iron can be eventually
weakened, causing the collapse of
the parron. Most convenient are
the concrete anchors (disc or
inverted "T" types) than can be
built on the farm with molds (FIG
32). These concrete posts or
anchors are made in molds without
a bottom cover. They are simply
placed in a film of plastic over
cement soil, and filled with the
mixed cement. They have to be
stay in site for three days and
wetted periodically to obtain a
good set. Then, the molds can be
removed, but the concrete pieces
should be left for another three
days before being moved to the
site of the parron.
FIG 32. Wood mold to build a

cemented anchor with an iron frame,
and details of the Spanish parron
construction with a double-post
corner.
Another good type of anchor is a stainless steel plate that is self-buried. The plate
shape allows, by means of the rotation of the whole anchor either by hand or
with a tractor, penetration of the soil to reach almost 0.8 m deep.
46
The following wires are used:

* Chains and reins, which can be two-file of No. 6 galvanized, or three-file of No.
17/15 galvanized and semi steeled, or two-files of 1.6 mm stainless steel wire. The
best results are obtained with stainless steel, especially in Egypt where, as we have
observed, the galvanized wires that are available have been imported mainly from
a former communist country, where this material has been stored for many years
in deficient conditions.
FIG 33. Chilean workers building a Spanish parron. Notice the heavy
concrete head posts being installed.
* Master wires supported by the central posts in both directions. These wires have
to support the thinner wires that support maintain the weight of the foliage and the
grapes. The master wires are tied near the top of each post. The type of wires
that can be used as masters are Nº 12 galvanized, Nº 17/15 galvanized and semi-
steeled, and 1.6 mm stainless steel, in the longer lines of the parron (with 200 m)
and combined with 1.4 mm for the shorter ones (150 m).
* Grid wires, four thin wires placed between two posts in both directions. Here the
Nº 14 galvanized, or the 2 mm stainless steel wire is used.
The stainless steel wire has the advantage of being almost everlasting, and does
not suffer corrosion from the use of chemicals. It does not stretch like the others
do. It is easier to place and if used correctly, although a little more expensive, it
proves to be cheaper in the long run.
• Steps in the building of a Spanish parron for where each corner and head
post.
Two corner posts should be placed in each corner of the parron to keep each side
of the parron independent from the other and prevent it from being pulled down
47
by the neighbour side should this collapse (See FIG 32).
At the beginning, each corner post is sustained temporarily by a couple of posts.

After anchors for sustaining the corner post are buried, the reins between the tops
of the corners and the anchors are tied.
The chain is then extended on the four sides of the parron and tied strongly. With
this action, the limits of the parron are established.
One head post is placed every ten location points, and the master wires are tied
with the corresponding post on the other side. In this way, all the remaining head
posts can be aligned. A good Spanish parron has its head posts perfectly aligned.
Once all the master wires have been set, it is easy to locate the remaining central
posts.
One half of the grid wires can be placed during the second winter and the other
half during the third winter.
Materials needed to build a block of 5 hectare (250 x 200 m)

Spanish parron with plants located at 4 x 4 m (wires not included).
Materials needed for a five-hectare parron:
8 Corner Posts
220 Head Posts
236 Anchors (16 for Corner Posts)
3,100 Central Posts
3,260 Grapevines (625 per hectare)
Wires: quantity and cost

The type of galvanized wire available in the Egyptian market are mainly provided
by Germany, from the stocks maintained in storage since the fall of the East
German Popular Republic, sold very cheap but without a quality warranty. The
mean consumer price of this wire is around 2,100 L.E. (including taxes) per ton,
which is about US$660 per ton or US$0.66/kilogram. This price is the same for
2.00, 2.20, 2.70, and 3.00 mm wires.
The price of stainless steel provided by Spain for the Egyptian market, including all
expenses like taxes, transportation, etc. is as follows: 1.2 mm US$4.237/ton; 1.4
mm, US$3.704/ton; 1.6 mm, US$3.590/ton.
The equivalents of these different kinds of wire is shown in the following tables:
Table No. 3 shows the standards of stainless steel wires for building a block of a 5-
hectare Spanish parron. Table No. 4 compares the characteristics of the stainless
steel and the galvanized iron. The amount of wires needed and the cost is specified
in Table No. 5
48
Table No. 3
Standards of Stainless Steel Wire According To Diameter
Diameter Resistance Meters Weight Guaranteed development
(mm) (k) (per kilo) (k/bobbin) (m/bobbin)
1.2 150 115 13.35 1.500
1.4 200 82 13.30 1.100
1.6 260 64 12.65 800
Table No. 4
Comparison Between Stainless Steel and Cultivated Iron Wire
Galvanized Wire Stainless Steel Wire Savings
Diameter Kilos Mts/Kilo Diameter Kilos Mts/Kilo in weight
(mm) 1,000 (mm) 1.000 m
m
2.20 29.65 33 1.2 8.82 115 70%
2.40 35.29 28 1.4 12.01 82 66%
2.70 44.66 22 1.6 15.68 64 65%
Table No. 5
Cost of Stainless Steel Compared To Galvanized Iron Wire
Galvanized Stainless Steel
Meters Diam. Kilo Price/kl Total Diam. Kilo Price/kl Total
mm $ US $ US Kilo $US $US
mm
Reins 2,360 2.7 107 0.66 71 1.6 37 4.23 156
Chain 1,800 2.7 82 0.66 54 1.6 28 4.23 109
Master 27,000 2.4 964 0.66 636 1.4 330 3.70 1,221
Grid 102,480 2.2 3.105 0.66 2,049 1.2 900 3.10 2,790
Total $US 2,810 $US 4,276
As shown in Table No. 4, the use of galvanized wire is apparently more convenient
than the use of stainless steel. Nevertheless, the price of galvanized wire available
in Egyptian metal stores is not real because it is German wire at sale prices. In
Chile, its price is about $US 1.20/kl while in Cairo, the author has seen wire that
was peeling at the points where the wire was bent, and, a week later, the wire
started showing signs of oxidation. My advice to the Egyptian grape growers is to
build their vineyards, whatever the system with good materials. A new vineyard is
installed to last at least 25 or more years. The expense in better wire, better posts,
better soil preparation and better plants is worth it.
Characteristics of Stainless Steel or Inoxfil Wires (Manufacturated for Acerinox

Co., Spain.)
The following characteristics of the Inoxfil wire make it convenient for use in vineyards:
• Null corrosion when in contact with the soil. There is only a loss of
brilliancy, but this is only on the surface.
49
• Great resistance to chemical actions. In this material, no damage from

pesticides of any type of chemical occurs, not even from those that contain copper
sulfate, like as in bordeaux mixture, or calcium polysulfide, that frequently rusts
other types of wire.
• Minimal index of elasticity. Once installed there is no need to tense it
periodically, as happens with iron wire.
• High mechanical resistance. This is a valuable quality, since it withstands
shocks by tractors or trailers.
• Null additional cost of maintenance. Due to the absence of corrosion, it
will not to break from rusting.
•Low cost of installation. Rustless wire is sold in low weight bobbins so it is
easy to handle, avoiding embroilment. Furthermore, this material is not tied to the
posts or to other wires, but requires a "gripple", which is a small metal piece that
grasps the wire in both directions and is easily fixed in place with a special tool.
50
S OME WORDS ABOUT WEED CONTROL
Inadequate attention to the young grapevine's water and nutrient requirements

and the detrimental effects of diseases or pests during the period between planting
of a new vineyard and the training of the vine framework can prolong the
establishment phase and thus increase costs.
Weed control in the first growing season of a young vineyard is particularly

important. Small vines are very susceptible to weed competition. Adjacent weeds
retard vine growth either by competing for water and nutrients, or by smothering
the vine foliage. Removal by hand of heavy weed growth close to the vine is
expensive and inevitably results in the accidental loss of a proportion of vines.
The recommended pre-emergent herbicides during the first two years are
Devrinol (napropamide), Surflan (oryzakin), Goal (oxyfluorfen), and Solicam
(norflourfen), at specific rates. Treflan (trifluralin) can be used as preplanting
treatment if weed presure is heavy. All these materials need to be mixed into the
soil and wetted by rain or irrigation within 20 days. Simazine is another good pre-
emergence herbicide; it is cheap and does not need incorporation into the soil, but
must be used carefully because it can damage young vines, especially in sandy
soils.
Where herbicides are not used, early and frequent tillage along the planting line
is needed to prevent weeds from becoming a major problem. Different machinery
and implements are available for this purpose. Such implements work best if there
is a mound made by hand or with a V-knife plow that raises some soil along the
trellis line (FIG 34).
FIG 34. A newly planted

parron showing a mound
along the rows where the
herbicides are easily
applied and the interline
is kept clean with
frequent tillages.
51
T RAINING OF GRAPEVINES
The purpose of training (also called formation pruning) in the

establishment of a good vineyard is to obtain vines that meet certain
requirements, such as having a shape that facilitates cultivation, insect and
disease control, winter pruning and harvesting, and that also are economical
to maintain and capable of producing good quality grapes of the desired
type and good quality. Thus, in a well-trained vineyard, the aims of a
pruning system are to facilitate harvesting, to permit cultivation operations,
sanitary controls, use of power equipment, and cluster spacing to prevent
the accumulation of fruit masses. A good training system should bear a leaf
surface in the amount that provides good sunlight exposure and keeps the
permanent parts of the plant free of large wounds.
From the beginning of training and pruning the young vines, the grower must
know the final shape desired in the mature vines. Otherwise, he will make errors
and the mature vines will be defective. Their correction, if feasible, is costly and
requires large wounds.
When vines are planted on their own roots, only the two-bud spur of the
rootling should be above the surface of the ground. With grafted vines, the graft
union must also be above the surface. If not, the scion will root and the rootstock
may die, and the objective and effort of the grafting labor will be lost. After some
time, the results of a nematode atack appears on these roots. (FIG 35).
FIG 35. This vineyard has been planted in heavy parasitic nematode infected soil
Bench-grafted plants were placed too deep, with the union under level ground causing
the growth of adventitious roots from the scion resulting in the death of the rootstock.
The scion roots were attacked by the nematodes.
52
There are different systems for vine training, according to the environmental
conditions and the vigor and type of the variety. In soils of poor to moderate
fertility, with not very vigorous varieties and in warm to cool regions, training
should be slower than in a rich soil with vigorous varieties in warm to hot localities.
We see both situations in Fig. 36. The first case, we call "traditional", is the
most frequently used all over the world for wine grapes and sometimes for table
grapes. No summer pruning is done, and staking is optional. The objective of not
pruning is to allow the root to increase its growth, the bigger the foliar surface, the
stronger the root development. Where variety, heat, soil and water favor very rapid
growth, the first two seasons of the traditional system work can be done in one
season. Therefore, the treatment for the second year, as described here for more
usual conditions, will be done the first year.
53
Nevertheless, there are situations still more favorable where a second

system can be used. This is what we call the "precocious production" method.
First, let us continue with the description of the stages in the traditional
system. At the end of the first growth, the young vines have made an above-
ground growth of at least one or more canes 40 to 100 cm long, and they should
have a strong, wide spread, and penetrating root system.
The vines are pruned in winter after the leaves have fallen. Only one cane is
reserved, and this is usually cut back to two buds. In the second year, if the
growth is vigorous a new cane may be left, but it must be 0.8 cm (the width of a
common lead pencil) in diameter or more. Moreover, vines should be staked or
trellised if these operations have not been done before.
In spring, as soon as the new shoots are long enough to be tied (about 20
cm), all of them but the one that is strong and well positioned for growing
vertically along the stake should be rubbed off. All other shoots should be
removed from the old wood as soon as they begin to develop, and laterals that
grow on the lower half of the reserved shoot broken off. The selected shoot has
to be fastened to the stake every 30 cm until it reaches about 50 cm over the
desired height. Then it has to be topped at the height of the trunk. In a Spanish
parron this must be done a few centimeters below the master wires in order to
stimulate lateral branching. The four upper laterals should remain untouched and
the rest tipped off to stop their growth.
FIG 37. During training, each

selected shoot to form the trunk
should be fastened to the
corresponding # post every 30
cms.
54
FIG 38. The selected shoot is left to grow until it reaches about 50 cm over the desired
height. Then it has to be topped at the height of the trunk. In a Spanish parron this
must be done a few centimeters below the master wires.
During the next ? pruning time the plant trunks with more than 1.5 cm at
the crown (near the soil) height should be selected and reserved. If not, cut them
again to 2 to 4 buds. If the cane is wide enough, but it has not developed good
laterals, cut the trunk at the first node below the height where the head is desired
and eliminate the weak laterals. If these laterals are sufficiently strong, cut them
to 2 buds, as spurs, to allow growth of the branches in the next spring (FIG 39).
55
FIG 39. If, at the end of the growing season, the shoots of a newly planted parron are
too thin, it is advisable to cut them, leaving only two buds in order to obtain a stronger
trunk the following year.
In Egypt, where the non-occurrence of winter chilling in some years can

cause the leaves not to fall on time, it may be necessary to apply a defoliant
chemical to help leaf abscition. Any dinitro commonly used for general winter
application as a prevention against future attacks of oidio (Uncinula necator),
some insects (mealybugs, thrips), or mites, acts as a defoliant. Thus, dinitros
(Selinon, Gebutox or Dinitro Ortho-Cresol) act with a double purpose: defoliation
and sanitation, but these materials should be used only if the canes are matured.
Otherwise, they could burn the still green tissue of immature shoots.
From this stage four principal branches should be formed in the Spanish
parron, all supported in the crossing master wires. Later, from these, four
secondary branches must be left, each one on the same side of each principal
branch; thus, the foliage distribution over the horizontal structure of the parron is
excellent. This scheme is appropriate for every variety.
The second system to train the vines, which we call "precocious production"
can be performed in favorable conditions of vigor (almost all table grape varieties
meet this requirement). In the first summer after planting, a shoot must be
selected, rubbing off all the rest. This shoot will be tied to the stake, permitting
the growth of all its laterals. When the tip of the shoot reaches 50 cm over the
height of the parron, it will be cut to 5 cm below this height, tipping all the
laterals except the four chosen for branches, During the next winter, all the
56
laterals have to be eliminated except the four selected for branches. Sometimes,
when the conditions are too favorable, the growth in diameter of these four
branches can be excessive for the sap conductivity of the trunk, resulting in an
unbalanced situation. If this is the case, five or six 4-bud laterals of the trunk
should be maintained to devigorize and balance the excessive growth of the
branches. In any case, in this second summer, some crop can be obtained and
although its quality will probably not be excellent, some extra income can be
earned if sold in the local market (See FIG 34).
57
P RUNING OF BEARING GRAPEVINES .
Pruning for production, or better, the management of the pruning labor is

perhaps one of the most important cultural operations carried out in the vineyard
and, after harvesting, is the most expensive and labor consuming operation.
Pruning is defined as the removal of living parts of a plant, such as shoots,

canes and leaves to modify the behavior of the parts conserved on the plant.
Pruning includes removal of inflorescences, bunches, and newly set or immature
berries. As these last treatments are so specialized, they will be mentioned in a
separate chapter.
Winter pruning, also called "dry" pruning because of the appearance of the
plant when done, may be carried out during the dormant period. Pruning has
important implications for vine function and its influences are seen in the form
and size of the vine, the balance between vegetative and fruit growth, and the
quantity and quality of fruit production.
The aims of pruning are as follows:

• To establish and maintain the vine in a shape that facilitates vineyard
management.
• To produce fruit of a desired quality.
• To select nodes which will produce fruitful shoots.
• To regulate the number of shoots and hence the number and size of
bunches.
• To regulate the vegetative growth of the vine.
Pruning is the cheapest way to eliminate most of the potential production of

a vine to avoid flower abortion and to obtain an invigoration of the grape bunches
and berries left, which results in improved grape quality. This is achieved by
adjusting the number and position of nodes during the pruning operations.
There are two general types of winter pruning where in almost all the
known "systems" could be included. One, which was the first proposed, is the
so-called Guyot system, where the shape of the arbour is composed of "units",
each formed by two kinds of pruning elements: long bearer canes and 2 bud
replacement spurs. With long-cane pruning varieties (Thompson Seedless and its
descendants), two or three bearing canes are grown from each of these eight
branches, so, if 2.5 of them are placed on each branch, there will be about 15
canes in each plant. At least one replacement spur should be left for each cane.
In short-cane pruning varieties (Ribier, Flame Seedless, etc.) every branch

should be trained as a cordon (FIG 40).
The canes that bear the clusters are about 8 to 20 nodes long. The spurs
58
that must be left closer to the trunk with respect to the cane, can provide the
bearer cane for the following season. The vines are generally trained with a
number of composed units, depending on the trellis system, which can vary from
two to fourteen or even more.
FIG 40. A) A Thompson Seedless Spanish parron where long-canes were left during
pruning to obtain better production from the distal buds. B) A Ribier Spanish parron.
Observe that almost all the buds that were left during pruning are placed in cordons
with spurs.
Thus, in every winter pruning, the whole cane retained during the previous
winter is removed and a new cane and spurs are left from the replacement spur
of the previous year. In this manner, the productive parts of the plant, the canes
that are renewed every year, are maintained near the trunk of the vine.
Otherwise, under the effects of acrotony, previously explained, the site of the
emission of productive canes would be farther from the trunk every year.
The cane bearer system is necessary for varieties in which the differentiated
59
primordiums are found mainly from the third or fourth node to the fifteenth or
higher.
The other type of pruning is called "cordon" and consists of establishing

branches with spurs of only two to three nodes. The spurs should be at least 15
cm apart from each other, and each cordon should have four to eight spurs.
To avoid acrotonic effects, all the productive elements in a vine should be

established during winter pruning at the same height from the soil. One of the
most frequent constraints this author has observed on different farms during his
stays in Egypt is that many growers do not leave the elements to be pruned as
described here, so the growth of shoots is very irregular; bunches thus develop in
crowded foliage, and are very difficult to arrange adequately (FIG 41).
FIG 41. An Egyptian table grape vineyard where the productive wood is located inside a
too crowded foliage. Grape clusters are difficult to prepare for high quality, and harvest
is troublesome.
Other summer cultural practices are also performed, like clearing of the foliage by
disposal of the improductive shoots and elimination of some leaves to allow
penetration of light, thus avoiding the development of botrytis infection that can
occur when the foliage is too dense.
Since grape pruning is defined as the removal of living parts of a vine to

modify the behavior of the parts left, other cultural practices can be included.
However, as these are highly specialized operations we decided to include them
in a separate chapter.
60
T ECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE GRAPE QUALITY
Production of good quality table grapes of without using some techniques

applied directly to the bunches to improve their characteristics and appearence is
impossible. No doubt, consumers today are very demanding and, at the same
time, willing to pay high prices, but only for excellent quality. Producing good
quality grapes pays.
Good quality in table grapes are a combination of medium-sized clusters of

uniformly large, perfect berries with the characteristic color, pleasing flavor, taste,
and texture of the variety.
Girdling, thinning, and application of hormones and plant regulators can

cause various beneficial effects on the vine by affecting berry-set, size, color,
ripening, cluster compactness and other characteristics.
• Girdling
Girdling is the removal of a 3 to 6 mm wide complete ring of bark down to
the cambium in a circle around the trunk or arms. It severs the phloem and
interrupts the transport of carbohydrates to the roots, thus increasing the amount
of these food materials and hormones to the part of the vine above the cut.
Girdlings can be made at different phenological stages for different results. To
improve set, they should be made a week before flowering, and to increase berry
size, immediately after fruit set. To improve coloring and advance ripening, vines
should be girdled just before veraison, which is the name given to the moment
when ripening begins.
Best results are obtained from vigorous vines having only a light to
moderate crop, because the effect of girdling in increasing berry size is markedly
reduced by an increase in an above normal crop. Girdling never should be done
on the same vine more than once a year, and repeated girdling over a number of
years may reduce bunch size and the life expectancy of the plant. Some varieties
are very sensitive to girdling, so one has to be very careful when making a
decision about this operation.
Gibberellic acid (GA3)

Gibberellines are natural hormones of vegetables. They are found in small
quantities in all plant species, and play an important roll in cellular elongation. In
grapevines, they have been used for almost fifty years as gibberellic acid No.3
(GA3) Commercialy, it is sold as potassium gibberelate. Its effects on seedless
grapes are spectacular because these varieties do not produce enough of this
hormone, being as the seed of a grape is the principal organ that elaborates it, or
functions as a sink for the gibberellins elaborated by the leaves. Fortunately, the
grapes are able to absorb the exogenous gibberellines applied through spraying
directly, through their epidermis.
61
Gibberellic acid has different effects according to the phenological stage of

application. When used during the early development of bunches, it induces
rachis elongation, especially in the zone where the meristematic tissues are very
active. During bloom, its effect is the abortion of a high percentage of flowers,
and thus, it is used to loosen too dense clusters (FIG 42). After berry set, this
hormone promotes elongation of berries, an intense effect an a critical stage for
growth of these organs.
FIG 42. 1) A cluster of

Thompson Seedless grapes
at the beginning of bloom,
which is the best moment to
make the first direct
application of gibbrellic acid
at 15 ppm for abortion of a
percentage of flowers in
order to loosen it. 2) The
proper moment to make the
second application with the
same concentration of the
acid. Days between these
two treatments vary
according to the
temperature, from three to
twelve days.
Usually, a gibberelline spraying programe for Thompson Seedless variety,

which is the most frequently planted in Chile and in Egypt, is as follows:
* With bunches with the rachis at 7 cm, one application of 20 ppm.

* At bloom, two applications of 10 to 15 ppm, one when the first flowers are
open, and the second, with 80% of flowers open, to clear compactness of cluster
(FIG 43).
* To increase the size of berries, an application must be made with berries of 4 to
5 mm and another application with berries of about 8 to 10 mm. These two
applications are at 35 to 40 ppm.
Precautions should be taken because not all seedless varieties respond in the same
manner, some being too sensitive to this hormone.
• Cluster thinning.
In cluster thinning, entire clusters are removed to reduce their number on the
vines, leaving only the quantity that can be adequately nourished by the plant.
This is an important means of improving quality, when less severe pruning is
needed and, in the absence of excess crops, the capacity of the vine is increased
for both growth and production. With crop control achieved by cluster thinning,
62
the quality of grapes is improved owing to the increase in the ratio of leaves to
crop.
This type of thinning can be achieved when looking for two different results.
If done before flowering, as used on varieties that usually set straggly clusters, in
addition to the increased size of the berries, an increase of set per bunch is
obtained. Thus, the quality is improved. If this thinning is done after blooming,
when the quantity of berries on each cluster is already decided, the effect of
girdling is to increase the size of those berries. This type of cluster thinning is
frequently practiced in varieties that often set dense clusters, but the following
labor is always required.
FIG 43. A cluster of grapes

showing the effects of the
already described appli-
cation of gibberellic acid to
loosen it.
• Berry thinning
This is the most complicated operation among the techniques to
improve grape quality. It is absolutely necessary for diminishing the
compactness of bunches derived from genetic factors or as a result of
technical handling, such as the previously discussed girdling, cluster
thinning or application of gibberellic acid (GA3).
Berry thinning consists of the removal of parts of clusters, flowers or newly

set berries to improve the characteristics of the bunches. If clusters are too
63
dense, clearing is done to avoid berry compactness that, in some cases, can
cause tem to. When this happens, soon botrytis infection develops and the whole
bunch is lost.
There are many ways to accomplish berry thinning:

* Chemical thinning (already mentioned) in which gibberellic acid, is used
with two applications at 10 to 15 ppm, one at the beginning of flowering when
the first flowers open, and the second, at 80% of flowering. Flower abortion
reaches almost 50% .
It is impossible to produce good shape and a regular distribution of berries

just with gibberellic acid. It is necessary to make some adjustments by means of
hand labor. There are different methods, each one having different preferences
for growers.
* The helicoidal thinning, which consists of the removal of laterals of the

cluster arranged in a spiral around the axis of the rachis of the bunches. The
results are good, but it is difficult to transmit the idea to workers, and many
mistakes can be made before they learn the technique (FIG 44).
FIG 44. Just

completed helicoidal
thinning of a
Thompson Seedless
grape cluster.
* The fish spine or fish bone, a simple system where the bunch is held by
its tip with a hand and two parallel cuts are made with a very sharp knife, each
one on each side of the axis of the rachis, but without injuring it. The resulting
bunch is very flat, but as the berries grow, the respective ramification occupies
the space around the axis (FIG 45).
64
FIG 45. A cluster already

thinned in the fish-spine
system.
- Thinning by stories, which consists of leaving four branches in the upper

part of the bunch, then removing the following three or four. The other three
branches are left, and two or three more are removed, leaving the other three.
This formula is called 4 - 3 - 3, but it can be changed according to the
characteristics of the cluster, to 3 - 2 - 2 and so on. This method is the most used
in Chilean grape growing, where workers are skillful and have a good
understanding of the system (FIG 46).
FIG 46. A cluster thinned

by stories.
This author has developed a new system that consists of a very early cutting of
the cluster. It is best done when this organ has about about 5 cm, leaving only
four branches. Immediately apply 20 ppm of Gibberellic acid. The effect of this
system is a tremendous elongation of the four branches left that form a cluster
like a bell with berries sufficiently spaced (FIG 47). After this, there is no need,
to make applications for berry thinning. This is important because the use of
65
gibberellic acid for thinning purposes may increase berry drop during storage.
FIG 47. A cluster thinned

by means of a very early
cutting system.
The two final applications for increasing size are then made at the same
rate and times as those described for a general program. Of course, the number
of clusters must be regulated by cluster thinning.
This system results in a marked economy with labor and in the production
of clusters of good shape and size. Around 200 berries are retained per cluster,
each of them weighing about 4 gr, which means bunches of 800 grs, more or
less (FIG 48).
FIG 48. Measuring berries of a very early treated Thompson Seedless cluster. Equator
diameter was more than 24 mm.
66

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FOREWORD

Prof. Armando Vieira Volpi

ADVENTITIOUS ROOTS: Organs of spontaneous and self-

BARK: Tough covering of a woody stem or root, external to cambium.

BUDS: Rounded organs at the node of a cane or shoot containing an

BUD BREAK OR BUD BURST: Early stage of bud development when

CALLUS: Parenchyma tissue that grows over a wound or graft, sealing

CAMBIUM: Thin layer of undifferentiated meristematic cells between bark

CHLOROPHYL: Green pigment of plants that absorbs light energy and

CHLOROSIS: Yellowing of green portions of a plant, particularly the

CUTTING: A portion of dormant cane, usually 40 to 60 cm long, used for

DIFFERENTIATION: Initial formation of new organs obeying orders of

the induction process. We can speak of "differentiation" when these

DISHOOTING: Removal of shoots or buds or very young shoots.

DISBUDDING: Removal of buds.

INDUCTION: Stage preceding the formation of any new plant organ

INFLORESCENCE: Flowering cluster extra # of the grapevine.

MERISTEM OR MERISTEMATIC TISSUE: Group of undifferentiated cells

NODE: Enlarged portion of a cane or shoot at which leaves, clusters,

PARENCHYMA or PARENCHYMATIC TISSUE: Also known as

PHLOEM: Conductive tissue of plants to transport food material

PHOTOSYNTHESIS: Process by which a plant converts carbon dioxide

PRIMORDIA (Singular: PRIMORDIUM): Very little cellular prominences

RACHIS: Central part of a grape flowering bunch or fruit, where the

ROOTSTOCK: Specialized stock material to which fruiting varieties are

SCION: A piece of a fruit variety that is grafted onto a stock.

SHOOT: Current season's succulent and green stem growth. It becomes a

TENDRILS: Slender twining organs on a shoot opposite a leaf than can

TRANSLOCATION: Movement of water, nutrients, chemicals or

S OME PRELIMINARY CONCEPTS ABOUT GRAPE

THE GRAPE BUDS , THEIR POSITION AND EVOLUTION F RUTAL

The degree or intensity of the induction that results in a good or a bad

The following are internal factors:

External factors include soil characteristics (texture, fertility, etc.), proper

irrigation, light and shade, and temperature.

Proper soil irrigation is absolutely necessary for fruit differentiation. Sometimes

P HYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA INHERENT TO AND

• Winter cold requirements. The vine grape requires a lesser number of

• Acrotony. This is a physiological phenomenon that affects some fruit

Today, the exogenous use of chemical substances to avoid the problems of

Dormex, is, without a doubt, the most efficient of all.

Nevertheless, to use Dormex correctly, it is necessary to take precautions

The hydrogenated cyanamid is absorbed almost immediately by the grape

Dormex is sold in a concentration of 50% active ingredient (a.i.) to be

Dormex has to be applied at least 30 days before the estimated date of

CARBOHYDRATE SYNTHESIS AND LIGHT INTENSITY LIGHT

Photosynthesis is the most important physiological process of plants during

This fact demonstrates the importance of foliar management, the extraction of

In addition to light as a factor in photosynthesis, it is necessary to understand

ANNUAL CYCLE OF THE VINE .

Nevertheless, the decreased number of fruitful buds formed by vines of above

About the time of bloom, as a result of momentary competition for food

Carbohydrate accumulation in the shoots, after shoot elongation has slowed

BLOOMING, POLLINATION AND SETTING OF THE BERRIES

As indicated above, by the time of dormancy, clusters have developed to the

be classified into three types.

FIG 5. Scheme of the

A) Seeded berries, in which the normal sequence of pollination, fertilization

In some clusters, both A and B types can be found together as a result of

FIG 7. Well-formed berries seen in

amount required to obtain maximum size. To reach this size, it is feasible to

THE ROOT SYSTEM.