People come early in the spring. Shortly after the Spring Festival holiday, Jiading grape growers were busy in the fields to lay the foundation for this year's grape harvest.
"The quality of lashing and pruning will directly affect the yield of grapes this year. The first time the pruning is not appropriate, we have to re-prune it, so that its tree shape and posture are balanced, so that the buds are neat. Early in the morning, the staff member Fang Pengxia tied and trimmed the grape branches in her hand in the greenhouse of the Malu Grape Theme Park.
There are many tricks on how to do this seemingly simple job quickly and well. First of all, the branches that were originally out of order should be twisted to the steel bar without breaking; then the branches and the steel bar should be tied together with a thin rope prepared in advance to fix; the buds left behind need to be facing the sides so that they have enough space to grow. If the lashing is not in place, it will lead to the germination of new shoots not being able to absorb nutrients sufficiently, so that the growth of grapes is limited, and the yield and quality of the fruit are reduced.
"The pruning work is not a disorderly pruning, we will prune the branches according to the situation, the branches will be trimmed into long shoots or short shoots, if they are long, they will leave about 5 new shoots, and if they are short, they will leave about 1 to 2, so that the growth space between each grape can reach a balance and ensure that they can grow healthily." Fang Pengxia said. All the discarded branches that have been trimmed at the site are neatly stacked next to the greenhouse, and they will be sent to the processing area for processing and use as fertilizer for returning the field.
It is understood that some smart greenhouses and malu grapes that promote greenhouses have begun to sprout a few days ago, and according to the current growth trend, this year's ultra-early ripening grapes will be listed as scheduled.
Text: Wang Jiajun, Zhao Yiwei
Photo courtesy: Wang Jiajun