Wild growth in the vineyard

With this form of training, you simply run a leaf cutter through the rows of vines in winter to shorten the shoots a little, instead of cutting the vine back to one or two shoots by hand and removing the remaining vine wood from the wire frame.

Significant cost and time savings

"Minimal pruning comes closer to the vine's original growth behavior and also saves a lot of time and money. After all, more than a quarter of the working time in grape production is spent on traditional pruning," explains DWI spokesperson Ernst Büscher. Expressed in figures, this means that instead of spending around 90 hours per hectare on pruning and the subsequent bending of the shoots, a company only needs around six hours for the minimum pruning.
In addition, pruning must be carried out by qualified personnel, which is another argument in favor of switching to minimum pruning in view of the general shortage of skilled workers.
If this system is used for the new grape varieties, which require hardly any plant protection, around two thirds of the resources as well as additional costs and time can be saved.

As minimal pruning does not result in large pruning wounds, it also prevents the penetration of wood-destroying fungi into the vine, which lead to the death of the vines due to the spreading Esca disease.

Lower risk of yield losses

The risk of yield losses due to weather extremes such as sunburn and hailstorms, which have increased in recent years due to climate change, can also be reduced by minimal pruning, as the grapes are better protected by the thicker foliage.

As a rule, the grapes ripen later in minimal pruning systems, which is a further advantage in hot years, which climate change is increasingly bringing with it. Otherwise, the grapes often have to be harvested in August due to the earlier ripening caused by the heat, so that they are not too sweet and the wines later become too strong. With later ripening, the grapes benefit from the cool nights and ideally sunny autumn days, which promotes the development of the aromas.

Yield reduction necessary even with minimal pruning

In cool and rainy years, however, later grape ripening can also be a disadvantage. It is then particularly important to reduce the yield early. This is generally recommended with this form of training, as the number of grapes per vine is significantly higher than with conventional pruning.

It should also be borne in mind that vines with a heavier canopy and more leaves have a higher water requirement. The winegrower can counteract this by increasing the distance between the rows of vines from the usual two meters to three meters when planting new vines in order to give the vine roots more space to absorb water. If a narrower foliage wall is used for the minimum pruning in classic trellis training, a row spacing of two meters is sufficient.

Switching from conventional pruning to minimum pruning initially means a major change for the plants. After a few years, however, a natural balance is established. Farms with many years of experience with minimum pruning also report more robust vines overall.

Mininum pruning

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