Crop Evaluation - Cluster Thinning.

Despite the cool wet weather the Phoenix has set a pretty decent crop. So now it is time to evaluate the potential crop load and reduce the number of clusters. There are three reasons for doing this.

1. To prevent the vine overbearing as well as allowing the remaining grapes to ripen better.

2 To increase berry size. Many, though not all, varieties will produce larger grapes if the number of clusters are reduced but only if this is done before the grapes begin to colour up.

3. To increase air flow around the bunches helping to prevent botrytis (grey mould) near harvest.

Of course the question is which clusters do you remove and which ones do you keep.

This stem has produced three clusters so the top one will be removed. If you are growing for eating then leave only one, the best, cluster on each stem.

Late forming clusters can also be removed so you get a more even harvest, something particularly important if the grapes are for winemaking.

More clusters will be removed gradually over the next three weeks until the planned number remain. Malformed or poorly formed clusters will be given priority for culling.

As you can see Phoenix is a variety that reliably produces large, attractive clusters with medium sized grapes that are good for wine as well as tasty when eaten fresh. This is why I often suggest it as a dual purpose trouble free variety.