Pruning Cab Franc

Here is a picture of one of our Cabernet Franc Vines that is pruned and preparing to ripen it's fruit. The 4 canes run from the central trunk, 2 on the lower wire and 2 on the upper wire. This technique called Scott Henry pruning causes some of the energy to be used by the bottom canes as they are forced to grow downward. The upper canes are pruned to carry more fruit and together the top and bottom canes produce a balanced vine with optimal sugar content in the fruit. Unfortunately, this pruning technique takes almost twice as long as the traditional 2 cane VSP or High wire techniques. Hopefully, the yield and quality will make up for the extra hours of pruning and training.