Division of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Poona
The experiment was carried out on 8 year old vines of Thompson seedless grape at College of Agriculture, Poona during the year 1971–72. The vines were pruned by keeping 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 buds per cane with 120, 80, 60, 48, 40, 35 and 30 canes per vine respectively. Two vines were included in a unit replicated thrice. The observations were recorded in regard to sprouting and flowering of buds, yield, T.S.S. and acidity at due date of maturity.
The results have clearly indicated that the sprouting and flowering of buds were maximum in 4 bud treatment closely followed by 6 bud and 8-bud treatments. Similar trend was observed in regard to the yield. The highest bunch weight as well as T.S.S. were noticed in the 8-bud treatment, with lowest acidity. The results regarding T.S.S. and acidity were observed to be non-significant. Though 4-bud treatment has given the maximum yield per vine, probably due to the advantage of apical dominance in 120 canes, but getting such a large number of canes may not always be possible. Looking to the yield potential and quality of fruits at middle portion of cane, this variety should be pruned upto 10 buds under Western Indian conditions.
