Guidelines for the preparation of table grapes in SA for export 2025/2026_ND

• Apply trace elements if necessary. • In cultivars and vineyards with low fertility, vigorous shoots without bunches, located close to the trunk, can be cut back to two or three internodes. Lateral shoots will develop that may be more fertile than the primary shoot. It’s essential to do this early. Once the canopy becomes dense, the lateral shoots develop poorly. Just before flowering to flowering Only some aspects are mentioned below. Refer to the cultivar descriptions for more details. • Ensure optimal irrigation. • Tip or top vineyards that struggle to set. • Thin appropriate cultivars with gibberellic acid. • Girdle to improve set. Girdling at this stage can lead to the formation of shot berries. Ensure that vines suffer no moisture stress before and during the girdling process. • Control crop load on fertile cultivars before flowering by only leaving one bunch per shoot. • Remove the tendrils from flower bunches, especially on Crimson Seedless and Sugranineteen (Scarlotta Seedless ® ), where they can entangle the bunches. • Treat for powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis. • Treat thrips and weevils with softer products. Thrips survive on citrus, seed onions, lucerne, cover crops, and weeds. They move into the vines to feed on pollen as soon as the calyptras drop. Thrips damage the ovary, causing characteristic corky lesions on berries. Some cultivars are more sensitive to thrips damage. • Secure shoots. • Foliar applications of low concentrations (1.0%) of low-biuret urea give good results in cultivars with compact bunches that don’t respond to thinning with gibberellic acid. Just after flowering (berry set) • Apply the second nitrogen fertilisation. Be careful not to apply too much nitrogen after set in very early cultivars. Excessive nitrogen in the berries at harvest can promote decay. • Do the first crop load adjustment as soon as the bunches have set, and those that have set optimally can be distinguished. • Girdle applicable vineyards when the berry diameter is 4–5 mm. This will improve berry size and attachment. Avoid moisture stress before and during the girdling process. • Treat appropriate cultivars with gibberellic acid for berry enlargement. • Remove leaves that touch bunches. • Treat for botrytis, powdery mildew, and downy mildew. • Apply magnesium for berry stem necrosis if necessary. 6–8 mm berry diameter (pea berry) • Final crop load management. Supervision is crucial, as crop load management significantly impacts crop quality. • Do the first snipping out on appropriate cultivars. • Continue with bunch shaping as described for individual cultivars. • Keep the window in the canopy open. The optimal width is roughly 50 cm.

• Treat for botrytis, powdery mildew and downy mildew. • Apply magnesium for berry stem necrosis if necessary. • Arrange bunches and remove leaves around them.

SATI GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF TABLE GRAPES IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR EXPORT 23