Planting instructions

1. Check Order

• Please check that the vines supplied match the documentation sent with the consignment.
• Call Riversun immediately if there are any discrepancies, or if you are unhappy with any aspect of your consignment, eg:
• Damage in transit
• Delays from dispatch to receipt (more than 4 days)
• Appearance of vines

2.  Before Planting

• Ideally, the vines should be planted soon after you receive them.
• Keep the vines moist at all times.
• Ensure that your site is well prepared:
• Dig a suitable hole in line with the posts (diameter 300 - 400mm, depth 400mm - 500mm)
• Soak plants thoroughly either under a sprinkler for a minimum of one hour just before planting or submerge in a water trough or similar for 5 minutes

3. Planting

• Remove the bag, it can be cut away (be careful to keep the roots system intact). Place vine in the hole that you’ve dug so that the top of the potting mix is about 5cm below the soil level.
• Leave a small mound of soil around the base of the vine to compensate for the soil settling.
• Plant with the bamboo and attach the bamboo to the wire. Wrap up to 600mm of cane onto the fruiting wire and tie off at the end. This provides stability and ensures the vine has a straight trunk.
• We recommend removing all buds along the wire, at planting (cut with sharp secateurs) or soon after bud burst (by hand), retaining four or five shoots below the wire at the head of the vines. This will promote excellent cane growth during the year and provide suitable canes for a half crop in the second season. 
• For the best results ensure that the vines are watered immediately and regularly if possible.
• Apply slow release fertiliser once planted, 50- 100gms of Agriblend or Nitrophoska mixed into the soil around the base of the vines.
• A suitable mulch around the vine would also conserve moisture and suppress weed growth competition.

4. Immediate Care

• Maintain a high standard of weed control. This is very important during vine establishment as weeds compete directly with vines for moisture and nutrients.
• Disbud trunks during normal vineyard passes.

Residual herbicides should be used with care, if at all. Many are not registered for use in vineyards with young vines and can cause them damage.

SuperVines could carry a small crop in their first growing season, however we recommend that ALL FRUIT IS REMOVED to allow the vine to maximise root and shoot growth to set the vine up for a half crop in the second season and a full crop in the third season.

Download these instructions as a PDF file.