Winter pruning: with a waning moon or a waxing moon?

Pruning has been regulated for centuries by the lunar calendar.

Does it still make sense to follow these ancient practices today?

During the winter period, as usual, when the plants lose their leaves, at Podere Conca we also proceed with the pruning some screws.

But what is the best time for to prune ?

Agronomy teaches us to prune in winter to wait for the sap to move from the leaves to be stored in the roots of the plants, which happens with the falling of the leaves themselves and with the lignification of the shoots that become dark and rigid.

Peasant tradition adds in an ancient proverb: “If you cut with the new moon the branch cries”.

A theory that has also been taken up again today in biodynamic agriculture, which suggests prune with the waning moon, as the sap is less attracted to the moon and the plant will be able to heal the wounds from the cut more effectively and therefore not “weep”.

Is it just a legend or is there some truth to it? Some are skeptical about it, as the influence of the moon would be too weak to have significant results.

A question that we have often asked ourselves at Podere Conca, so much so that this year we decided to launch a small experiment: for each variety of vine we chose to prune some rows during the waning moon phase and others during the waxing moon phase.

All our vines, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Ciliegiolo, are grown in guyot and this requires a type of pruning called mixed.

It involves leaving a long fruiting head, with 7-8 buds, and a short spur, with 2 buds, for future renewals. The guyot ensures that each year there are small cuts, that is, on 1 and 2 year old wood, avoiding excessive cuts such as those that can be created in vines grown with spurred cordon. In this last type of pruning , defined as short, every year spurs of 2 buds are created which gradually grow and form the so-called candelabra. When the candelabra must be cut to lower them to the level of the cordon, these require aggressive cuts, which can become a weak point for the plant as an entry point for diseases.

Unlike the spurred cordon, the Guyot cannot be mechanized, so it is often found in small areas or in those where the vine variety grown has problems with the fertility of the basal buds (i.e. where the first buds produce shoots without grapes).

Our vineyards They are cared for by hand, from pruning to harvesting the grapes, which is why we chose the training system that we think is most respectful of the plant.

In the next few months we will then evaluate whether there are visible differences between the rows pruned during the two lunar phases. We will evaluate the "weeping" (the sap that comes out of the cuts of pruning ), the budding of the buds and the vigour of the new shoots, but above all we will evaluate whether we can notice better fruiting, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Will we be able to find an answer to the age-old question? Is there a “moon effect”?

We'll let you know!

by Silvia Cirri and Linda Franceschi