How and when to pull up vines?
The best time to start uprooting is immediately following harvest. The different steps are as folllows:
- Pre-trimming or pruning to facilitate wire removal
- Removal of all wires and stakes
- Removal of stumps with either a backhoe or pliers
- Root removal with a subsoiler
- Using a box blade attachment to remove any remaining roots
- Manually going over the plot to remove remaining roots and stumps
Currently, certain businesses offer additional services to collect stumps and/or posts to recycle them; a very interesting ecological solution.
Another possibility is to forgo removing any materials step-by-step and go straight to using a specialized backhoe equipped with a comb that can remove the whole infrastructure of the plot at once. The comb system allows removal of roots of up to 1.2 m in depth. Additional new tools are also used to sort out the wires from the stakes and stumps, which will then be crushed and used for compost.
Removing all roots is essential, especially when uprooting parcels contaminated by either Grapvine fanleaf or root rot Pest and disease management. Several passes are recommended. It is important not turn over horizons which would bring infertile soil to the surface.