Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions
El-Sayed, M., Fayed, A., Ahmed, A., Fekry, O. (2025). Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions. EKB Journal Management System, 3(7), 15-30. doi: 10.21608/hrj.2025.463893
Mohamed E. A. El-Sayed; Ahmed S. K. Fayed; Abdelgawad S.S. Ahmed; Ola M. Fekry. "Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions". EKB Journal Management System, 3, 7, 2025, 15-30. doi: 10.21608/hrj.2025.463893
El-Sayed, M., Fayed, A., Ahmed, A., Fekry, O. (2025). 'Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions', EKB Journal Management System, 3(7), pp. 15-30. doi: 10.21608/hrj.2025.463893
El-Sayed, M., Fayed, A., Ahmed, A., Fekry, O. Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions. EKB Journal Management System, 2025; 3(7): 15-30. doi: 10.21608/hrj.2025.463893

Effect of canopy management on yield and quality attributes of grafted “Flame Seedless” grapevines under overhead plastic covering and open field conditions

Horticulture Research Journal
Volume 3, Issue 7, September 2025, Pages 15-30    PDF (2.19 M)
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/hrj.2025.463893
Authors
Mohamed E. A. El-Sayed1; Ahmed S. K. Fayed1; Abdelgawad S.S. Ahmed1; Ola M. Fekry2
1Viticulture Res. Dept., Hort. Res. Instit., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt.
2Fruit Handling Res. Dept., Hort. Res. Instit., Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt.
Abstract
The present investigation was conducted during the 2024 and 2025 seasons on eight-year-old Flame Seedless grapevines grafted onto ‘Freedom’ rootstock. The vines were grown either under a transparent plastic cover or in open-field conditions and subjected to canopy management practices involving the thinning of vegetative shoots and clusters. The number of vegetative shoots and clusters per vine were thinned to 40 or 50 shoots and 25 or 35 clusters, respectively. Results revealed that berry ripening in covered vines occurred 20 days earlier than in open-field vines. Both shoot length and leaf area significantly increased under the plastic cover. Covered vines also exhibited greater 100-berry weight and larger berry size compared with those grown open-fields. The combination of plastic covering with 40 shoots and 35 clusters produced the highest yield per vine, while the treatment of 50 shoots and 25 clusters resulted in the heaviest cluster weight and the largest berry size and length. Vines with 25 clusters recorded higher total soluble solids (TSS), whereas titratable acidity showed an opposite trend with increasing cluster number. Moreover, total anthocyanin content was enhanced under the plastic cover. From an economic perspective, the overhead plastic covering provided a considerable increase in net profit. Therefore, training Flame Seedless grapevines grafted on ‘Freedom’ rootstock under plastic cover with 50 shoots and 25 clusters per vine is recommended for achieving the best yield and fruit quality.
Keywords
Flame Seedless; Plastic cover; Canopy management; Cluster thinning; Berry quality
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