Although this is a relatively new trellis system to me, it has been around for many years and was created by Australian, Richard Smart, and American, John Dyson. The basics of the trellis system is that you achieve a double canopy. You still have your upward Vertical Shoot Positioning, but you also bend the shoot coming from the bottom of the cordon downwards. You only do this on the morning sun side, otherwise you will get sunburn damage (depending on row direction)
Why do we want to do this? Why not use a normal VSP system?
– vine vigour – With this system we we can achieve a bigger canopy, with little or no canopy density. The shoots are distributed evenly and a bigger canopy means better photosynthesis and better ripening during harvest
– sunlight – The basal eyes on the cordon are exposed to more sunlight, ensuring fertility. From both a yield and quality point of view, it is necessary to have adequate
exposure of both fruit and leaves to sunlight.
– bigger yields – more shoots means more bunches.
*This system is not recommended for vines with poor vigour. This system is to reduce vine vigour in an effort to maintain high quality grapes. Water requirements rise by almost 30%. Good canopy management is required.
To read a bit more on Smart-Dyson, click here
