 Trellising:
Since the plants grow to quite a height, one should use "Dutch" or
"Spanish" trellising.
For "Dutch" trellising, one
prepares horizontal galvanized iron wires, 3 mm thick, above each row at
maximum height (attached to the structure). Each plant is grown to two
stems and attached to the wire threads. Pruning to two stems is done at
the "fork" in the first stem division. Two stems should be maintained
throughout the growth period. One fruit and 2-3 leaves (depending on the
size of the leaves and intensity of the light) should be left on each of
the nodes of the main branches, and side branches should be pruned.
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When there is
no fruit on the main stem node, one side branch (at one node) should be
left for the fruit development. Distorted fruit should be removed.
In "Spanish"
trellising, support wires are hung from the structure every 1.5 to 2
meters. Cordons are placed at each end of the row. As the plant grows
higher, horizontal pairs of wires are placed on each side of the plant
and attached to the end cordons. The first pair is placed just under the
"fork" and, from then on, every 25 to 30 cm above that. The plant is
shaped to two stems at the height of the "fork" and each stem is again
shaped to two branches at the next node. Further pruning is not done
after this.
In Israel, a slightly different version of the "Spanish" system is used.
Instead of lowering wires from the structure in order to support the
horizontal wires, 1.8 meter high cordons are placed every 2 to 4 meters
along the row. The horizontal wires are attached to these cordons.
One of the advantages of the variety "Magma" is the limited number of
side branches, saving working days.
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