The peak grape season is almost here, and for growers, getting grapes to ripen earlier means capturing the market a step ahead. In the past, getting fruit to ripen early was somewhat difficult, but now it is not much of a problem, since there are even off-season fruits, let alone early-ripening ones.

Remove old leaves

Removing old leaves sounds simple, but it plays a big role in speeding up grape ripening. In summer, grapevine leaves grow quickly and are fairly large, blocking light from reaching the grape clusters and affecting their color change. Removing old leaves improves light penetration and airflow through the vine, which speeds up the color change of the grapes and achieves the goal of earlier ripening.

Fertilize rationally

After the grape berries enter the berry-softening stage, rational fertilization can bring the grapes to maturity about a week earlier, which is very important for a fruit with such a limited window. During the berry-softening stage, potassium fertilizer is generally sprayed on to promote even coloring and faster ripening. Growers can spray monopotassium phosphate once a week.

Bag the clusters properly

Nowadays, to reduce pest damage and other natural disasters during fruit growth and to improve fruit quality, many orchards use bagging. Bagging plays a big role during the fruit growing period, but after the fruit enters the fruitlet-drop stage, the bottom of the bag can be opened, which promotes air circulation around the fruit and speeds up ripening.

Of course, besides these methods, you can also use the plant ripening agent ethylene, though this method is still not really recommended. Although ethylene is harmless as a plant ripening agent, there is still a certain gap in taste between naturally ripened and artificially ripened fruit. Using ethylene is bound to affect the taste and quality of the grapes, and in the long run this is not good for growers' development, since only grapes of solid quality that form their own brand can gain a firm foothold in the grape market.

The above comes from Science Xingnong.