Abstract
Florida's major limitation in grape growing is the outstanding fact that the fruit grows and ripen during the rainy season. It is known that plants are more susceptible to many diseases during the fruiting season and also during moist and hot weather. This constraint is faced by all grape growers in Florida, and requires the utmost ingenuity in viticultural skill and science to overcome. Training/trellis systems and canopy management are an integral part of vineyard management because of their impact on the canopy microclimate and therefore efficient pest and disease control of grapevines. Florida grape growers are aware of the importance of canopy management in grape production but lack of specific knowledge to create the desired microclimate for their grapevines and in most cases try to adapt practices that have been developed specifically for temperate and cool climates growing conditions. The current study at Florida A & M University was designed to provide essential information on the use of the most suitable training/trellis system and canopy management practices for Florida grapes. Preliminary results from the evaluation of several training/trellis systems and vineyard management practices show that production efficiency of selected Florida grape varieties can be improved to enhance their economic competitiveness.
