Fruit harvest shears

Grape trunk girdlers come in a variety of sizes and with the option of with or without a scraper. 5601 WHAT IS GIRDLING? Agricultural girdling is the removal of a strip of bark on either the trunk or cane to advance maturity or produce larger fruit. In woody plants there is a very important layer of cells called the vascular cambium. This vascular cambium or cambium layer may consist of one or a few cells in thickness but responsible for all of the production of cells which cause woody plants to increase in diameter. As the years pass, the trunk and branches enlarge in circumference as cells are produced by the cambium. The cambium layer is situated between types of cell structures known botanically as the xylem to the inside of the cambium and the phloem tissue to the outside of the cambium layer. The xylem is responsible for transporting water absorbed by the roots to the upper portions of the plant. The phloem tissue is important in the movement of sugars and amino acids which act as the building blocks for starches, protein, and fats to areas of the plant where these are utilized or stored. In grapes, these materials are produced in the leaves and are generally transported downward in phloem tissue and laterally via vascular ray cells. Proper girdling causes a temporary disruption of the downward movement of foods from the leaves to the root system of the plant without interfering with the upward movement of water. The end result is the desired maturity and fruiting changes.