These 3 pictures all have one thing in common, hygiene, sanitation and disinfection. As it would be we are quite pedantic about our hygiene and that has been carried over into the business with great success.
In the 1st picture the floor area where all the cutting-up takes place, is being washed with a special product specifically designed for the vine industry. In the 2nd and 3rd pictures you can see the employees equipment being dipped in a disinfectant, this is done every morning.
By following these simple practises we prevent the spreading of diseases and unwanted pathogens.
This phase, the removal of rootstock nodes is a follow on from the cutting up. On a rootstock cutting you can get anything from 2 to 3 nodes and sometimes 4. The general practise is to remove all the nodes, but some nurserymen like to leave the bottom node. Our philosophy is that the rootstock is for rooting, therefore we remove all the nodes so the root doesn't use its reserves where it isn't needed. Ok so we've received the rootstock in bundle form, then cut it up according to spec and finally removed all the nodes.
20 May 2009 Mischa Vines received its first batch of rootstock from its foundation block, namely US 8-7. We receive the rootstock in bundle form and then cut the rootstock up according to the standards set out by the Vine Improvement Association (VIA). For optimum quality it's important that the shoots are mature over the entire length and are free of damage. The physical requirements for certified shoots are a minimum internode diameter of 6,5mm, but no less than 70% of graft shoots are not allowed to be less than 7mm in diameter. The maximum internode diameter is 12mm.
