# Vine orientation? East/West or North/South



## asylum

I am planting some grape vines and wonder if it matters of the row orientation. The reason I ask is because I figure if the rows are N/S, then the vines will shadow out the others. If E/W, they will all get equal amounts of sun. Where I want to plant, N/S is more practical, but will take the extra work to plant E/W if necessary.


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## bruno

NS is the preferred way according to what I have been told in vineyard class.


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## Manimal

North-South is generally preferable in North America... it may be different elsewhere, though. NS orientation allows the canopy to capture as much sunlight as possible for photosynthesis in both the morning and afternoon and also allows for the sun exposure necessary to dry out the clusters and help avoid mildew issues. If you plant EW, your vines will get heavy sun exposure on the south side during the growing season, possibly causing sunburn on your fruit, while the north side will get almost no sunlight and may not dry out adequately after periods of heavy dew/rain. Also, leaves on the north side will not get much sunlight in order to photosynthesize, and it is this photosynthesis which causes sugar production in your grapes.


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