What are fully matured shoots that have hardened and can be pruned back called?

• A. Canes
• B. Spurs
• C. Cordons
• D. Tendrils

Answer: (A)

Fully mature shoots that have hardened into wood are called canes. In grape growing, the growth from the previous season that has lignified into a woody, mature shoot is the cane, and it’s what growers select and prune back to shape the vine for the next year’s growth. This is the core idea behind cane pruning, where long canes with several buds are retained and cut back to a few buds to become the fruiting wood. By contrast, spurs are short, stubby shoots left on a cordon in spur-pruning systems, cordons are the permanent horizontal arms of the vine, and tendrils are the vine’s climbing organs—not the matured shoots used for pruning.