Thigmotropic, now isn’t that a lovely word! It is a word that has recently been added to my vocabulary. Thanks to Iain from Oatley.

So what is it?  Some of you may already know what this is, but for those of you like me, please read on. Thigmtropic is a plant or organism that is touch sensitive.

And the relevance to wine is? When you see a vineyard you may see 2 or 3 horizontal wires supporting the weight of the bush, so that the vines stay upright. When the vine starts to grow you have to move the wires up with the growing vine so that the tendrils don’t hook on to soon.

Once those tendrils are hooked they are tough little cookies to get off!

It makes that winter pruning a tough job. I found that back in January trying to get the hard tendrils off the wire. On that cold memory perhaps thigmotropic isn’t such a lovely word after all? : )

Thigmotropic in action