TY - JOUR T1 - Three Vine Management Techniques Used During Consecutive Years of Abnormally Low Winter Rainfall in the Napa Valley JF - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture JO - Am J Enol Vitic. SP - 117 LP - 123 DO - 10.5344/ajev.1982.33.2.117 VL - 33 IS - 2 AU - DeWitt Garlock Y1 - 1982/01/01 UR - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/33/2/117.abstract N2 - The effects of three cultural practices to offset low winter rainfall were determined in 1977. 1) The removal of fruiting canes in a non-irrigated vineyard significantly reduced the cluster yield by 54% (p < .05) without affecting pruning weights. 2) Limited application of summer drip and sprinkler irrigation (2.4 acre-inches) gave significantly higher vine yield, cluster counts and berry weights than the control (p < .05). Pruning weights were increased in the sprinkler irrigated treatments only. 3) When winter irrigation was applied at a low (5 in), medium (10 in), and heavy (10 in winter + 5 ABSTRACT in summer) rate, vine yield, cluster weight, cluster counts, and berry weights increased significantly in the heaviest application (p < .05). The pruning data showed a similar increase.Vineyard production was best accomplished by applying heavy amounts of winter irrigation. Limited summer drip and sprinkler irrigation was a successful means of vine maintenance, while the removal of fruiting canes was a poor method of managing non-irrigated vineyards. ER -