Abstract
Complete vineyard floor cover cropping (inter- and intrarow) and vine root pruning were evaluated as tools to restrict vegetative growth of Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines. Treatments were arranged in a split-plot, randomized, complete block design with cover crop schemes as main plots and annual vine root pruning (RP), or not (NRP), as subplots. Five perennial grasses as complete floor cover crops and an under-trellis herbicide strip combined with KY-31 fescue interrows, as a conventional floor management scheme were compared. KY-31 fescue and orchardgrass each reduced shoot growth rate compared to the herbicide strip vines >30% in 2006, and >20% in 2007. Root pruning independently reduced shoot growth rates. The combination of cover crop and RP decreased dormant pruning weights to a greater extent than did the additive effects of either factor applied alone. Pruning weights in 2010 were reduced 8% by RP, 15% by cover crop, but 38% when both treatments were applied, compared to the herbicide strip treatment. Leaf petiole N concentration at bloom was ~11% lower in RP vines in 2 of 3 years evaluated, but did not differ among vines exposed to cover crop treatments. Stem water potential (ψstem) was not affected by treatments. Cover cropping did not reduce crop yield with the exception of a yield reduction due to KY-31 fescue in 2006. Berry weights were slightly reduced by a RP × year interaction from 2007 to 2009 and by year effect in 2011 compared to 2010. While complete vineyard floor cover cropping and root pruning were effective tools to reduce vine size and vigor, effects on canopy architecture and primary fruit chemistry were minimal and more influenced by seasonal variation.
- ©2014 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture
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