Vineyard nutrition management

Nutrition is one of the important components of vineyard management. Nutrition has the potential to affect a variety of factors related to vine production, such as fruit set, fruit quality and the quality of the final product.

Nourishing any crop, including wine grape varieties, is not a simple matter.

The need to take into account factors such as rootstock, soil type, irrigation method, etc. , means that drawing up a one-size-fits-all programme is not feasible.

In order to draw up the appropriate nutrition program for each vineyard and for each variety separately, producers should understand the function of the nutrients they apply to the vineyard and know its management history.

Information about the soil (eg structure, PH, etc.), the role of nutrients in the plant and the characteristics of varieties and rootstocks must be taken into account in order to successfully determine the nutritional needs of each vineyard.

The role of nutrients within the plant is essential information for the development of a balanced nutrition program for each vineyard, but it is not the only information required to achieve the desired results.

Nutrients occur naturally in various forms, but plants generally show a selective preference for some of these forms. For example, nitrates and ammoniacal ions are forms of nitrogen, but generally nitrates are more available to the plant than ammoniacal ones.

The availability of nutrients is often determined by soil properties. The presence of microorganisms in the soil can help convert nutrients into forms available for absorption by plants.

The variety and the rootstock used play a decisive role in determining nutrient requirements. Vigorous rootstocks are better able to obtain the necessary nutrients from the surrounding soil. This means that they require less nutrients.