Annual Under-Vine Cover Crops Mitigate Vine Vigor in a Mature and Vigorous Cabernet franc Vineyard

Spatial and temporal diversity of service plant management strategies across vineyards in the south of France. Analysis through the Coverage Index

“…Although these specific types of machines need a considerable economic investment, winegrowers generally acquire them since they prefer not to use service plants on the row, assuming the balance between services and disservices will be less attractive. However, in wetter years, service plants in the rows may be a competitive alternative to herbicides (Karl et al, 2016) that may help to reduce excessive vigor (Chou and Heuvel, 2019).…”

Under-Vine Vegetation Mitigates the Impacts of Excessive Precipitation in Vineyards

“…Soils from the under-vine white clover plots maintained almost 75% of aggregate mass after a simulated rain event (Karl et al, 2016a). In a nearby vineyard, Chou and Vanden Heuvel (2019) reported increases of 82% in soil aggregate stability between glyphosate-maintained soil and natural vegetation (i.e., managed weed growth) after 3 years of UVV.…”

“…In the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States, soil respiration in the UVV natural vegetation treatment was 43% greater than in under-vine plots maintained with glyphosate and 45% greater than in plots maintained with cultivation (Karl et al, 2016a). In a nearby vineyard, soil respiration was 49% greater in under-vine plots with natural vegetation compared to those maintained with glyphosate, while plots with planted UVV, such as tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), chicory (Cichorium intybus), tillage radish (Raphanus sativus), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa), had soil respiration rates up to 75% greater than plots maintained with glyphosate (Chou and Vanden Heuvel, 2019). The trend of greater soil respiration with UVV compared to herbicide or cultivation indicates that lack of vegetation decreases the input of biodegradable substrates to the soil, diminishing microbial activity and potentially lowering the rate of N mineralization into plant available forms (Rustad et al, 2001).…”

“…Another trend observed across studies is the more pronounced reduction in vegetative rather than reproductive growth when UVV is used (Giese et al, 2014;DeVetter et al, 2015;Hickey et al, 2016;Karl et al, 2016b;Chou and Vanden Heuvel, 2019), resulting in an increased Ravaz index (calculated as yield-topruning weight ratio). In one study, yield of vines growing with UVV was actually significantly higher than that of vines in the bare soil under-vine plots in a drier than average season (Chou and Vanden Heuvel, 2019).…”

“…Another trend observed across studies is the more pronounced reduction in vegetative rather than reproductive growth when UVV is used (Giese et al, 2014;DeVetter et al, 2015;Hickey et al, 2016;Karl et al, 2016b;Chou and Vanden Heuvel, 2019), resulting in an increased Ravaz index (calculated as yield-topruning weight ratio). In one study, yield of vines growing with UVV was actually significantly higher than that of vines in the bare soil under-vine plots in a drier than average season (Chou and Vanden Heuvel, 2019). It is plausible that water content was higher in soil covered by UVV than in bare soil exposed to cultivations as reported in a previous work (DeVetter et al, 2015); if UVV is not actively growing it might form a green mulch and reduce loss of water via evapotranspiration.…”