Factors Affecting Exotherm Detection in the Differential Thermal Analysis of Grapevine Dormant Buds

Abstract

Abstract Differential thermal analysis was evaluated as a means of determining the cold hardiness of excised dormant buds of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay grapevines. The manner in which buds were excised and cooled affected the freezing characteristics of bud primordia. Buds excised with 1 to 2 mm of subjacent nodal tissue exhibited both high temperature exotherms (HTEs) and low temperature exotherms (LTEs). HTEs apparently resulted from freezing of supercooled moisture in bud scales and/or in the subjacent nodal tissue and occurred at inconsistent temperatures. Cooling similarly excised buds on a water-saturated substrate caused HTEs to occur at −4° to −8°C and did not affect the occurrence of LTEs, which were consistently associated with primordia death. Median LTEs associated with primary bud death were 1.5° to 2.0° warmer than LT50s derived from temperature/survival freezing tests of similar buds. Buds killed by freezing did not supercool appreciably when refrozen. Bud cold hardiness increased when single-node cuttings were exposed to a step-wise cooling cycle; however, the ability to detect exotherms decreased under these conditions. The decreased detection of exotherms was due to increased bud death and, presumably, a decrease of freezable (and thus detectable) moisture in the supercooled primordia of viable buds. DTA provides a useful and reliable means of determining grapevine bud cold hardiness when conducted in a standardized fashion.