Impact of Soil Drainage on Growth, Productivity, Cane Dieback, and Fruit Composition of `Chambourcin' and `Pinot Gris' Grapevines

Abstract

In the Spring and Summer 1997, severe die back of `Pinot Gris' and `Chambourcin' grape (Vitis vinifera) vines was observed by aerial surveillance in a commercial vineyard adjacent to Lake Erie. Vines grown over the tile lines grew well during 1997-99 following the excessively wet year of 1996. This was not the case for vines that were located betweentile lines. It was postulated that by digging and refilling the trench to insert the tile that either soil compaction or soil pH had been altered and could be responsible for the vine performance. Measurements indicated that these factors were not altered enough to explain the growth differences between vines growing over tile lines and those vines growing between tile lines. It appears that soil oxygen was improved by tiling and likely made the difference in cane dieback during the excessively wet year of 1996. By 1999, vines over tile and between tile had similar yields, and the pattern was no longer visible from the air. This study showed that heavy clay soils with naturally poor internal drainage caused cane dieback and poor growth of vines, especially in very wet years. Thus, it appears prudent on soils of this type, tile drainage is beneficial and spacing of lateral tile lines needs to be closer than 40 ft (12 m) in plateau silt loam soils to adequately protect vines from wet years.