Preliminary Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System Norms for Leaf Nutrient Diagnosis of Tempranillo Grapevine in the Rioja Appellation

Abstract

Plant nutritional diagnosis requires specific reference levels for each grape variety to effectively reflect the nutritional status of the crop. A vine nutritional survey was undertaken in the Rioja A.O.C., northeastern Spain. The survey method was used to establish the preliminary norms in the application of the Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) to the nutritional diagnosis of leaf blade and petiole tissues of Vitis vinifera L., cv. Tempranillo, on Richter-110 rootstock. These DRIS norms were generated from data obtained during the course of 11 years (2000–10) from 166 vineyards trained on both Gobelet and Vertical Shoot Position (VSP) pruned Guyot and Double Cordon Royat systems. The database obtained includes information from different altitudes, soil types, cultural practices, and climatic conditions within the Rioja appellation. The majority of the vineyards had no irrigation and soil was tilled mechanically. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium were analyzed in leaf blade and petiole dry tissues sampled at both flowering and veraison. Vineyards with phytosanitary damages or flowering problems were discarded. Ratios among nutrients were established for the blade and petiole at both flowering and veraison by comparing two subpopulations of high and low quality. Both subpopulations were selected from a limited production criteria by a Student's t-test mean comparison. Finally, DRIS norms for leaf blade and petiole at both flowering and veraison are proposed for the nutrition diagnosis of the cv. Tempranillo in the Rioja A.O.C.