Crop Development: Why things sometimes go wrong Markus Keller
Grape berry: a job description Seed production Seed dispersal Color/aroma advertising Sugar ticket price from Coombe (AV, 2001) photo courtesy of B. Bondada
Feed them, and they will grow!
Reproduction
Winter Growth cycles: two biennial affairs Spring Summer Autumn Winter bleeding root growth bud development para- endo- eco-dormancy VEGETATIVE budbreak shoot growth shoot maturation leaf fall lateral shoot growth cluster initiation and development REPRODUCTIVE flower develop. fruit set veraison bloom berry growth ripening harvest Feb Aug Mar Sep Apr Oct May Nov Jun Dec Jul Jan Aug Feb Sep Mar Oct Apr Nov May Dec Jun Jan Jul modified from Dry & Coombe (2004)
Yield formation Genes environment interactions Yield variation Vine # < bud # < shoot # < berry weight < cluster # < berry #
Yield components Component Determined Management during options Vines/acre Planting Planting density Buds/vine Winter pruning Trellis design Pruning level Shoots/node Budbreak Pruning level Clusters/shoot t Cluster initiation iti Nutrition Canopy management Flowers/cluster Budbreak (?)? Berries/cluster Fruit set Irrigation Nutrition Berry weight All season Irrigation Nutrition
Yield: from potential to realization Pruning level number of fruitful shoots Bud fruitfulness number of clusters Yield potential Optimum: high light (> ⅓ full sun), warm temperature (68-86 F), adequate water & nutrients, open canopy Budbreak number of flowers (?) Optimum: high reserve status, cool air, warm & moist soil Bloom/fruit set number of berries Optimum: large leaf area & above Cell division/expansion berry weight Yield Optimum: seed(s), optimum temperature (77-86 F) & above
Cold damage: what now? Sho oots per vine 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Spur, early Spur, early+late Spur, late Minimal Minimal, disbudded r = 0.96, p < 0.001 0 50 100 150 200 Buds per vine Clu usters per vin ne 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 r = 0.93, p < 0.001 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Shoots per vine Yield (kg g/vine) 8 6 4 2 Brown nodes per shoot 20 15 10 5 Spur, early Spur, early+late Spur, late Minimal Minimal, disbudded r = -0.65*** from Keller and MiIls (AJEV, 2007) 0 r = 0.92, p < 0.001 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Clusters per vine 0 0 50 100 150 200 Buds per vine
Yield formation: vines compensate Post-blo Be oom rry wei vig gor ght (mm (g) m/d) ) it set (% Fru 20 1.4 80 15 1.2 60 10 1.0 40 5 0.8 20 RDI E, r = -0.76 RDI L, r = -0.71 RDI S, r= -0.74 074 Merlot (r = RDI -0.50***) E, r = -0.34 Syrah (r = RDI -0.64***) L, r = -0.37 Chardonnay RDI (r = -0.58***) S, r = -0.38 0 0.6 0 0.0 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 0 0.5 1.0 500 1.5 2.0 1000 2.5 3.01500 3.5 Berries per vine Crop load Flowers (kg fruit/m per cluster 2 leaf area) partly from Keller et al. (AJEV, 2008)
Evaporation Beware Too much of competition! water or N?
Don t stress em too soon! 50 set (%) 40 30 Fruit 20 no N 10 100 lbs N/acre r = 0.58, p < 0.001 0 0 2 4 6 8 Total xylem N (mm) Recipes for poor fruit set: Water stress Water + nutrient stress! Nutrient stress (N, K, Ca, B, Fe, Mo deficiency)
Fruit set: More sugar please! 60 set (%) Fruit 40 20 Hot Warm Ambient r = 0.63, p < 0.001 Cool 0 0 10 20 30 40 Leaf area/flower (cm 2 ) More recipes : Low light or insufficient leaf area Heat (>95 F) or cold (<60 F) Shoot vigor less important Can use shoot tipping
Berry growth Xylem flow reverses Cell division Cell expansion (modified from Coombe 2001) SEED FORMATION BERRY RIPENING
Bunch-stem necrosis (BSN) Problems before fruit set and after veraison Many question marks: Nutrient stress or excess (Mg, Ca, K )? Too much nitrogen or too little? Cool bloom time? Loss of leaf area? Late-season shoot growth? Overcropping? Big, tight clusters? Rootstocks (5C, 5BB)? Stress response Can be induced off the vine
Chilling or drought stress? Stop irrigation: veraison through leaf abscission Overnight in cold room (34 F): veraison + 3 weeks 50 necrosis (%) Bun nch-stem 40 30 20 10 0 Control Cold nights Early & late Late Water defizit
Berry shrivel (BS): the big uneasy
Shrivele ed berries (% %) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 BS and/or BSN? Cabernet Sauvignon (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) Semillon (r = 0.52, p < 0.01) 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Stem necrosis (%) BS and BSN often in same block Transition from 0 to 100% rachis necrosis 2 years, 3 varieties: same results BS = BSN without stem symptoms? Data and photos by G. Hall (MS student)
Ber rry weight ( g) 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 300 Healthy Shriveled 250 Solub Sug ble gar solids (mg/berr (ºB Brix) ry) 200 150 100 50 Healthy Healthy Shriveled Shriveled Glu:Fru ~1.0 0.5 222 236 243 250 263 278 292 298 00 222 236 243 250 263 278 292 298 10 Aug DOY 25 Oct 10 Aug DOY 25 Oct Tartaric K + (mg/be acid erry) (mg/berry) 4.5 2.5 4.0 2.0 3.5 3.0 1.5 2.5 2.0 1.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 Healthy (r = 0.78***) Shriveled(r=074***) 0.74 Healthy Shriveled Malic acid ph (mg/berry) 74.0 6 3.8 5 3.6 4 34 3.4 3 3.2 2 30 1 3.0 Healthy Shriveled Healthy Shriveled 0.0 0 222 50236 100 243 150 250 263 200 278 250 292 300 298350 Sugar (mg/berry) 10 Aug DOY 25 Oct 02.8 22236 236243 243250250 263 263 278 278 292 298 1022 Aug Aug DOY 25 Oct
Seed maturity Healthy Berry shrivel 25 Brix 14 Brix 1-2 Seeds/berry 1-2 Seeds/berry 25 mg/seed (harvest) 22 mg/seed (harvest) 34% Germination 31% Germination
Plumbing system failure A B A B A C B C 24.9 Brix 1.0 g 249 mg SPB A B C C 11.9 Brix 0.6 g 74 mg SPB D D 25.0 Brix 1.0 g 250 mg SPB D Healthy Cluster 15.3 Brix 0.5 g 71 mg SPB 15.3 B.54 g D BS Cluster Healthy %Area Shrivel %Area Shrivel %Area 10.64 0.37 0.0 13.1 B.55 g A A A MS Thesis: G. Hall Dead vascular system in BS/BSN rachis
Brix 20 13 8
The trouble with variation Cabernet Sauvignon GPS maps 4 Rows over 3 years No trends Berry shrivel on the move BS level GPS: J. Davenport
and with crop thinning Cabernet Sauvignon block BS thinning by grower crew Recount by WSU team 10% Clusters on ground Almost random choice Crop loss No quality gain = Waste of money? Requires training Grower photo
What does it look like? Heat injury 30 Brix ph = 3.9 Evaporation 32 Brix ph = 4.1 Berry shrivel 12 Brix ph = 3.1 Bunch-stem necrosis 18 Brix ph = 3.3 Healthy 25 Brix ph = 3.5 Same disorder, range of symptoms?