Late season vineyard management is important for preparing your vineyard between harvest and dormancy, or whenever the ground freezes, depending on your location. This period focuses on three main areas: compost application, vineyard floor management, and dormant season spraying.
Compost Application
Compost application is an effective strategy for enhancing soil health. True compost is a well-decomposed, stable form of organic matter and nutrients created by intentionally combining nitrogen and carbon. Achieving temperatures between 130 to 140 degrees fahrenheit for about a week is necessary to kill pathogens and weed seeds. Compost isn’t just raw manure or animal bedding; it needs to undergo a proper composting process.
When applied correctly, compost can add nutrients, improve water and nutrient-holding capacity, and possibly boost microbial activity. It acts as a slow-release fertilizer, ideal for soil maintenance over time. However, compost can be expensive, so it’s important to assess whether your vineyard needs the nutrients it provides, especially if there’s no nitrogen limitation to the vines.
Vineyard Floor Management
Vineyard floor management involves planting cover crops before late-season rains to improve soil and prevent erosion. Planting lower-growing cover crops like creeping red fescue, ryegrass, or clover directly under vine rows can be beneficial. If your property naturally supports wild reseeding cover crops, additional seeding may not be necessary. For young vines, it is best to avoid excessive competition during the active growing season, but in some cases, leaving cover crops through bloom and fruit set can help manage high-vigor growth in mature, vigorous vines.
Preparing for Dormant Season Sprays
Preparing for dormant season sprays involves applying treatments to prevent or reduce infections, especially if fungal diseases were active during the growing season. Timing is important; for example, applying lime sulfur in the two-week window between final pruning and bud burst can help control some fungal spores, including powdery mildew, phomopsis and anthracnose spores. Always make sure that the dormant spray product you use targets the specific issue in your vineyard as per its label instructions.
Implementing chemical or physical barriers can protect pruning wounds from pathogens, preventing diseases like Esca, Eutypa and young vine decline. Proper timing of these applications, especially around rain events, is important to maximize their effectiveness.
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