PULLMAN, Wash. (RFD-TV) — Vineyard operators are looking to the plants themselves for ways to lower fertilizer costs.
Washington State University professor Markus Keller says grapevines rely on nutrients stored in their trunks and roots to support growth the following season.
“You have to have a certain level of stock in your bank account just to earn any interest, right? Vines are like that. They need to have, we call them reserves, the reserve pool in their trunk, in their roots, and so on. That’s what they’re using for next season’s growth early in the growing season. Typically, a grapevine doesn’t start even taking up nutrients from the soil until the canopy has developed about five to six leaves per shoot.”
Keller says cold spells can cause vines to lose their leaves earlier in the season, forcing growers to compensate with new fertilizer applications in the spring.
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