Jan 20, 2014 | View All Issues
Resources for water management of grapevines under drought conditions (courtesy of our colleagues in Australia) are available in the Irrigation section of the UC Cooperative Extension-Napa County website: http://cenapa.ucanr.edu/Napa_County_Programs/Viticulture/Irrigation/
Considerations for managing vine growth & yield under water-limiting conditions include:
1. Managing crop size through reductions in bud numbers and/or thinning after set. Adjust crop size to predicted water availability.
2. If possible, target supplementary irrigation to critical physiological periods: (a) budburst to flowering, (b) flowering to fruit set, (c) veraison to harvest, (d) harvest to leaf fall--hopefully will be raining by then!
3. Organic residues (from cover crops or weeds) and mulches may moderate soil surface temperatures.
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