4 - The vine Flashcards
The Vine
What is the name of the 2 species of grapevine
Vitus Vinifera
American Vines
The Vine
What is Phylloxera?
A vine pest that attacks the vine roots
The Vine
Which vine species is resistant to Phylloxera?
American vines
The Vine
Where (for what purpose) are American Vines mostly used?
To produce rootstock that is resistant to Phylloxera. Vinus Vinifera is then grafted on.
The Vine
What are three things a grape grower may consider when selecting a vine variety?
1) The flavours and colours they are looking for
2) Budding and ripening times
3) Resistance to disease
The Vine
When growing or propagating new varieties, what 2 methods can the grower choose between?
1) Cutting
2) Layering
The Vine
When propagating new vines, what is cutting?
A cutting is a section of vine shoot that is planted, and a new vine grows. These are generally generated in nurseries.
The Vine
When propagating new vines, what is layering?
Layering is carried out in the vineyard. A cane is bent down, and a section is buried in the soil with the tip pointing upwards. Once this takes root, the cane from the old vine is cut.
The Vine
What is the downside of layering as opposed to cutting?
If the original plant has Phylloxera, this will be carried to the new plant.
The Vine
What is clonal selection?
Where vines with positive mutations (disease resistance, better fruit etc.) are used in further propogations (cutting, layering)
The Vine
What is a varietal clone?
A mutation (positive or negative) in the original vine. Still genetically idnetical to the original but with observable variations.
The Vine
What is a crossing?
When a new variety is created from two parents of the same species (e.g. both Vinus Vinifera). eg Cab Sav is from Cab Franc and Sav Blanc.
The Vine
What is a Hybrid?
A vine whose parents come from 2 different vine species. Typically, one parent is American Vine
The Vine
How does Phylloxera infect the vine?
During one phase, the pest lives underground and feeds on the root. The infection enters via the feeding wounds, and the vine becomes weak and dies.
The Vine
How do American Vines resist Phylloxera?
They clog the louse’s mouth with a sticky sap.
They also form a protective layer behind the feeding wound, preventing infection
The Vine
Where, other than America, are there vines that are resistant to Phylloxera?
Chile
Parts of Argentina
South Australia
The Vine
How is rootstock used to assist disease resistance?
It is the root of one vine that grafts another vine. Particularly Vinus Vinifera on American Vines to provide resistance to Phylloxera.
It can also be used to provide better resistance to climates.
The Vine
What is grafting?
The technique used to join a rootstock to a Vinus Vinifera vine.
The Vine
What is bench grafting?
It is an automatic process where short sections of cane from the rootstock and the new variety are joined together by a machine and stored in a warm place for the 2 to fuse together.
The Vine
What is head grafting?
Used to switch varieties. The existing vine is cut back to its trunk, and a bud is grafted to that trunk. It will bear the new fruit the following year and be commercially viable in 3 years if successful.
The Vine
What are the 4 main sections of a vine.
1) The green parts of the vine
2) One-year-old wood
3) Permanent wood
4) The root
The Vine
What are the Green parts of the Vine?
These parts grow new each year.
The principal structure is the shoot which has:
- leaves
- buds
- tendrills
- flowers
- berries
The Vine
What is the primary role of leaves on the vine?
Photosynthesis.
The Vine
What is photosynthesis?
The process by which the plant uses sunlight to convert water and CO2 into glucose and Oxygen
The Vine
Why does a vine need glucose?
Glucose is a sugar that is used to support vine growth and make ripe grapes taste sweet.
The Vine
Where do buds form on the shoot?
In the join between the leaf and the shoot. Described as embronic shoots.
The Vine
What does each bud contain at the end of the growing season?
Once formed they mature inside their casing during the growing season.
By the end of the year each bud contains (in minature) all the structures that will become the shoot, leaves, flowers and tendrills for the following year.
The Vine
What are the vines tendrills?
Vines use tendrills to grip a supporting structure in order to stay upright. One a tendrill senses its touched a structure it will wind itself tightly around it in order to keep the shoot upright.
The Vine
What are the flowers on a vine for?
Flowers are the vine’s reproductive organs.
A vine’s flowers have male and female parts and are grouped in bunches called inflorescences. Each flower that is successfully pollinated becomes a berry. The inflourescences will become a bunch of grapes at the end of the season.
The Vine
What is the one year wood?
Shoots turn woody during the winter after they have grown. The following spring, they become one year wood. The buds that formed on them the previous year burst and grow shoots.
The Vine
Why is it important to manage one year wood?
Vines will normally only produce fruit on shoots that grow from buds that were formed the previous year.
The Vine
How is the one year wood pruned and managed?
Every winter, the vine is pruned, and the one-year wood will either be called a cane or a spur, depending on how many buds it is left with.
The Vine
What is the difference between a cane and a spur?
A cane is long with 8-20 buds on it.
A spur is short with only 2-3 buds on it
The Vine
What is permanent wood on a vine?
Wood that is more than one year old.
Made up of the trunk and the arms of the vine.
The Vine
What are the 3 functions of the roots?
1) To absorb water and nutrients from the soil.
2) To anchor the vine
3) Store carbohydrates to survive the winter
