Physiology and Life Cycle of the Vine Flashcards
How is a vine’s morphology commonly divided?
Vegetative parts
Reproductive parts
What are the only below-ground parts of the vine?
The roots
What is the vine canopy?
The entire above ground part of the vine
What three functions do roots perform for the vine?
Anchor the vine
Absorb water and nutrients
Store carbohydrate reserves for winter growth and shoot/leaf creation in the spring
How deep do structural roots penetrate into soil?
Usually 30-35cm, though depths of 6m have been recorded
What is the diameter of structural roots?
6-10mm
Where do narrow root branches tend to be found?
The upper 20-50cm of soil
Where are most roots found?
Within a 4-8m horizontal diameter of the vine
How do roots absorb water and nutrients?
Through the root’s absorption zone, a 100mm long area just behind the root tip covered in fine root hairs.
The hairs dramatically increase the surface area of the root
Where are the most actively absorptive roots found in the soil?
The upper 10-60cm
Why is it important for roots to store carbohydrates for the vine during winter and early spring?
There are no leaves to photosynthesize, therefore no sugar and starch production
What are the permanent above ground structures of the vine?
The trunk and arms
What is the trunk?
The permanent, vertical wood that extends out of the ground.
It transports water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves and fruits through the arms.
What are the arms?
Permanent wood growing out of the trunk from which the shoots grow.
It transports water and nutrients from the roots and trunk to the leaves and fruits.
What types of arms might be trained in a vine?
Cordons
Long, horizontal arms
Spurs
Short, angled between horizontal and vertical
How much of the vine’s dry matter is permanent wood?
Why is this important?
50-75%
The permanent wood stores carbohydrates and mineral nutrients, buffering the vine against unfavorable conditions during the growing season and winter months.
Grapevines are climbing plants. What does this mean for cultivation?
In their natural state, vines rely on external rigid frames such as trees to spread their canopy.
Trellising is generally needed in vineyards to support longer permanent arms and annual growth shoots unless the vines are very close to the ground
What is a node?
A segment of the vine characterized by a swelling in the vine’s growing area (shoot) that are regularly spaced and contain the beginnings of leaves, lateral shoots, tendrils, and inflorescences.
What is a bud?
A growing point in the vine from which the shoots grow from the vine. They form at the base of the leaf stalks.
What is an internode?
The space between nodes on a shoot, generally 5-15cm long depending on cultivar and vigor.
What is a dormant bud?
These do not develop further in the growing season. They become dormant over the winter until bud break the following season.
Climate in the first season thus affects growth and fertility in the second season.
Also called a latent bud.
What is a prompt bud?
A bud that breaks in the same year it is formed.
What is a shoot?
A structure that grows from the vine out of buds. It continues to grow throughout the season, developing nodes and internodes that support the vine’s leaves, tendrils, and inflorescences.
Shoots also develop their own buds, some of which shoot during the season and others which remain dormant until the following season.
What is a tendril?
A part of the vine that grows out of some nodes to support the vine by coiling around trees (or trellis wires). They ensure shoots are in a position that maximizes leaf exposure to sunlight for optimal photosynthesis.
What is a cane?
A maturation of the shoot into a woody stem at the end of the growing season.
What is a leaf?
The main organ of photosynthesis. Vine leaves are generally five-lobed and exchange gas byproducts through stomata (pores) on the underside of of the leaf.
What is the annual growth cycle of the vine?
Budburst and Shoot Growth
Inflorescence Initiation
Flowering (Bloom/Reproduction Cycle)
Fruit Set
Berry Development
Harvest
Wood Ripening, Leaf Fall, and Dormancy
What physiological response signifies the beginning of the vine’s growth cycle?
A rising of sap just before budbreak
What two cycles define the vine’s growing season?
Vegetative
Reproductive
What is an inflorescence?
The fruiting structure of the vine, containing the flowers that will become berries following fertilization.
True or False
Most V. vinifera vines are hermaphroditic.
True
Vines can self-fertilize because they have male and female reproductive organs on the same inflorescence.
What role do berries fulfill in the wild?
They are the vine’s natural means of reproduction and survival. They attract animals to eat the seeds and spread them to new environments.
What is the difference between a grape berry and a grape bunch?
A berry is a fertilized flower.
A bunch is a fertilized inflorescence.