Irrigation Scheduling of Grapevines
Visual Assessment
Growers commonly use a visual assessment of a vine’s water status. One can look at the appearance of vines to search for tell-tale signs of stress without any devices. This is an excellent way of ground-truthing other methods. When visually assessing canopies, it is important to look at shoot tips, tendrils, leaves, clusters, and overall growth. When vines are under water stress, tendrils become limp, shoot tips begin to flop downward, leaves start to bend (petiole juncture at leaf blade begins to form a shepherd’s hook), and berries may begin to shrivel. Under prolonged water stress, shoot tips stop growing and abscise, tendrils dry up and fall off, and basal leaves may turn yellow and abscise. It is important to consider that tendrils and shoot tips may dry up and fall off as a result of the natural cessation of growth late season, in preparation for dormancy, and may not indicate water stress.
Click on the following topics for more information on irrigation scheduling of grapevines.
