Vegetative and reproductive parameters evaluation of alternative plant material

Dead vines are often a problem in many vineyards and are due to physiological or pathological causes whereby the vines need to be replaced. The replacement operation is a real cost for the direct costs of the plant material, for its planting and for their different management during the current year or in the two years after the replacement, determining also vineyard variability. When replacement is performed in the first years after vineyard establishment it is quite easy, whereas many issues occur when replacement is later, particularly issues considering roots competition. To reduce replacement problems, the use of “alternative plant material” has been evaluated. The “alternative vines” were one year old with a shoot length 80-100 cm and a shoot diameter no less than 7.50 mm. Such plant material has higher producing costs than normal vines, but it has a shorter and easier training period. The use of “alternative vines” also can be a useful tool in varietal changing (in addition to or in replacement of the graft techniques) to obtain a moderate yield since the plantation year. In this case the cost-effectiveness should be evaluated carefully. The research conducted during the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons studied the cultivation techniques adopted in the nursery to obtaining suitable “alternative plant” with different graft combinations. Vegetative and productive parameters of “alternative vines” during the first year of planting were also evaluated. Results suggest different vineyard management compare to the traditional management. Particularly, in the nursery, vines seemed to be more vigorous when there is a greater distance in the row and foliar fertilization is applied. During the first year of planting good vegetative and reproductive performances were shown. When bunches were left on high vigor vines, they ripened properly without negative effects on the vegetation development.