Vine Propagation Flashcards
What are the two methods of vine propagation?
Layering and cutting
Cutting is more common.
What is a cutting?
A cutting is a section of a Vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant.
It permits the use of rootstocks, which can easily be grafted onto the vine cutting before it is planted.
Nurseries are able to treat vine cuttings to avoid spread of diseases.
What is layering?
Layering is a method of filling grapes in a vineyard (e.g. due to the death of a Vine) by using shoots from an established neighboring vine to produce a new vine.
A cane is bent down and a section of it is buried in the ground.
The tip of the cane points up out of the ground.
The sections that is buried takes root and, once these roots are established, the cane linking the new growth to the original plant is cut.
The new vine grows on its own roots, not those of a rootstock.
Why is layering not used as widely as cutting?
No protection against phylloxera.
No ability to have the qualities that a choice of rootstock offers.
Why are vines not propagated through seeds?
Vines that grow through seeds are not genetically identical to the parents vines, and although they can show similar characteristics to their parents, more often they are notably different.
What is clonal selection?
Vines with particularly favorable characteristics are selected by vine nurseries or growers for propagation by cuttings in order to grow new vines with these favorable characteristics.
When is a new grape variety formed through cutting?
On rare occasions, a mutation might be so significant that the new vine is classified as a new grape variety.
Why would a grower buy and plant a number of different clones of the same variety?
If the bought and planted the same clones, there would be:
- less diversity in the fruit
- less complex and balanced final wine
- the vineyard becomes more susceptible to disease, as the identical vines are likely to all be equally susceptible to a disease or pest
What is massale selection?
Selection and monitoring of vines to ensure propagation of the best vines
- vineyard owners take cuttings from the vines in their own vineyard and cultivate these cuttings
- cuttings can be sent to a nursery for grafting onto rootstock where necessary
- taken from several different vines
How are vines selected for mass selection chosen?
- best-performing vines are selected (e.g. those that consistently yield fruit with the desired characteristics)
- these vines are selected after several years of monitoring and recording their performance
What are the advantages and disadvantages of massale selection?
Advantages:
- increases diversity of planting material in the vineyard and throughout the region
- vineyard owner using their own unique planting material (different from those being bought from local nursery), can enhance fruit quality and/or yield (and can be used as a marketing asset)
Disadvantages:
- costly, in time and labor
- if parent vine infected by disease, e.g. virus, likely to be passed onto new vines
How are new grape varieties formed?
- new varieties are typically produced from seeds
- cross-fertilization
- grapes develop, and seeds from these plants are planted and grown.
- new vines that grow from the seeds will have different characteristics (int he way that siblings in a family are not identical to each other or their parents), but on rare occasions, a mutation might be so significant that the new vine is classified as a new variety
What is cross fertilization?
The pollen from the stamens of the flowers of one vine is transferred to the stigmas of the flowers of another vine and fertilization occurs
What is the process for determining if a new variety should become widely planted?
- if new vines have desirable characteristics, it may be propagated by cuttings to create identical vines
-potential and long-term value of the new vine will be assessed over a long period of time
- if there is thought to be value in making this new variety available commercially, it will need to be registered on the OIV catalogue as a new variety
What is a cross?
when two parent vines are from the same species, the offspring is a cross
