Vineyard Floor Management:

More than just Weed Control

Tim MartinsonSenior Extension Associate in Viticulture

Cornell University

Weeds during Establishment

Actual

Year Income

Accumulated

Income or

(Expense) Income

Accumulated

Income or

(Expense)

0 $0.00 ($547.47) $0.00 ($547.47)

1 $0.00 ($5,749.07) $0.00 ($5,749.07)

2 $0.00 ($7,279.56) $0.00 ($7,279.56)

3 $1,500.00 ($8,670.64) $0.00 ($10,170.64)

4 $3,000.00 ($8,399.80) $1,500.00 ($11,399.80)

5 $3,500.00 ($7,318.68) $3,500.00 ($10,318.68)

6 $3,500.00 ($6,172.97) $3,500.00 ($9,172.97)

7 $3,500.00 ($4,935.96) $3,500.00 ($7,935.96)

8 $3,500.00 ($3,647.29) $3,500.00 ($6,647.29)

9 $3,500.00 ($2,258.75) $3,500.00 ($5,258.75)

10 $3,500.00 ($809.44) $3,500.00 ($3,809.44)

11 $3,500.00 $749.37 $3,500.00 ($2,250.63)

12 $3,500.00 $2,389.98 $3,500.00 ($610.02)

Cost of delaying crop by 1 year

Adapted from Domoto 2007, Cost of Establishing A Vineyard – High Cordon, Iowa State University.

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/commodity/fruits/wine/wineryfeasibility.htm

Weed Control

Tillage Herbicides

Be Timely, Stay on top of it !

Preplant Site Preparation Decisions

• Vines

• Vineyard Layout

• Preplant soil testing/Amendments

• Cover crop/Soil preparation

• Deer Fence? Irrigation? Access Rds

• Weeds (Perennials)

Begin 2 years before Planting!

Cover Crops/Weeds

• 1 Year out: Control

Perennial Weeds

• Tillage to remove

– Tree roots

– Wild grapes/Virginia

creeper

– Perennial crops

• Seed cover crop to shade

out weeds

– Cereal Rye/ryegrass

– Buckwheat

* Will winter-kill.

http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/organic_guide/grapes.

Cover crop Last day to plant

Seeding rate (lb/a)

Marigold* 1-Jul 5-20

Sudangrass* 1-Jul 50-90

Buckwheat* 1-Aug 75

Ryegrass 15-Aug 15

Barley* 15-Aug 75-100

Sweet Clover 15-Aug 20

Red clover 15-Aug 10-20

Vetch 1-Sep 30-40

Oats* 15-Sep 60-100

Wheat 15-Sep 80-100

Winter Rye 1-Oct 80-100

Cornell Cover Crop Decision Tool

Planting year:

Floor Management is a Tool for Managing

• Weeds

• Vine Vigor

• Water relations

• Runoff/Erosion

• Ground and surface water

quality

• Long-term soil health

Herbicides General Information

• Pre-emergence/Residual

• Post-emergence

• Broadleaf vs Grasses

• Labels for ‘nonbearing’ vs ‘bearing’

vineyards

Pre-emergence Herbicides

• Non-bearing and bearing vineyards:

– Chateau, Prowl, Devrinol, Surflan

• Established (bearing) vineyards only:

– Grasses: Devrinol, Surflan, Karmex, Chateau

– Broadleaf: Princep, Goal, Karmex, Chateau

Timing: Often around bud burst

Postemergence Herbicides

• Nonselective:

– Glyphosate (Roundup) – Systemic, translocated

– Paraquat (Gramoxone) – Contact only

– Glufosinate (Rely) – Contact

• Selective:

– Carfentrazone (Aim) – Broadleaves, not grasses

– Sethoxydim (Poast) – Grasses, not Broadleaves

Timing: Best when weeds are small.

Know your Weeds

Different herbicides control different range of weeds

Floor Management

• Overview of different practices

• Cost-benefit of weed control (Concord, Bulk

Hybrids)

• Weed competition floor management (Pool,

Lakso, et.al.)

• Soil Health measures and floor management

• Recent studies on Hybrids/Vinifera (controlling

vigor) – Tony Wolf , Alice Wise, Justine Vanden

Heuvel

Photos: Crooked Lake and the Grape

Row Middle Tillage

Under the trellis: Takeout Hoe

Horse-drawn Tractor-mounted

Herbicide Sprayers – Under the

Trellis

•Pre-emergence Residual

•Simazine

•Karmex

•Post-Emergence

•Roundup (systemic)

•Paraquat (contact)

•Rely (90s)

•Chemical suckering

Row middles vs Under Trellis

•Under Trellis: Bare Ground, Banded Fertilizer, Herbicides,

Tillage, Tractor wheels

•Row Middles: Vegetation, No tillage

Row Middle Management

Permanent Sod Cultivation

Killed Sod Straw Mulch

No Till Seeding

Annual Rye Seeded in Row middles

Cover Crops/Mowing

Killed Sod

Mulch

Shielded Sprayers

Post-emergence Herbicides

Flames for weed control

Costs/Benefits of Vineyard Weed

Management

Rick Dunst and Barry Shaffer

Fredonia Vineyard Lab

Lake Erie Regional Grape Program

Under-row weed competitionCompared to ‘standard pre+post emergence programs

• Orchard grass - 45% yield reduction

• Summer annuals - 10-15% reduction

• Winter annuals - 0% (not competitive)

• 2 post-emergence only - 7% reduction*

* based on results of one 4-year experiment -

not a “statistically significant” difference

Weed competition during

vineyard establishment

• Vines planted in 2001

• Assume $150 per ton

Treatment ‘03 tpa ‘04 tpa total return

Weedy 0.0 1.4 1.4 $210

Weed-free 3.8 6.5 10.3 $1,545

$1,335

1996-1999 under-row expt.

Treatment tpa cost return@$150/acre

Weedy 6.75 $0 $1,012.50

June post-e 6.75 $14 $998.50

2 post-e 7.0 $28 $1,022.00

standard* 7.5 $45 $1,080.00

* Solicam®+simazine+glyphosate

Return = yield @$150/ton minus application costs

Row Middle Management

Impact on Concords

• Mowed sod

• Cultivation (3x)

• Glyphosate

• Killed rye

• Mulch

Percent Ground Cover

May June July Aug Sept Oct

Budb

reak

Blo

om

Vera

ison

Concord Row Middle Mgt Study1992-1995

Concord Shoot Growth 1993 Cover Crop

0

50

100

150

13-May 2-Jun 22-Jun 12-Jul 1-Aug

Date

Mea

n S

hoo

t L

eng

th (

cm)

Mulch

RoundUp

Cultiv

Orchgrass

Floor management treatments had little effect until around and after bloom when shoots and roots are actively growing

Blo

om

Date

SoilWaterContent(g/cm3)

Seasonal Soil Water Changes with Different Treatments

Period of GreatestVine Sensitivity

Concord Cover Crops 1993

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

23-Apr 23-May 22-Jun 22-Jul 21-Aug 20-Sep 20-Oct

Mulch

Round-Up

Cultiv

Orchardgrass

0.050.040.030.020.010.000

2

4

6

8

10

Decrease in Soil Water Content (g/cm3)June-July 1993, In-Row, Top 24 Inches

'94 Yieldtons/acre

'93 Cane Pruning Weight

Killed RyeMulch

Annual RyeCultivateHerbicide

CloverVetchBluegrassOrchard grassOrchard grass-mow

Competition was for Water

Reducing water use increased yield,

pruning weight

Mulching is the gold standard

Under the trellis vs Row middles

Different Row Middle CoversImpact on Soil Health Indicators

Clean Tillage

Mulch

Diversion Ditches

Cover Crop•Question: How have cover crops and

mulching affected soil characteristics?

•Survey: Row middles vs. Under the Trellis

Soil Health Indicators

Standard Soil Test

Potentially Mineralizable

Nitrogen

Active Carbon

Aggregate Stability

Available Water Capacity

Organic Matter

Soil compaction

Root Diseases

Physical

Biological

Soil Health IndicatorsRow Middles vs Under Trellis

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

Mean(A

grigate

)

RM UR

Samplelocation

Aggregate Stability

0.1

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.2

0.22

0.24

0.26

0.28

Wate

rCap

RM UR

Samplelocation

Water Holding Capacity

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

650

700

Mean(C

arb

on)

RM UR

Samplelocation

0

5

10

15

20

25

N

RM UR

Samplelocation

Active Carbon Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen

Physical

Indicators

Biological

Indicators

Row MiddleUnder Trellis

Managing Excess Vigor?

Vigor Management - Vinifera

Effects of Under-trellis Ground Cover, Rootstock and Root Restriction on Vegetative Growth

of Cabernet Sauvignon - Tony Wolf, Virginia Tech

http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith/grapes/viticulture/research/ground-cover.html

Under the trellis Vegetation At

Virginia Tech

Effects of Under-trellis Ground Cover, Rootstock and Root Restriction on Vegetative

Growth of Cabernet Sauvignon - Tony Wolf, Virginia Tech

http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith/grapes/viticulture/research/ground-cover.html

Under the

trellis

Vegetation

At

Virginia

Tech

Effects of Under-trellis Ground Cover, Rootstock and Root Restriction on Vegetative

Growth of Cabernet Sauvignon - Tony Wolf, Virginia Tech

http://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith/grapes/viticulture/research/ground-cover.html

Under-Vine Annual

Cover CropsJustine Vanden Heuvel and

Lindsay Jordan

Annual Under-vine Cover Crops - RieslingJordan, Bjorkman, & Vanden Heuvel Hort Tech 26: 35-45

8.4

9.0

9.8

9.6

ARG= Annual Ryegrass

BW= buckwheat

CON = Glyphosate

RES= Resident vegetation

8.4 kg/v = 7.4T/ac; 9.8 kg/v = 8.7 T/ac

Under-Vine Management StudyKarl et al Lansing Vineyard Cab Franc

18.7

14.7

14.3

14.6

Cumulative Ave (Kg/vine)

6.2 (13.7 lb/v) 5.5 T

4.9 (10.8 lb/v) 4.3 T

4.7 (10.5 lb/v) 4.2 T

4.8 (10.7 lb/v) 4.3 T

Alice Wise – Under Trellis Mower

Under-vine vegetation

Tips for Weed Management• Eliminate weeds pre-plant (tillage & cover)

• Weed-free under trellis (&row middle?)

during establishment

• Mature vines: choices:

– Under trellis: Weed Badger

– Under trellis: pre+postemerg

– Under trellis: Postemerge only

– Under trellis: mow, seeded cover (?)

– Row Middles: Cover, adapt floor mgt to water

status of soils.

• Read Labels, know your weeds