Year of Planting · Base-line Soil and Petiole Testing
Soil and Petiole Testing
Why is it important?
Just as you would never medicate your children without knowing whether or not they actually have an infection, you need to be able to diagnose nutrient deficiencies in your vineyards. How to do it? Soil and petiole testing can provide a clear picture of what is going on in your vineyard. Once you have the soil tests, you have one side of the story, and petiole tests will give you the other side of the vine nutrient story. The soil tests will determine what nutrients are available to be taken up by the vines roots, and the petiole tests will show whether or not the roots are actually absorbing those nutrients. A soil test can indicate that the soil pH, K, Mg, and N levels are all adequate, but if the vines are still puny, something else might be the problem. This is where a petiole test comes in handy. Most likely, however, puny vines could be due to too much or too little water in the vineyard, and a large crop size will also affect overall vine size. If vine size (too big or too small) is a problem in your vineyard, work with your local extension specialist to determine the precise cause and method for correction.
Nutrient Amendments:
Take the time to get a soil test to determine how much nitrogen you actually need. Nitrogen availability depends on organic matter in the soil, and each percent organic matter in the soil account for about 20lbs actual nitrogen/acre. Our program has a worksheet to calculate nitrogen needs based on soil tests results. I recommend you take the time to assess your individual blocks to determine nitrogen needs through soil and petiole testing. You may be surprised by what you may (or may not) need.
Petiole testing is an important aspect to your vineyard nutrition management program. We recommend that growers test petioles on annually, with soil testing being done every 3-5 years. Soil and petiole testing will provide information on what is in the soil and what is in the vines. In other words, you will be able to discern whether the nutrients from the soil are available and being taken up by the vines. See the LERGP soil and petiole testing page for information on how to collect soil and petiole samples and where to send them (within NY and PA).
Upcoming Events
2024 NYSDEC How to Get Certified Course
April 4, 2024 : NYSDEC How to Get Certified Training Course and Exam Registration
Portland, NY
NYSDEC training course in preparation to take the pesticide applicator exam
LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting #1 -Special Spotted Lanternfly Focus
May 1, 2024 : LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting
North East, PA
Come learn how to manage SLF when it arrives. Discussion will be centered around Spotted Lanternfly research, management, experience and best practice for dealing with new and established infestations. Lunch is provided today.
LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting #2
May 8, 2024 : LERGP Coffee Pot Meeting
Irving, NY
Come join us for timely and pertinent vineyard discussion, coffee, donuts, camaraderie and pesticide credits.
Announcements
NYWGF visits the Chautauqua Region
The New York Wine & Grape Foundation, led by Executive Director Sam Filler, is thrilled to announce their upcoming visit to your region this April!During this visit, NWYGF will host an information session about programs affecting our industry. As you may know, NYWGF is sponsoring a Vineyard Survey aimed at gathering accurate and insightful data about grape growing in New York. If you are a grape grower or wine maker in the state, your input is crucial in shaping the future of funding and promotion for the industry. By participating in the survey, you will be contributing valuable data that will help inform decisions about the industry's future growth. We invite you to learn more about the Vineyard Survey, how you can help by providing your data, and how the results will be shared and will support the industry.
The NYWGF team will also be sharing information about our valuable membership benefits and services, as well as giving you an overview of the New York Sustainable Winegrowing Program. The New York Sustainable Winegrowing Program provides a clear pathway for vineyards to achieve certification by implementing regionally defined sustainability standards.
To make the visit even more valuable, a free lunch will be provided.
This is an amazing opportunity to learn more about the exciting developments happening in New York's wine and grape industry. NYWGF is thankful to our partner, American National Insurance, for making this visit possible. This public-private partnership showcases the impact that we can have when we work together towards a common goal.
Commercial Vehicle Awareness slide presentation
NYS Trooper, Matt Luft, presented on Commercial Vehicle Awareness at CLEREL on Thursday, August 2nd. He has given us the permission to share his slides for you to reference at your convenience to share with others or to review. Please reference this link.Straight Talk: Is H-2A Working Out in the Vineyard
LERGP Podcasts- check them out!
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