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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #202973
Title: Water and Nutrient Competition with Cover Crops in Willamette Valley Vineyards

Author
item Schreiner, Roger - Paul
item SWEET, REBECCA - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2006
Publication Date: 10/30/2006
Citation: Schreiner, R.P. and Sweet, R. 2006. Water and nutrient competition with cover crops in Willamette Valley vineyards. Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research Proceedings. 15:66-69.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Seven cover crop treatments were applied in the alleys (between rows of vines) at two commercial vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley in the fall of 2003 and monitored for establishment and impact on Pinot noir grapevines in 2004 and 2005. Treatments applied were: winter annuals (oats, rye and vetch), clover mix (subclovers, clovers and medic), native grass mix (Willamette Valley upland prairie species), native meadow mix (forbs plus grasses), perennial grass and clover mix (sheep fescue, dwarf perennial rye, hard fescue, subclovers, clovers and medic), resident vegetation, and a clean-cultivated control. Cover crops had little measurable influence on the growth or fruit quality of Pinot noir grapevines. While the different cover crop treatments sometimes had effects on the vineyard (soil moisture in the alley, leaf [N] at veraison, juice YANC), there was no case where any of the cover crop treatments were significantly different from the clean-cultivated control or resident vegetation treatments. This two year study conducted under fairly normal rainfall and temperature patterns for the region, showed very little competition between cover crops and vines for water or nutrients. Since a clean-cultivated control was used in this study, it can be concluded that use of cover crops will not interfere with growth or nutrient and water uptake of established Pinot noir grapevines when cover crops are mowed in the spring and summer. Therefore, advantages of using cover crops (like protecting soil from erosion, adding organic matter to soil, providing plant diversity in the vineyard) may be more important considerations than the potential disadvantage of competition with vines when growers evaluate the use of cover crops in Willamette Valley vineyards.