Impact of SoilDrainage onGrowth,Productivity,Cane Dieback,and FruitComposition of‘Chambourcin’and ‘Pinot Gris’Grapevines

Maurus V. Brown,1

David C. Ferree,2

David M. Scurlock,3 andGene Sigel4

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Vitis, grape,bulk density, root growth, soilaeration, French hybrid, V. vinifera,tiling

SUMMARY. In the Spring and Summer1997, severe die back of ‘Pinot Gris’and ‘Chambourcin’ grape (Vitisvinifera) vines was observed by aerialsurveillance in a commercial vineyardadjacent to Lake Erie. Vines grownover the tile lines grew well during1997–99 following the excessively wetyear of 1996. This was not the casefor vines that were located between

Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, TheOhio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research andDevelopment Center, Wooster, OH 44691.

Salaries and research support provided by state andfederal funds appropriated to the Ohio AgriculturalResearch and Development Center, The Ohio StateUniversity. Manuscript number. HCS 99-41. Partialfunding for this project came from the Ohio GrapeIndustries Program and the Viticulture Consortium-East program through a subcontract with CornellUniversity, New York State Agricultural ExperimentStation. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayedin part by the payment of page charges. Under postalregulations, this paper therefore must be hereby markedadvertisement solely to indicate this fact.1Former extension associate viticulturist. Currentlyextension agent, Ohio State University Extension,Richland County Extension Office, Mansfield, OH44906.2Professor.3Research associate.4Vineyard manager, Chalet Debonné Vineyards, Madi-son, OH.

I n 1996, Ohio experiencedone of the wettest years onrecord and rainfall was above the

long term average every month of theyear and was particularly excessive andconsistently high in the period Junethrough September (Fig. 1).

Soil in Chalet Debonne Vineyard,Madison, Ohio, near Lake Erie is ofthe Platea silt loam series and formedon a Wisconsin glacial till plane withsediments of clayey shale and siltstone(USDA Soil Conservation Service,1973). Platea silt loam contains 22% to34% clay and fragipans can be foundfrom 14.1 to 26.0 inches (36 to 66cm) below the soil surface (USDA SoilConservation Service, 1973; Zuckerand Brown, 1998). This soil series haspoor internal drainage during periodsof high precipitation and it has beenclassified in the drainage group E-4(USDA Soil Conservation Service,1973). Soils that are composed prima-rily of clay and silt are more prone topoor infiltration and percolation thansoils with a high sand content.

Soil compaction can readily occurduring wet periods in which soils areoften at field capacity when growersuse heavy spray equipment in the springor remove fruit at harvest. As equip-ment repeatedly passes over the samearea in vineyard there is a greater po-tential for soil bulk density to increase.Few grape growers implement sometype of drainage program to encour-age drainage and lower the water tableto enhance trafficability of equipmentin fields.

Vine vigor and productivity havebeen shown to improve by the use offield tile in Ontario, Canada (Fisher,1997). An increase in plant vigor ap-peared to be related to improved soildrainage and possibly due to an in-crease of oxygen in the root zone.Stressed grapevines could result in lowroot volume which may limit carbohy-drate reserves and hormone levelswhich could lead to increased winterinjury and result in poor shoot emer-gence (McArtney and Ferree, 1999a,1999b).

tile lines. It was postulated that bydigging and refilling the trench toinsert the tile that either soil compac-tion or soil pH had been altered andcould be responsible for the vineperformance. Measurements indicatedthat these factors were not alteredenough to explain the growthdifferences between vines growingover tile lines and those vines growingbetween tile lines. It appears that soiloxygen was improved by tiling andlikely made the difference in canedieback during the excessively wetyear of 1996. By 1999, vines over tileand between tile had similar yields,and the pattern was no longer visiblefrom the air. This study showed thatheavy clay soils with naturally poorinternal drainage caused cane diebackand poor growth of vines, especiallyin very wet years. Thus, it appearsprudent on soils of this type, tiledrainage is beneficial and spacing oflateral tile lines needs to be closerthan 40 ft (12 m) in plateau silt loamsoils to adequately protect vines fromwet years.

Fig. 1. Aerial view of the vineyards in 1997 showing the diagonal pattern due to vigorous vines over the tile lines with weak vinesbetween the tile lines.

In an attempt to determine whatcaused the distinct difference in vinegrowth, a study was established toevaluate the differences in the vinesand soil immediately over the tile linesand vines and soil in the center be-tween the lines. A separate study wasconducted in the ‘Pinot Gris’ and‘Chambourcin’ vineyards which wereadjacent.

Materials and methodsSITE. The vineyard site at Chalet

Debonné Vineyards was tiled with di-agonal laterals to the field edges (USDASoil Conservation Service, 1973) in 1992using 4-inch (10-cm) diameter tilespaced 40 ft apart (Fig. 1).

PLANT MATERIAL. ‘Chambourcin’/‘Couderc 3309’ (‘3309C’) (planted in1995) and ‘Pinot Gris’/’3309C’(planted in 1994) grapevines from Cha-let Debonné Vineyards were used in thisstudy. Grapevines were selected accord-ing to their position to tile lines, andthey were either over a tile or midwaybetween two lateral tiles (Fig. 1). Allgrapevines were trained to a low cordon[30 inches (76 cm) from ground] andvertically shoot positioned. One-year-old canes were pruned to three to fournodes/spur.

DATA COLLECTED. Data were re-corded on plant performance includingweight of cane prunings, yields, clusterand berry weights, and fruit composi-tion in 1998 and 1999. Penetrometer(Investigator Soil Compaction Meter;Spectrom Technologies, Inc., Plainfield,Ill.) readings were recorded at 2-inch(5-cm) intervals to a depth of 16 inches(40 cm) in the row 12 inches (30 cm)

from the vine, in the equipment track,parallel to the row and in the row center.Five oxygen probes were inserted at 6-and 18-inch depths (15 and 45 cm), 12inches from each vine (Oxygen Diffu-sion Ratemeter, model D; Jenson In-struments, Tacoma, Wash.) in the soil.Soil samples were collected 12 inchesfrom each plant at 6, 12, and 18 inchesdeep to determine soil relative watercontent and pH. Pentrometer, oxygenreadings and soil samples were taken inApril 1999 with the soil moisture at fieldcapacity.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND ANALY-SIS. The treatments were made using acompletely randomized design withseven replications per treatment in‘Chambourcin’ and ‘Pinot Gris’ vine-yards. Data from each vineyard wereanalyzed using SAS statistical package(SAS Institute, 1996) with mean sepa-ration by LSD.

Results and discussionVINE GROWTH AND PRODUCTION. Prun-

ing weight of live and dead wood from‘Chambourcin’ grapevines grown overtile were not significantly greater thanvines not located near a tile (Table 1).‘Pinot Gris’ grapevines grown over tilehad a significantly higher amount liveand dead pruning wood than vines nottiled (Table 1). Live and dead pruningwood were higher for both cultivars in1999 than in 1998.

Yield of ‘Chambourcin’ was alsosignificantly greater on grapevines grownover tile compared to vines not locatednear tile. Cluster weight of ‘Pinot Gris’was higher in 1999 than in 1998. Yieldin 1999 was higher for both cultivars

compared to 1998 and proximity to thetile line had no effect on yield in 1999.Tiling significantly increased the berryweight in ‘Chambourcin’, but had nosignificant influence on ‘Pinot Gris’ berryweight. In the study conducted by Fisher(1997) yields in tiled areas were greatlyincreased over nontiled areas. Vinegrowth and productivity increased to agreater extent in response to tiling inpoorly drained fields than in well drainedfields. This study supports the resultsfound by Fisher (1997) that it is impor-tant to remove excess water from thesoil profile to improve vine productivity.

The significant differences in 1999and 1998 data could be attributed tothe time required for the vines to re-cover from the 1996-97 wet conditions(Fig. 2) and subsequent winter damage.By 1999, most of the vines were reestab-lished on the trellis. Both ‘Chambourcin’and ‘Pinot Gris’ were grown on ‘3309C’rootstock which has been determinedto be a good rootstock for heavier claysoils and Ohio growing conditions(Ferree et al., 1996).

FRUIT COMPOSITION. Juice made from‘Chambourcin’ and ‘Pinot Gris’ did notdiffer in total soluble solids (TSS), pH,and titratable acidity (TA) when com-paring tiled versus non-tiled grapevines(Table 1). Soluble solids and TA of‘Chambourcin’ fruit were higher in 1998than in 1999, which was likely due tothe lower crop in 1998. No significantdifferences were found in pH of‘Chambourcin’, however pH of ‘PinotGris’ fruit was significantly greater in1999 than 1998 (Table 1). In this study,fruit composition was more influencedby growing season and crop level than

Table. 1 Influence of tiling on yield, cluster size, berry weight, and fruit chemical analysis of ‘Chambourcin’ and ‘Pinot Gris’ atChalet Debonné Vineyards, Madison, Ohio in 1998 and 1999 ( 1.0 g·L–1 = 1000 ppm, 1.00 lb = 0.454 kg, 28.35 g = 1.0 oz).

Pruningz Avg FruitLive Dead cluster Berry compositionwt wt wt Yield wt TSSy TAx

Treatment (lb) (lb) (lb) (lb/vine) (g) (%) pH (g·L–1)

‘Chambourcin’Nontile 1.04 0.07 0.37 27.3 b 1.90 b 20.7 3.14 10.4Tile 1.62 0.10 0.42 37.2 a 2.10 a 20.7 3.14 10.4

1998 0.94b 0.03 b 0.34 b 20.7 b 2.03 22.0 a 3.17 a 11.1 a1999 1.72a 0.13 a 0.45 a 44.6 a 1.97 19.4 b 3.10 b 9.8 b

‘Pinot Gris’Nontile 0.53b 0.03 b 0.20 19.9 1.45 17.8 3.33 06.0Tile 1.04a 0.07 a 0.20 22.3 1.50 18.4 3.29 06.2

1998 0.32b 0.03 b 0.19 b 15.6 b 1.68 a 18.7 3.28 b 06.21999 1.25a 0.07 a 0.22 a 26.6 a 1.27 b 17.5 3.35 a 06.1

zData followed by different letters are significantly different at LSD P <0.05.yTSS = total soluble solids.xTA = titratable acidity, % tartaric acid.

by soil moisture. Environmental factorsincluding sunlight, temperature, andrainfall probably had a greater impact onfruit quality than the soil moisture con-tent.

SOIL PH AND RELATIVE WATER CON-TENT. Soil in the ‘Chambourcin’ and‘Pinot Gris’ vineyards showed a signifi-cant decreasing linear relationship inpH with depth of the soil profile (Table2). There was no difference between thepH of the control soil sample and thesample taken over the tile lines in the‘Chambourcin’ vineyard. In the ‘PinotGris’ vineyard, however, pH of the soilthat had been mixed when the tile wasinstalled was higher than the pH of theundisturbed soil between tile lines. Thesoil in the ‘Pinot Gris’ vineyard was lessacidic overall than the ‘Chambourcin’vineyard. There was no interaction be-tween tilage and soil depth.

Relative water content (RWC) inthe ‘Chambourcin’ vineyard decreaseddown through the soil profile. How-ever, RWC in the ‘Pinot Gris’ vineyardwas higher at 12 inches than at either 6or 18 inches (Table 2). Since the Plateasoil is known to have fragipans, theseimpervious layers may have reformedafter the tile lines were established re-sulting in an increase in percent relativewater content at 12 inches. There wasno significant difference in soil relativewater content between tiled versus non-tiled soil in either vineyard, which indi-cated that there was no evident tilingaffect on soil drainage or water holdingcapacity (Table 2). However, this likelywas very different in 1996 with the verywet conditions and the tile would resultin facilitating removal of excess waterfrom the soil profile.

SOIL COMPACTION. Soil compactionas measured by penetrometer was sig-nificantly greater in the equipment track

than in the soil around the plants in bothvineyards, except at the 8-inch level inthe ‘Pinot Gris’ vineyard where therewas no significant difference (Table 3).Track and aisle compaction were signifi-cantly different at each soil level, exceptfor the 2, 14, and 16-inch levels in the‘Chambourcin’ vineyard, and the 14-and 16-inch levels in the ‘Pinot Gris’vineyard. These results would supportthe concept that repeated passes of equip-ment through the vineyards caused in-creased soil compaction in the trackarea. The compaction could severelyreduce water percolation through thesoil profile in the tracks. When consider-ing the entire soil profile in the plantarea, there does not appear to be aproblem with compaction (Table 3).Tiled areas tended to dry much quickerthan nontiled following heavy rains andthis was also the case in the study con-ducted by Fisher (1997). Well drainedsoils will undoubtedly provide greatertrafficability when producers are spray-ing in early spring and harvesting in thefall.

SOIL OXYGEN. Soil over the tile lineshad higher soil oxygen levels than soilin between tile laterals (Table 4). Nosignificant difference was found be-tween the oxygen levels in soil of the‘Chambourcin’ and ‘Pinot Gris’ vine-yards. Oxygen levels were higher at the6-inch level than at 18 inches, but thedifferences were not significant. Thesignificant increase in the amount ofoxygen that was found in the rootzone of the vines grown over tile mayhave provided an important compo-nent in vine survivability. Since soilaeration is important for good rootgrowth, the significant increase in oxy-gen of tiled soils may have increasedroot system growth of vines grownover tile. It has been reported that the

Table 2. Influence of soil tiling on soil pH and relative water content at three depths at Chalet Debonné Vineyards,Madison, Ohio, in Spring 1999.

‘Chambourcin’ ‘Pinot Gris’Treatment pH RWC (%)z pH RWC (%)

Check 4.92 17.9 5.28b 18.8Tile 5.00 17.8 5.91a 17.8Depth [inches (cm)]

6 (15) 5.2 19.0 6.1 17.812 (30) 4.9 18.4 5.6 19.618 (45) 4.8 16.2 5.0 17.6

Linear ** ** ** NS

Quadratic NS NS NS *zRWC = relative water content = (wet weight – dry weight)/wet weight.**,*Data are significantly different LSD at P < 0.01 and 0.05, respectively.

Fig. 2. Monthly precipitation from 1996to 1999 compared to the long timeaverage for northeastern Ohio; 1.0 inch= 2.54 cm.

Table 3. Soil penetrometer values (lb/inch2) in ‘Chambourcin’ and ‘Pinot Gris’ vineyards at Chalet Debonné Vineyards, Madison,Ohio, comparing the effect of tiling and location relative to the vine.

Pentrometer values in lb/inch2 at 2-inch (5-cm) intervals of soil depth AvgTreatment 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 compaction

‘Chambourcin’Nontile 177 181 212 218 249 340 507 630 314Tile 245 231 269 256 234 380 517 583 356

NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NSLocation

Plant 117 b 113 b 156 b 166 b 201 b 286 b 406 b 507 b 244 bTrack 243 a 349 a 343 a 351 a 493 a 512 a 601 a 633 a 439 aAisle 223 a 165 b 222 b 193 b 229 b 283 b 528 a 688 a 313 b

‘Pinot Gris’TreatmentNontile 206 207 217 176 210 306 429 514 283Tile 158 178 188 196 221 271 368 448 283

NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NSLocation

Plant 103 b 77 b 147 b 179 ab 156 b 176 b 199 b 305 b 168 cTrack 271 a 363 a 341 a 270 a 339 a 446 a 494 a 545 a 384 aAisle 171 b 139 b 120 b 108 b 152 b 242 b 502 a 593 a 253 b

zData followed by different letters are significantly different LSD at P < 0.05.y1 inch = 2.54 cm; 1 lb/inch2 = 6.89 kPa.

Table 4. Influence of tile on soil oxygenlevel under ‘Chambourcin’ and ‘PinotGris’ cultivars in Spring 1999.

Diffusion ratez

Treatment (µg·cm–2·min–1)

Check 0.179aTile 0.226bCultivar ‘Chambourcin’ 0.186 ‘Pinot Gris’ 0.218Depth [inches (cm)] 6 (15) 0.218 18 (45) 0.186zData followed by different letters are significantlydifferent LSD at P < 0.05.

amount of root volume can have animportant influence on vine growthand productivity (McArtney andFerree, 1999b).

ConclusionVines that grew very poorly fol-

lowing the excessively wet year of 1996recovered by 1999. The diagonal pat-tern observed in 1997 was no longervisible in 1999 and vines over tile andbetween tile lines had similar yields.Prior to our study it was postulatedthat by digging and refilling the trench

to insert the tile, either soil compac-tion or soil pH had been altered andcould be responsible for the vine per-formance. Measurements indicatedthat these factors were not alteredenough to explain the growth differ-ences. It does appear that soil oxygenwas improved by tiling and this waslikely much greater in the excessivelywet year resulting in improved vinegrowth. Although this vineyard is anexcellent grape site because of its prox-imity to Lake Erie with its moderatingeffect on temperatures, the heavy claysoil caused a problem in vine growth,especially in very wet years. Thus, itappears prudent on soils of this type,tile drainage is beneficial to vines im-mediately over or adjacent to the linesand spacing of the laterals needs to becloser than 40 ft normally recom-mended to adequately protect vines inwet years.

Literature citedFerree, D.C., G.A. Cahoon, M.A. Ellis,D.M. Scurlock, and G.R. Johns. 1996.Influence of eight rootstocks on the per-formance of ‘White Riesling’ and ‘CabernetFranc’ over five years. Fruit Var. J.50(2):124–130.

Fisher, H.K. 1997. Drainage for optimumvineyard root growth. Wine East.(April)10–20, 41.

McArtney, S.J. and D.C. Ferree. 1999a.Shading effects on dry matter partitioning,remobilization of stored reserves and earlyseason vegetative development of grape-vines in the year after treatment. J. Amer.Soc. Hort. Sci. 124(6):591–597.

McArtney, S.J. and D. C. Ferree. 1999b.Root and cane pruning affect vegetativedevelopment, fruiting and dry matter ac-cumulation in grapes. HortScience34(4):617–621.

Nolte, B.H. and N.R. Fausey. 1992. Soilcompaction and drainage. Ohio State Univ.Ext. Bul. AEX-301. The Ohio State Uni-versity, Columbus.

USDA Soil Conservation Service. 1973.Ohio Drainage Guide. Ohio Agr. Res.Dev. Ctr., Ohio State Univ. Ext., OhioState Univ., Columbus.

USDA Soil Conservation Service. 1973.Soil Survey of Ashtabula County, Ohio.Platea series. Ohio Div. Natural Resources,Ohio Agr. Res. Dev. Ctr., Wooster.

SAS Institute. 1996. SAS 6.12. SAS Insti-tute, Cary, N.C.

Zucker, L.A. and L.C. Brown (eds.). 1998.Agricultural drainage. Ohio State Univ.,Columbus, Ext. Bul. 871.