Influence of irrigation on the growth and quality of grapevine propagation material
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51258/RJH.2025.21Keywords:
greenhouse, grapevine propagation, irrigation, grapevine nursery, morphological quality, water use efficiency (WUE)Abstract
Efficient water management is essential in grapevine nurseries, where irrigation strongly influences the morphological quality and the suitability of propagation material for successful vineyard establishment. This study evaluated the impact of two irrigation regimes on grafted grapevine seedlings produced under protected nursery conditions in 2025. Four table-grape cultivars (‘Argessis’, ‘Memory’, ‘Norocel’, and ‘Ștefănești’) grafted onto SO4-4 rootstock were grown under irrigation levels corresponding to 100% and 75% of the Active Soil Moisture Interval (ASMI). Morphological characteristics, including leaf area, main shoot length and diameter, number of roots ≥ 2 mm, main root length, and maximum root diameter, were assessed to evaluate shoot vigor and root morphological characteristics. Water use efficiency (WUE) was also determined to characterize the technological performance of each irrigation regime. The reduced irrigation level (75% ASMI) improved the morphological characteristics of both shoots and roots in most cultivars, increased the proportion of first-quality vines, and resulted in substantially higher WUE. The results obtained have confirmed that a 75% ASMI regime can improve water-use efficiency while sustaining high morphological quality, highlighting its potential as an efficient and sustainable irrigation strategy for nurseries.
Downloads
References
Alsina, M.M., Smart, D.R., Bauerle, T., De Herralde, F., Biel, C., Stockert, C., Negron, C., Save, R. (2010). Seasonal changes of whole root system conductance by a drought-tolerant grape root system. Journal of Experimental Botany, 62, 99–109.
Bauerle, T.L., Smart, D.R., Bauerle,W.L., Stockert, C., Eissenstat, D.M. (2008). Root foraging in response to heterogeneous soil moisture in two grapevines that differ in potential growth rate. New Phytologist 179, 857–866.
Chalmers, Y., Kelly, G., Krstic, M. (2004). Partial Rootzone Drying of Vitis Vinifera cv. ‘Shiraz’ Winegrapes in a Semi-Arid Climate. Acta Horticulturae, 664, 133–138.
Cifre, J., Bota, J., Escalona, J., Medrano, H., Flexas, J. (2005). Physiological tools for irrigation scheduling in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.): An open gate to improve water-use efficiency? Agriculture Ecosystems& Environment, 106, 159–170
Corso, M., Bonghi, C. (2014). Grapevine rootstock effects on abiotic stress tolerance. Plant Science. Today, 1, 108–113.
Dinu, D.G., Bianchi, D., Mamasakhlisashvili, L., Quarta, C., Brancadoro, L., Maghradze, D., Cardinale, M., Rustioni, L. (2021). Effects of genotype and environmental conditions on grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) shoot morphology. Vitis, 60, 85–91.
Green, S.R., Kirkham, M., Clothier, B.E. (2006). Root uptake and transpiration: From measurements and models to sustainable irrigation. Agricultural Water Management, 86, 165–176.
Köse, B., Karabulut, B., Ceylan, K. (2014). Effect of Rootstock on Grafted Grapevine Quality European Journal of Horticultural Science, 79, 197.
Mariani, L., Ferrante, A. (2017). Agronomic Management for Enhancing Plant Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses—Drought, Salinity, Hypoxia, and Lodging. Horticulturae, 3, 52.
Rustioni, L., Cola, G., Maghradze, D., Abashidze, E., Argiriou, A., Aroutiounian, R., Brazão, J., Chipashvili, R., Cocco, M., Cornea, V., et al. (2019). Description of the Vitis vinifera L. phenotypic variability in eno-carpological traits by a Euro-Asiatic collaborative network among ampelographic collections. Vitis, 58, 37–46.
Sun, X., Chen, F., Yuan, L., Mi, G. (2020). The physiological mechanism underlying root elongation in response to nitrogen deficiency in crop plants. Planta, 251, 84.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
