Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/620640
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m J a n - F e b 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 6 7 "Here in Texas, we do occasion- ally deal with all types of freeze damage," said Jason Scheiner, assistant professor and extension specialist at Texas A&M University. "Most frequently, we have frost or freeze after bud break." This type of damage has been the most prevalent during the past few years, resulting in substantial crop loss in 2013 and 2014 in the High Plains region near Lubbock. But no area has been exempt from cold damage, Scheiner said, includ- ing the Hill Country, North Texas, East Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Rio Grande Valley. PREPARING VINES FOR WINTER Although weather can be unpre- dictable, there are things growers can do to prevent or mitigate dam- age, and to recover from injury to vines, trunks and buds. In preparing vines for the win- ter, Sabbatini said, growers can use two or three trunks per grapevine to have a "spare part" in the event of trunk damage as the plant over- winters. Growers also can protect the vines in the winter by covering them with soil. In summer, Sabbatini suggests leaving some canes down on the ground, and they should not be trained to wires or a trunk. If the vine dies off, these shoots are able to replace the vine, giving the grow- er "insurance in the ground." BUD DAMAGE Bud damage is perhaps the easi- est sort of damage for growers to assess, but it's also very serious. "If you lose the buds, you lose the crop," Sabbatini said. A grower needs to merely cut off some cane and cut into a bud to determine whether damage has occurred. If the primary bud is an asparagus color instead of a bright green, it is damaged. Bud hardiness varies by variety and region, Martinson said. Cor- nell University, for example, has established some minimum and maximum parameters (posted at http://grapesandwine.cals.cornell. edu/extension/bud-hardiness-data) applicable to vineyards in the Lake Erie, Finger Lakes and Hudson Val- ley regions. "Spring frost injury is a different thing," Martinson said. "The tis- sue is not resistant. When you have Frost damage is not uncommon in Texas, and most often occurs after bud break. Photo: Texas A&M University