Presspad Podcast #11: Winter Injury
Episode description
(Photos courtesy of James Monahan, Finger Lakes Grape Program)
That’s right- the Presspad goes to 11. I bet you didn’t think we could do it. We didn’t necessarily think we could, either, but here we are for a new season. And what seasons we’ve had lately. It is snowing as I write this in mid-April, and I think I speak for everyone in this part of the world when I say: well, nothing. A few tears of desperation roll down my cheek. Winter, you have made your point.
One of the more emphatic and destructive ways in which winter made its point was by injuring grapevines. What is winter injury, exactly? What do we mean when we say 50% bud-kill? Why is the damage worse in some places and varieties than in others? And what does all of this mean for the coming growing season? We asked Jason Londo, Research Geneticist with the USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Unit, all of these questions and more. Below are some links about cold injury and winter hardiness data:
Grapevine Cold Hardiness Monitoring Project at Cornell University
The Anatomy of Winter Injury and Recovery– Dr. Martin Goffinet (Cornell University)
How Grapevine Buds Gain and Lose Cold-Hardiness – Dr. Tim Martinson
Estimate of Crop and Wine Losses Due to Winter Injury in the Finger Lakes – Dr. Tim Martinson and Dr. Gerald White
An estimation of the economic impact of the previous major winter injury episode in the Finger Lakes back in 2004.
Part 2: Checking buds for injury