It has taken slightly longer than we expected, but Integrape 2.0 has gone LIVE this morning.
This way it is easy to digest huge amounts of information quickly.“A picture is worth a thousand words” may apply here in slightly adapted form; “a picture is worth a thousand test result values”. I know I am not the only one that experiences the limitations of brain power when trying to interpret multiple Excel worksheets full of numbers.
Integrape screenshot, Demo: Yield
New (nutrient) Profiles have been added, and more will be added soon.
One of the new Profiles is the Salinity Profile. It combines all parameters relating to salinity issues. Salinity is generally not a big issue in general in New Zealand, but the increased demand for land in Marlborough has meant that vineyards are moving into newer areas. One of those areas in Marlborough is characterised by the heavier soils and high sodium and salinity levels, especially in the subsoils.This needs management that is adapted to the soil conditions. The first thing is to find out the conditions of the soil.Test the topsoil and subsoil before planting. Testing the top 15 cm is not going to tell you much.It is woefully inadequate to base planting decisions and management decisions on only a shallow topsoil test. Vine roots do not restrict themselves to the top 15 cm of soil. In summer the topsoil dries out and vines increasingly source water and nutrients from the subsoil.
Having all the topsoil and subsoil data in one graph, combined with petiole and blade levels of sodium and chloride, will help assess the salinity situation and management responses to it.
It has been shown that Sauvignon Blanc can grow here successfully under the right management, and can produce some surprisingly good quality wine. However there are parcels of land where sodium, chloride and/or boron are too high resulting in vine death and yield depression. In a later blog we will discuss these issues in more detail.
Another new Profile is the ‘Vine’ Profile, which shows vine related parameters (pruning weights, bunches/vine, bunch weights, cane diameter etc. The profiles can be personalised to show the tests/parameters that you want to see there.
We will keep you posted regarding further developments.
