Rootstock competition and planting spacing for cv. ‘VERMENTINO’ in an altitude region of Santa Catarina

Abstract

Rootstock adequacy and planting density are necessary for new grapevine varieties in new regions. The objective of this work was to select the rootstock that confers the best productive performance to the ‘Vermentino’ variety, and to adjust the ideal spacing for this combination. The experimental design used was randomized blocks in a 5x3 factorial scheme, in which the treatments studied consisted of the combination of five rootstocks (‘101-14 Mgt’, ‘Harmony’, ‘IAC 572’, ‘Paulsen 1103’, and ‘VR 043-43’) and three spacings between plants (1.0, 1.2 and 1.5 m). The phenological cycle of the plants and the productive and quality characteristics of the grapes were evaluated during 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21 harvests. Bud break of ‘Paulsen 1103’ and ‘VR 043-43’ rootstocks occurred the latest in 2019/20 and 2020/21. ‘101-14 Mgt’ and ‘Paulsen 1103’ rootstocks induced the highest yields in 2019/20 and 2020/21. The 1.0 m spacing between plants provided the highest productivity in all seasons. Thus, it can be concluded that the ‘Paulsen 1103’ and ‘VR 043-43’ rootstocks delayed bud break and decreased phenological sub-periods. ‘Paulsen 1103’ and ‘101-14 Mgt’ rootstocks contributed to increase the productivity; the ‘IAC 572’ rootstock presented the lowest contribution to the polyphenols content and antioxidant activity, and the 1.0 m spacing between plants resulted in greater productivity of the vineyard.