NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS

FOR GRAPEVINES
Andrew Teubes
Viticultural Consultant

Nutrient requirements
Five (5) critical aspects of importance for
grapevine nutrition
Which elements are required by the vine
What the function of each element is
Physiological stage when the element is
mostly required
When to fertilize
How much fertilizer should be applied

Which elements are most

important?
Most important macro elements (required in higher
amounts)

Nitrogen (N)
Phosphates (P)
Potassium (K)
Calcium (Ca)
Magnesium (Mg)
Sulfur (S)

Most important micro elements (required in small

amounts)

Iron (Fe)
Boron (B)
Manganese (Mn)
Zink (Zn)
Copper (Cu)

Importance of Nitrogen (N)

Nitrogen
Growth especially early season
Component in vegetative organs (shoots,
leaves, clusters)
After harvest period for building of reserves
(especially in roots)
1 ton of grapes remove 1.39 kg nitrogen
High requirement by plant

Importance of Potassium (K)

Potassium
Most important metal element
High requirement by grapevine especially
clusters
Regulation of water movement in the plant
Very movable
Maturation of canes after harvest
1 ton of grapes removes 1.98 kg potassium

Importance of Calcium (Ca)

Calcium
Important in organs (shoots, leaves, roots),
especially leaves
Constituent in cell membranes, permeability
of cell membranes
Important for survival during cold winter
(dormant period)
Strength of berry skins
1 ton grapes remove 0.17 kg calcium (low
requirement in clusters)

Importance of Magnesium (Mg)

Magnesium
Essential for photosynthesis, part of chlorofil,
therefore very important in leaves (production
of sugar)
1 ton of grapes remove 0.09 kg/ton Mg
Low percentage in the grapes

Importance of phosphorus (P)

Phosphorus
Important for transport of energy through the
plant, especially green parts (leaves, clusters)
Not required in large amounts
1 ton of grapes remove 0.25 kg P

Importance of micro nutrients

Iron
Synthesis of chlorofil in the leaves, therefore very
important (photosynthesis)
Deficiencies associated with high pH soil conditions
(soils with free lime)

Boron, Zink
Important for cell division, especially at fruit set
Development of pollon, very important
Deficiencies cause poor fruit set

Distribution of most important elements in the organs

of the vine for the production of 1 ton of grapes (%)
Value in brackets after total is absolute total in kg

Element

Organ
Grapes

Roots

Stem

Leaves

Shoots

Total

35.8

14

4.7

31.1

14.4

100 (3.89)

34.2

11.4

2.7

39.8

11.9

100 (0.72)

64.8

2.5

3.7

15.4

13.6

100 (3.05)

Ca

8.4

1.2

5.7

69.8

14.9

100 (2.01)

Mg

14.9

7.6

4.9

53.9

18.7

100 (0.60)

Deficiency symptoms of
nutrients
Every nutrient has symptom of deficiency
Very important to know symptoms of
deficiency, because you need to apply the
correct fertilizer to solve the problem

Nitrogen deficiency
General yellow coloration
of leaves, weak growth
Dark green colour

Vineyard with serious nitrogen deficiency

Phosphorus deficiency
General weak growth,
leaves curl downwards

Phosphorus deficiency
Yellow color with red spots in late season

General red coloration

of leaves, veins also red

Magnesium deficiency
White cultivars

Red cultivars

Magnesium deficiency

Symptoms start off as white and then change to red

Potassium deficiency

Burning of leaf edges late season

Yellow coloration of leaf edges

early season

Iron
deficiency
Yellow coloration of
leaf with green veins

Boron
deficiency
Symptoms on young leaves

Zinc deficiency
Irregular growth of young leaves

Manganese deficiency

Yellowish coloration
between veins

Salinity
Foliar application (chlorine)

Soil salinity (sodium)

Availability of nutrients to the

vine at different soil pH levels
General soil pH in Afghanistan
7.2-8.3

Be careful for deficiencies

-Phosphorus
-Magnesium
-Iron
-Manganese
-Boron
-Zinc

When is the element required?

Elements have different functions and is
required during different times of the
season
Most common periods for fertilizer
applications are:
After bud break
After fruit set
After harvest
Foliar applications through the growing
season

When is the element required?

Macro elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) should be
applied to the soil for uptake by roots
Micro elements (B, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe etc) is
required in small amounts and can be applied
through foliar sprays
Applications of macro elements should be during
periods of active root growth
After bud break
After harvest

Applications must be done with irrigation to

ensure infiltration to the root zone

Uptake of different elements during the season

Growth stage

Nitrogen
(N)
%

Phosphorus
(P)
%

Potassium
(K)
%

Calcium
(Ca)
%

Magnesium
(Mg)
%

Bud Break to Fruit set

24.2

30.8

41.4

33.3

36.4

Fruit set to Berry

Softening

37.5

26.8

30.1

55.5

36.1

7.4

12.8

After harvest

33.3

40.4

19.5

3.8

14.7

Total

100

100

100

100

100

Berry Softening to Harvest

NUTRIENT UPTAKE BY THE VINE

30-40 days

40% P

71% K

7% K

20% K

89% Ca

9% Ca

4% Ca

72% Mg

13 Mg

15% Mg

GROWING SEASON

Harvest

2% P

Berry softening

58% P

Pea size

33% N

Fruit set

5% N

Leaf fall

30-50 days

62% N

Flowering

Bud break

70-90 days

Fertilizer applications
After bud break
Only if vineyard has poor growth or no irrigation was
available during the after harvest period
Risk of too much vigour can result in poor fruit set
(low yield)

After fruit set

Very active period of berry growth (cell division)
Important for large berry size
High requirement period

After harvest
Building of reserves
Extremely important period for growth of next spring

Effect of after harvest nitrogen application on reserve status in roots

Fertilizer applications
Do not apply fertilizer after berry softening or
during harvest period
Requirement low by the vine
Cluster is the most important concentration point,
therefore do not want to encourage active growth
Risk of increased disease if too much nitrogen
applied (rot)

Only fertilizer applications during this period

could be micro nutrients like magnesium and
calcium that is required by leaves

High nitrogen fertilizer rates

result in compact bunches

Sour rot

Botrytis rot

How much to apply?

Determine what the requirements are by
Soil analysis
Leaf analysis
Calculate what was removed by the crop and
then replacing it (Depletion model)
Visual evaluations
For nitrogen (N)
For micro element deficiencies

Taking a soil sample for analysis

Transport in clean bag to soil laboratory

Analysis results
Typical soil analysis will give the following
information
Electrical Conductivity (EC)
Indication of salts in the soil (salinity)

pH
Contents of Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg),
Potassium (K), Sodium (Na) most important metal
elements
Content of Phosphorus
Contents of micro elements Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn),
Manganese (Mn), Boron (B)
Organic matter content

Norms for interpretation of soil analysis results

Measure

EC
(mS/m)

pH

P
(ppm)

Acceptable
Levels

<400

5.5-8.0

S=sand
L=loam
C=clay

Ca
(ppm)

Mg
(ppm)

K
(ppm)

Na
(ppm)

20
(S)

300
(S)

40
(S)

80
(S)

<200
(S)

25
(L)

500
(L)

70
(L)

100
(L)

<250
(L)

30
(C)

1000
(C)

100
(C)

120
(C)

<300
(C)

Cu
(ppm)

Zn
(ppm)

Mn
(ppm)

B
(ppm)

OM
%

5-25

>0.5

>5

1-3

2-3

Leaf blade analysis norms for grapevines

Element
Nitrogen (N)

Acceptable levels
1.6-2.7 %

Phosphorus (P)

0.14-0.55 %

Potassium (K)

0.65-1.30 %

Calcium (Ca)

1.20-2.20 %

Magnesium (Mg)

0.16-0.55 %

Sodium (Na)

0-2500 ppm

Manganese (Mn)

10-250 ppm

Iron (Fe)

60-200 ppm

Copper (Cu)

3-20 ppm

Zinc (Zn)

15-50 ppm

Boron (B)

15-80 ppm

Nitrogen fertilizer applications

No accurate method of determining the
amount of available nitrogen for the vine in
the soil
Evaluate the vigour of the vineyard for
determining the N requirement

Nitrogen
(kg/ha/season)

PLANT PHYSIOLOGICAL NORM

POOR VIGOUR
-Shoot length 50-80 cm
-Shoot diameter pencil thickness on average
-Shoot ends show poor maturation (browning)
-Short internodes (less than 5 cm)
-Leaf colour yellow-green
->50% sun spots below trellis
-No active growing tips at berry softening
IDEAL VIGOUR
-Shoot length 110-150 cm
-10-12 leaves per cluster
-Shoot ends mature completely (browning)
-Inter node length 5-9 cm; single tip action required
-Leaf colour bright green
-20% sun spots below trellis
-20-30% active growing tips at berry softening
EXCESSIVE VIGOUR
-Shoot length 150-200 cm+
-Long, thick, flat shoots common (up to 5 m long)
-Regular topping of shoots for sunlight penetration
-Large, dark green colour of basal leaves; becomes yellow
-Poor fruit set (loose clusters)
-High risk of rot
-Lateral shoot development very strong

Bud break

After fruit set

After
harvest

Total N

40

40

40

120

30

30

30

90

No
application

Nitrogen fertilizer applications

Sources
Inorganic: AN19, AN33, Urea(46), AS(21),
DAP(16-18)
Organic: Cow(1.6%N), Sheep(2.3%N),
Chicken(3-5%N), Compost(1%N)

Application suggestion
Bud break: Depending on vigour
After fruit set: Inorganic source
After bud break: Inorganic source + Organic
before winter

Phosphorus fertilizer application

Required in very small amount by vine
Soil analysis every 3-4 years to determine the available
levels are adequate
20 ppm for sandy soils
25 ppm for loamy soils
30 ppm for clay soils

Sources
Super phosphate (11.3%), Double supers DSP, TSP (19.6%)
DAP (18% N, 19.8% P)
Phosphoric acid (26%) for applications through irrigation

pH ranges for uptake 4-6; problems with availability in high pH

soils

Application suggestion
At bud break or after harvest, depending on availability of
irrigation water

Potassium fertilizer application

High requirement by the vine
Use depletion model for annual applications
1.98 kg K removed per 1 ton of grapes
20 ton/ha yield requires 20 x 1.98 = 39.6 kg K/ha/year
(100 kg/ha K-sulfate)

Sources:
Potassium chloride(50%), K-sulfate(40%)-saline
situations, K-nitrate (13%N, 37%K)

Application suggestions
50% after bud break
50% after harvest

Calcium fertilizer application

Required in low amounts by plant
Soil analysis every 3-4 years to determine if
available levels are adequate
>300 ppm for sandy soils
500 ppm for loamy soils
1000 ppm for clay soils

Afghan soils contain high Ca levels generally, so

do not expect deficiencies
Annual foliar applications can be done to
increase levels in leaves if required
Sources
Gypsum, Ca-nitrate (19% Ca, 15.5% N)

Magnesium fertilizer application

Required in low amounts by the plant
Soil analysis every 3-4 years to determine if
available levels are adequate
40 ppm for sandy soils
70 ppm for loamy soils
100 ppm for clay soils

Ratio of Ca:Mg = 3:1 ideal

Annual foliar applications can be done to
increase levels in leaves if required
Sources:
Mg-sulfate (20.2% Mg), Dolimitic lime

Other elements
Sulfur: Enough applied as fungicide
Boron: As foliar spray pre-flowering on
cultivars with poor fruit set (Na-borate)
Zinc: As foliar spray only when deficiency
symptoms are seen (Zn-sulfate)
Iron: As foliar spray 3-4 times in season
on high pH soils (Fe-EDTA)