The Effects of Hot Water Treatment, Hydration and Order of Nursery Operations on Cuttings of <em>Vitis vinifera</em> Cultivars

Abstract

Hot water treatment (HWT) is an effective control for endogenous pathogens, including Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, in grapevine propagating material. However sporadic unexplained failures of HWT material do occur. In order to determine the most reliable HWT protocols the effects of HWT at 50°C for 30 min., order of HWT and storage (store/HWT and HWT/store), and 3 hydration times (0, 4 and 6 h) on root and shoot development and final condition in dormant cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay were evaluated. After incubation callus, root and shoot development were assessed. Cuttings were potted into cardboard plant bands, grown to marketable size in a protected environment, and assessed as “A” grade, “B” grade or dead. Callus development in Chardonnay was affected by an interaction between HWT protocols and hydration times. Callus was least developed in cuttings hydrated for 15 h and stored before HWT. Callus development in all other treatments was greater (P<0.05) regardless of HWT or hydration. By contrast, callus development in Cabernet Sauvignon was greater (P<0.05) in HWT than in non-HWT cuttings regardless of the duration of hydration or the order of operations. Root development in Chardonnay was furthest advanced in cuttings hydrated for 15 h. (regardless of HWT) and in HWT cuttings not hydrated. HWT was the only factor that affected root development in Cabernet Sauvignon. Root development was greatest in non-HWT cuttings. There were no differences between any of the treatments in either variety at final assessment. On this evidence nurseries could apply any of the above protocols successfully. However the benign conditions of the protected environment may have enabled the cuttings to recover from the stresses imposed by the various treatments. Had the cuttings been grown in a field nursery there might have been differences between treatments at final assessment.