Comparative testing of herbicides in newly planted vineyard

Anatoli Iliev, Neli Prodanova-Marinova, Emil Tsvetanov

Abstract: The impact of the herbicides 312.5 a. i. L-1 s-metolachlor + 187.5 a. i. L-1 terbuthylazine (Gardoprim plus Gold), and a. i. L-1 s-metolachlor + 125 a. i. L-1 terbuthylazine + 337.5 a. i. L-1 mesotrione (Lumax 538 SC 375) applied at different doses on the weed vegetation and grapevines (Vitis vinifera) during the first months after planting of a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard had been investigated at the Institute of Viticulture and Enology, Pleven, Bulgaria. Selectivity, high efficacy against weeds and sufficient soil persistence are the required conditions for achieving the maximum effect of the application of the selected herbicides. Along with the determination of the efficacy of some soil active products under the specific climatic conditions, the objective of this study was to investigate their impact on the vine growth and development in the year of planting. The study was carried out in the period 2014-2015. The tested herbicides did not inhibit buds’ germination and did not cause a reduction in the number of shoots per vine. The shoot length at the end of the vegetation, as well as the mass of the mature annual growth, formed by the vines in the treated variants, exceeded those of the control. Lumax 538 SC, applied at a dose of 322 g a. i. ha-1, provided the best control over the annual weeds in the plantation; the treated vines had the most intense growth and formed a mature growth with the greatest length and mass.

Keywords: herbicides; mature growth; shoots; Vitis vinifera; young vines

Date published: 2019-02-25