Apply Trace Elements To Your Vineyard

We all know that macronutrients are critical to all healthy crops – Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. However, growers must also pay attention to essential trace elements. While you only need trace elements at lower levels, they play a significant role in your crop’s overall health. 

We recommend that growers use leaf tissue analysis to understand their crop’s nutrient levels throughout the season, in addition to soil testing. This analysis will tell you which nutrients are currently lacking in the plant and need correction as a matter of priority. 

Here are some of the trace elements that will benefit your vineyard:

Boron

Major benefits:

• Improved cell wall integrity and cell division;
• Increased pollen tube growth;
• Diminish Hen & Chickens;
• Improve variability in ripening;
• Better sugar translocation;
• Improved root growth.

Boron’s effects are especially significant to the flowering and fruit set stage. By increasing pollen tube growth, flower fertility and sugar translocation to developing buds, boron is critical to a high-quality fruit set and, therefore, strong yields. Better cell wall strength and cell division are vital to solid vine growth and overall health.

Without proper boron levels, your grapevines may develop stunted and discoloured leaves, poor fruit set, and lower yields. You may also find reduced seed development. 

Boron is generally considered immobile in the vine, and deficiencies are ideally corrected through bioavailable foliar application at the pre-flowering stage to increase boron levels effectively. 

Try our Biomin Boron. 

Copper

Major benefits:

• Increased lignin biosynthesis;
• Improved cane growth;
• Disease resistance;
• Better enzyme activation.

Lignin is a polymer that, along with cellulose, is one of the primary materials in wood. Lignin biosynthesis is vital to healthy cane growth and the vine’s structural integrity. Copper is also helpful in combating pathogenic fungi like Downy mildew and Powdery mildew. 

Copper is implicated in specific enzyme systems and plays essential roles in plant respiration and metabolising carbohydrates and proteins. 

Low copper levels can cause stunted cane growth, discoloured foliage, and lower yields. 

Use our Biomin Copper to maintain optimum copper levels.  

Iron

Major benefits:

• An essential element for enzymes and proteins;
• Improved chlorophyll formation;
• Better photosynthesis and respiration;
• Increased sugar and alcohol levels in berries.

Iron is vital to a plant’s respiration and photosynthesis. An iron deficiency usually manifests as chlorosis of the leaves, causing yellowed discolouration between veins while the veins remain green. 

Iron contributes to a crop’s growth and yield quality through better chlorophyll synthesis and improved photosynthesis, as the vine can deliver more sugar to developing berries. 

Our Biomin Iron is the perfect solution for any iron deficiencies.

Zinc

Major benefits:

• Affects internodal elongation;
• Helps form chloroplasts;
• Developing pollen and fully formed berries.

Internodal elongation determines how plants shift the distribution of nodes vertically along their stems. Flowers and leaves attach at these nodes, so this process affects the plant’s structure. Zinc is also crucial to pollen and chloroplast development. Chloroplasts are the part of plant cells that perform photosynthesis, meaning zinc is critical to a healthy fruit set. 

Insufficient zinc can cause chlorosis in young leaves, which may become necrotic in extreme deficiency cases. Leaves and flowers may have stunted growth, and grape bunches can set with small, potentially seedless berries. 

Use our Biomin Zinc to prevent these issues.

Manganese

Major benefits:

• Increases mineral balance of plants;
• Prevents plant and fruit susceptibility to disease;
• Corrects plant deficiencies.

Manganese is known to be an effective farming nutrition input that promotes the growth of development, hardiness and productivity of plants. This has been specifically shown in the prevention of Powdery Mildew in vegetables and grapes through SAR resistance, which is becoming a large problem in NZ viticulture. 

Manganese deficiency can be identified when the leaves turn pale green, which can quickly lead to brown necrotic spots. 

Try our Biomin Manganese to avoid these problems.

All in one solution

To avoid micro-managing each trace element, try our Biomin Booster solution, which provides all the trace elements you need for a strong crop this growing season. Biomin Booster has you covered with a combination of zinc, iron, copper, boron, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum and nitrogen.

A balanced analysis of leaf tissue samples will help you identify mineral deficiencies so you can treat them quickly and efficiently with BIOMIN minerals. See if you qualify for a free Balanced Analysis Report. Contact us today!