Vines' nutrient needs vary across the season, and bloom is a particularly sensitive time. Leading up to bloom, you want to make sure your micronutrients are on point. Boron and Zinc for instance are crucial if you want to ensure good set. On the other hand, too much nitrogen can reprogram your vines to think veggie and forgo fruit production all together.  Once fruit is set though, it's time to lay on the macro-nutrients. Most vines benefit from Nitrogen and Phosphorous at this time. These will help your canopy expand and ripen up all those grapes you've got coming.  If your vines need Potassium, now is a good time to apply it. Again...if they need it. I don't need to tell you how much winemakers freak out about the big K, but at this point vines are making good use of it and harvest is a long way off. You can read all about the importance of Potassium here.  Calcium and Magnesium are also important, but overdoing one or the other can seriously mess with

Management of vineyard nutrition is not an exact science, but nutrient/fertilizer management is not something that should be handled generically either. It’s quite easy to approach fertilization with off-the-shelf blends that your distributor carries and those may be quite adequate. Or they may not be. As for most of viticulture, timing is everything. So, the application of nutrients has a time element. Instead of my typical approach of discussing the topic nutrient-by-nutrient, I’ll discuss them instead by phenological stages. Budburst At budburst (some people told me that ‘budburst’ was more accurate than ‘budbreak’ so I’m trying to use that term when I remember to), soil is cold and roots are just emerging from dormancy and the vine is not doing a whole lot of uptake of anything. So, fertilizer applications now should be limited. However, I have found that vineyards who lack in vigor benefit from a small application of nitrogen at budburst.

Watch Enartis USA's JT Jaeger and the former President of the World Meteorological Organization, David Grimes, present "Managing Heatwaves: A Case Study in Climate Adaptation and Vineyard Resiliency" during the virtual Sustainable Ag Expo & International Sustainable Winegrowing Summit.  Jaeger and Grimes will present a case study that explores heat stress and how a soil microbial application (BluVite by BluAgri) has shown to improve vine resilience through heat events, in addition to how this case study fits into the greater concept of climate adaptation. Presented by The Vineyard Team and happening now through December 4, the Sustainable Ag Expo will feature the latest viticulture research and technology from the world's top experts to help you be competitive in the ever changing business landscape. This year's virtual format gives you access to a greater diversity of topics and speakers.