Winter Injury on Grape
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Winter injury causes death of buds, canes, and vine trunks. It occurs when air temperature drops below the cultivar’s critical temperature for injury. Muscadine grapes and V. vinifera species are frequently injured during cold winters.
Cane killed by winter injury (top) compared to healthy cane (bottom).
(Photo: John Strang, University of Kentucky)
Winter-injured primary bud (bottom) compared to live bud (top).
(Photo: John Strang, University of Kentucky)
Management:
- Plant hardy cultivars that are better adapted to the fluctuating winter temperatures in Kentucky (e.g., French-American hybrids or interspecific hybrids).
- Enhance winter hardiness development by selective, well-timed pruning, shoot thinning, cluster thinning, and nitrogen fertilization.
