Course overview
Viticultural Science II covers the entire life cycle of the cultivated grapevine with an emphasis on the phases of production covering dormancy, bud break, flowering and fruit development prior to veraison. Topics covered include: The growth cycle of the grapevine and the biology that underpins the different phenological stages; physiology as it is relevant to growth and vine form, flowering, water use, drought and salt stress, mineral nutrition, and berry development; anatomy of the vegetative and reproductive parts; taxonomy of grapevines and vegetative variety identification. Practical sessions will focus in more depth on the following topics: pruning techniques, vine and bud anatomy, shoot based variety identification, shoot morphology and development, yield estimation, and mineral nutrition.
Course learning outcomes
- Describe the growth cycle of the grapevine and the biology that underpins the different phenological stages.
- Understand the taxonomy of grapevines.
- Understand grapevine physiology as it is relevant to: mineral nutrition, water use, photosynthesis and ripening.
- Describe grapevine anatomy of the vegetative and reproductive parts.
- Use techniques to monitor grapevine phenological development and yield potential.
- Understand the role of biotechnology in viticulture.
- Small group discovery project: Plan, conduct and execute a basic project on grapevine physiology or anatomy with reference to background literature.
- Work effectively as part of a team and to communicate their understanding and experimental results both verbally and in written form.