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a
quickly.
nd will come into production more
provide good water holding capacity
The fine soil of the surface will be compromised if soil is mismanaged.
crest of the site will have an influence
On the other hand, every dip and and nutrient buffering and the coarse management is that the tilth of soil
A major criterion of good vineyard
on productivity and fruit composition. If
sand will provide good drainage, gradually improves, primarily through
the dips are severe enough they will also
suppress root infections, and allow the gradual accumulation of organic
a
plants to become deeply rooted. matter. Poorly managed soils will
w
ffect vigour, vine maturation, and
that?
inter hardiness. Can you live with ultimate factor which can optimize
A knowledge of soil properties is the d
vineyard productivity. On a vigorous
w
ecline in organic matter, productivity
is sand or gravel, but there are many
The stereotypical soil of the Okanagan site it is a mistake to use a dense
more vulnerable to various insect and
ill decline, and the vineyard will be
more. The most familiar of these “other
planting or to over irrigate.
fungal infections. Can you live with
that?
“
Summerland and Naramata. These soils
soils are the silty clay cliffs of sustainably high-quality production will
All the factors we value for
gestrachan@alum.mit.edu.
— Gary Strachan can be reached at
are very vigorous because they have a
high water holding capacity and
maintain higher concentrations of
cations (such as potassium, magnesium,
calcium etc) within the plant’s feeding
zone. The fine particles of these soils
don’t drain very well, but the flip side is
that they don’t require much irrigation.
the loamy soils of Vancouver Island, the
This same problem is present with
Shuswap, or the Kootenays.
mostly evolved from prehistoric lake
The clay or silty sand soils have
beds but typically have sand or gravel
beneath them, laid down by some long-
departed glacier.
of how the soils of a site evolved helps
I find that a rudimentary knowledge
me to assess the extent of the problem
and visualize the solution. There’s no longer a “middle-man” between you
forested, uncultivated, and unclassified
For example, I recently examined a
site. I examined the maps of the B.C.
and the Okanagan’s leading manufacturer and
Soil Survey and found that the soils of a
distributor of fertilizer.
nearby site included in the survey were
of lacustrine origin. This means that the
surface soil was part of an old lake bed.
To me this explained why the surface
soil was so fine, and without even doing
an analysis, it gave me insight into the
properties of the area as a potential
vineyard.
substantial upheaval at some time in
I found that the area must have had a
geological history because the lacustrine
After more than 30 years selling our high quality
soil that I was examining was at a
products through dealers, we now sell direct to
considerable vertical distance above the
soil classified in the survey.
the grower. And to offer even more value, we’ve
expanded our product line to include all your
sediments laid down at the bottom of a
I suspect that I was examining older chemical and seed needs.
higher elevation lake. During some
more recent event the valley was carved
out and a lower elevation lake was
created.
TECHNOLOGY. AGRONOMY. RESULTS!
fine soil covered coarse sand and gravel,
When I dug a test pit, I found that the
therefore the lake must have been
created after the sand had been
OKANAGAN FERTILIZER LTD.
deposited by a glacier and/or stream.
www.okfert.com • 1-800-361-4600 • 250-838-6414
This was a pleasant surprise.
Box 770 • Enderby, BC • V0E 1V0
26
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2009
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