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Fruit-zone leaf removal is typically applied in cool and humid regions to improve grape and wine quality, while reducing disease pressure. When fruit-zone leaf removal is applied early in the season, before bloom [early leaf removal (ELR)], it also reduces fruit-set, cluster compactness, and susceptibility to bunch rot, a complex disease that involves fungi (Botrytis cinerea, Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp.) and bacteria (Acetobacter sp.). Over 2 years (2015–16), we tested whether ELR applied mechanically [mechanical defoliation at stage E-L 18 (MD-I)] would mimic the effects of a hand removal [hand defoliation of the first six basal leaves and laterals at stage E-L 18 (Coombe, 1995) (HD-I)] with respect to ‘Riesling’ (Vitis vinifera) production parameters, canopy density and cluster sunlight exposure, fruit composition, and bunch rot control. We also compared the effects of mechanical defoliation applied either at prebloom (MD-I) or at fruit-set [mechanical defoliation at stage E-L 27 (MD-II)]. In both years, fruit-zone leaf removal, regardless of method and timing, reduced yield, cluster weight, and berries per cluster, while maintaining fruit composition and bud fruitfulness as compared with nondefoliated vines (control, C). In 2015, HD-I vines had a lower percentage of clusters infected by bunch rot as compared with the C and MD-II vines. However, severity of bunch rot was low in all treatments, and there was not significant treatment effect on bunch rot severity in either year. ELR consistently shortened cluster length, offsetting much of the intended cluster loosening effect induced by a lower number of berries per cluster—that would have reduced bunch susceptibility to late seasons rots. Despite removing only half the leaf area of HD-I, MD-I successfully mimicked the canopy improving effects of HD-I in terms of fewer interior clusters and leaves, fewer cluster-shading layers, and greater light available to clusters and leaves as compared with C vines.

Tree root systems are inherently dynamic in their distribution within a soil volume. Analysis of tree root system space occupation through time can improve not only our implicit understanding of a virtually hidden portion of a plant, but influence future management decisions through a more thorough understanding of root placement within a soil volume. We compared root standing crop populations of four ornamental tree species including Acer rubrum L. ‘Franksred’ (Acer), Carpinus betula L. ‘Columnaris’ (Carpinus), Gleditsia tricanthos L. var. inermis ‘Skycole’ (Gleditsia), and Quercus rubra L. ‘Rubrum’ (Quercus) grown in a nursery mix substrate within large 57-L containers using an X-ray computed tomography (CT) approach through time. Individual root identification was performed manually on two-dimensional slices of CT scans. Our data show high variation in species total root number through time with Carpinus exhibiting the largest root population throughout the study period. However, species exhibited differences in root distribution patterns as exemplified by the shallow and horizontally more uniform rooting pattern of Acer in comparison with the highly plastic root distribution in space through time in Gleditsia. Root frequencies within 1-mm root diameter class distributions shifted by species with the most drastic differences found between high frequencies of relatively small diameter roots in Acer vs. pronounced shifts in dominate root diameter size class as found in Gleditsia and lesser so in Carpinus during a growing season. Our findings demonstrate differences in whole tree root systems space occupation non-destructively through time and highlight a disparity in how species fill a container volume during growth.

Spring frosts and subsequent crop losses threaten the economic sustainability of fruit crop producers all over the world. This study used a controlled-freezing technique to impose a post-budburst freezing stress to grapevine shoots forced from one-node cuttings [‘Albariño’, ‘Cabernet Franc’, ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, and ‘Pinot Grigio’ (Vitis vinifera)] and whole plants [‘Noiret’ (Vitis hybrid)]. Our goal was to investigate the incidence of freeze injury among cultivars, stage of phenological development, and a potassium salt-based fertilizer (KDL) with potential cryoprotectant activity. Among the V. vinifera cultivars, the incidence of mortality of shoots exposed to −3.5 °C was highest for ‘Albariño’ (71%) and lowest for ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ (51%). Cuttings sprayed with KDL 24 hours before cold temperature exposure exhibited 16% lower shoot mortality and lower osmotic potential (Ψ_s) (−0.92 MPa) than the unsprayed cuttings (−0.77 MPa). However, application of KDL did not impact shoot mortality for whole ‘Noiret’ vines. Mortality for ‘Noiret’ shoots greatly increased with the advancement of phenological development, ranging from 10% in wooly buds to 78% in shoots ≈10-cm long. The practical significance of KDL remains questionable; cultivar selection still appears to be a more reliable method for avoiding spring frost, by planting late bursting cultivars in more frost-prone areas.