Rootstock Selection Guide

If the conditions are perfect, it will win every time. Anything to upset the apple cart and it will sulk.

• Good with saline soils

• Avoid heavy soils

• Succeptible to trunk diseases – avoid using if you have an ‘imperfectly’ drained site

• Has had a bad reputation with some incidence of Black Goo

• Best in fresh clay/moist deep soils

• Slightly more vigorous than 3309

• Not recommended to use in an organic vineyard, as it does not handle stress

DO NOT USE IF: Unhealthy, poorly drained site

Recommended to use where there are some problems/issues or a chequered history. Useful, but hard to get out of the box.

• Medium vigour, and good with ‘wet feet’

• If you have an ugly part of the vineyard (i.e., poorly drained) then Schwarzmann is a good choice

• Popularity has diminished due to tight bunch architecture (although mechanical shaking is seeing to negate this)

• One of the slowest for re-establishment

• Ideal for rogueing, but not a total replant

• Earliest rootstock for bud burst

DO NOT USE IF: Frost prone sites

The least understood of all the rootstocks.

• Underrated rootstock

• Low vigour

• Drought poor

• Definitely a place for it on heavier sites

• Slow to establish (less an extra year to get going), especially if it is not well looked after

• Slower for the first 3 years, but once it is away it is worth the effort

• Early ripening

• Impacts favourably with Sauvignon Blanc (could be a result of sugar accumulation)

DO NOT USE IF: On an organic vineyard as it is a very shallow rooting rootstock. It is also not a good choice to use with HI-STEM® tall vines, as the rootstock stem does not thicken as quickly as the scionwood

Can do anything. If you are unsure, this is a good all-rounder.

• Underrated rootstock

• A bit behind 3309 in terms of vigour

• Best to use in frost prone sites as it delays budburst

• Recommended to use in heavy, clay soils

DO NOT USE IF: Swampy, peaty soils with high acid

Can do anything. If you are unsure, this is a good all-rounder.

• Most versatile, ‘go-to’ rootstock

• General purpose. Currently most popular rootstock for NZ conditions

• Use it in problem soils, as it can handle a range of soil types from fresh deep non/clay soils to stony sites

• Delay in bud burst so you can use it in cooler parts of the vineyard

• Good to use with close plantings

• Best for use with HI-STEM® vines

DO NOT USE IF: Swampy, peaty soils with high acid

The workhorse of all rootstocks.

• High vigour

• Avoid rich soils

• Strong place in Marlborough, especially on stony soils

• Good with ‘wet feet’ but readily takes up moisture, leading to berry splitting

• Weak point is taking up magnesium (not a soil nutrition issue, but if you plant it, make sure you are using a foliar fertiliser)

• Very few incidents where you will use it with a red variety

DO NOT USE IF: saline soils (lower Wairau, Southern Valleys)

Good for drought conditions.

• High vigour stock

• Very deep branching tap roots

• Designed for dry land viticulture in drought prone areas

• Not much known about them in NZ, as it is hardly planted at all

• They may be too vigorous in some sites, especially where water scarcity is not a concern

Find out more about drought tolerant rootstocks