Workshop: Soil management including cover crops, weeds and managing the vineyard floor

The workshop will discuss good soil management methods and how these benefit vine health, crop yields, quality and vineyard productivity, as well as improve biodiversity, carbon sequestration and sustainability.

This workshop will focus on understanding soil health and fertility, including its ability to make nutrients available and its capacity to hold water, and how this is influenced by its physical, chemical and biological properties.

The workshop learning objectives are:
• Soil types / soil physical properties and the effect of soil texture and structure on soil fertility
• The importance of soil organic matter and soil pH and its influence on nutrient availability and nutrient uptake by plants
• Carbon Sequestration
• The important role of mycorrhizal fungi
• Cation Exchange Capacity
• The Soil Food Web
• The ways water moves through the soil and how to avoid soil leaching
• Taking soil samples for analysis and interpreting results
• Beneficial soil management practices including cover crops, weeds and managing the vineyard floor

The workshop will include a practical session to dig a soil pit for:
• Practical assessment of soil texture and structure (VESS test)
• Earthworm counts
• Slake tests
• Observing rooting depth and penetration
• Observing rhizosheaths

VENUE: Mannings Heath Vineyard,  Mannings Heath Estate, Mannings Heath, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 6PG

TRAINER: Joel Jorgensen

LEVEL: Beginner to intermediate