Vineyard Soils of the Yarra Valley

Spring Vine Health Field Day, October 2010

Siegfried Engleitner, Soil Scientist

Soil Health vs Soil Suitability

Vineyard Soils of the Yarra Valley

Red soils / Grey soils

Part 1: Landscape position

• soil depth and drainage

Part 2: Soil analyses:

• EC, pH, aluminium, nutrients, structure

Question: How do you, the vineyard manager use this information to

• Match Variety to Site ?

• Maintain soil health: physical, chemical, biological

Source:

Presenting soil pits from:

1. Yellingbo: 170-240m, Red, Yellow-Gravel

2. Yarra Junction: 150-170cm, Red,

3. Dixons Creek:

Depth = Relief (slopes / flats )

Geology + Climate influence Soil Type

Position within Landscape

Yarra Valley Wine Region

Source: www.wineaustralia.com

Yellingbo ..Yarra Junction

.Dixons Creek

Yellingbo Google Earth Image, Mar 2007

Yellingbo, Red Soils ? Dec 2000

Red soil at 210m, Yellow at 204m

Yellingbo, Gravel Soils, Dec 2000

Yellingbo, Gravel Soils, Dec 2000

Pit 7, 200m, 100m North of Pit 8, 160m

Yarra Junction, Red Soils Dec 2000

Yarra Junction, Dec 2000

Pit 1, 169m, 130m SW of Pit 2, 154m

Statistics J F M A M J J A Sep Oct Nov Dec AnnualYe

ars

Mean rainfall (mm) for years

1994 to 201044 48 48 59 60 65 59 68 69 61 67 47 700 16

Rainfall (mm) for year

200064 39 18 29 119 58 61 68 120 84 89 36 788 1

Dixons Creek, valley scale, Dec 2000

Dixons Creek, farm scale, Dec 2000

Dixons Creek, paddock scale, Dec 2000

Dixons Ck, top pdk 170-150 m over 100 m = 20% slope

20%

slope =

moderately

inclined

Above a

break in

slope

Dixons Ck, top pdk 135-130 m over 50 m = 10% slope

10%

Slope =

gently

inclined

Below a

break in

slope

Dixons Ck, bottom pdk, 117-114 m ovr 150 m = 2% slope

2%

Slope =

gently

inclined

Soil Chemistry Benchmarks

for establishment and yield of irrigated vinesSource: Lanyon et al (2004)

Parameter Target Range

pHc / pHw 5.0 – 5.8 / 5.7 – 6.5

Salinity: EC(dS/m,

< 0.20 dS/m - sandy loams< 0.25 dS/m - clay loams<0.5 dS/m - clays

Sodicity(% of Ca, Mg, K, Na)

<6%

Calcium 60-80

Magnesium 15-30

Potassium 5-10

Ca:Mg ratio 2-10

K:Mg ratio 0.1-0.4

Texture EC pHw pHc Al (KCl) Ca Mg K Na Ca:Mg K:Mg

lab dS/m mg/kg

Target / Benchmark <0.255.7-

6.5

5.0-

5.8 <50

60-

80

15-

30

5-

10<6 2-10

0.1-

0.4

Yellingbo Red Pit 1

Topsoil 0-15 ( A1+A2 ) clay loam <0.05 5.3 4.7 60 69 25 4 3 2.8 0.2

subsoil 15-45 (B1) light clay <0.05 5.1 4.5 140 59 35 4 4 1.7 0.1

45-65 (B21) clay loam <0.05 5.2 4.8 58 5 92 2 3 0.1 0.0

65-100 (B22) clay loam <0.05 5.1 4.7 100 3 93 2 4 0.0 0.0

Yellingbo Yellow Pit 4

Topsoil 0-15 ( A1+A2 ) clay loam <0.05 5.2 4.5 61 71 22 7 2 3.2 0.3

15-40 (A2) clay loam <0.05 4.9 4.3 170 67 22 7 5 3.0 0.3

subsoil 40-60 (B21) light clay <0.05 4.8 4.2 470 63 24 8 7 2.6 0.3

60-90 (B22) light clay <0.05 4.8 4.2 540 46 43 7 6 1.1 0.2

120-160 (B3) silty clay <0.05 4.8 4.3 240 8 81 7 7 0.1 0.1

Yarra Junction Red Pit 5

Topsoil 0-15 ( A1+A2 ) clay loam 0.07 5.6 5 22 72 22 5 2 3.3 0.2

subsoil 10-35 (B21) light clay <0.05 5.1 4.3 350 59 27 12 4 2.2 0.4

35-60 (B22) light clay <0.05 4.9 4.2 480 43 41 13 5 1.0 0.3

60-90 (B23) light clay <0.05 4.8 4.2 550 34 52 10 5 0.7 0.2

90-120 (B3) light clay <0.05 4.7 4.2 680 22 66 8 5 0.3 0.1

Dixons Creek Grey Pit 1

Topsoil 0-15 ( A1+A2 ) clay loam 0.08 5.6 4.7 12 63 25 10 4 2.5 0.4

12-30 (A21) clay loam 0.08 5.4 4.7 18 59 31 6 4 1.9 0.2

30-40 (A22) clay loam <0.05 5.3 4.5 56 41 50 5 6 0.8 0.1

subsoil 40-55 (B1) light clay 0.06 5.4 4.5 72 28 62 4 7 0.5 0.1

55-70 (B21) L-M clay 0.08 6.1 4.9 33 8 76 2 16 0.1 0.0

70-90 (B22) Med Clay 0.12 6.3 5 19 5 72 2 23 0.1 0.0

90-110 (B23) H.clay 0.18 6.2 5.2 15 4 67 2 29 0.1 0.0

110+ (B24) H.clay 0.23 6.5 5.4 <10 5 93 1 2 0.1 0.0

% of 4 cations