Agronomic and qualitative behaviour of cv. Tempranillo according to three vine spacing on two different hydric-edaphic situations in the Duero river valley

The knowledge of the influence of soil conditions on the effects that different plant densities provoke in the agronomic grapevine behaviour becomes very interesting since it allows to focus the vineyard management on the optimization of the natural, hydric and human resources.
This work is focused on the study of the vegetative, productive and qualitative behaviour of Tempranillo variety distributed with three different distances between vines (1.2, 1.5 and 1.8 m) and a common distance between rows (3.0 m) along the period 2005-2007, in two different growing conditions, moderated deficit irrigation and non irrigation. The final objective is to know the more adequate plant density under each particular growing conditions. The experimental trials have been located in the A.O. Rueda, along the Duero river valley, in the province of Valladolid (Spain).
The different vine spacing treatments have shown some differences in pruning weight, vigour of shoot, yield per hectare and cluster weight in both hydric-edaphic situations, being these differences more remarkable in the non irrigation conditions. The differences between treatments in fertility and berry weight have been fewer. The grape quality has hardly shown any difference between treatments in both growing situations.
These results suggest the convenience of different vineyard management depending on the particular growing conditions, being of doubtful effectiveness the increase of the number of plants if there is no any limiting factor that substantially alters these growing conditions.