SOIL PREPARATION

CHAPTER 5

inorganic fertilizer – other than what was removed while digging them. This will eliminate the risk of roots being restricted to lighter-textured porous material used to fill up plant holes in clayey soils (Westwood, 1978; Nicolosi & Fretz, 1980)

FIGURE 5.15: A small furrow instead of a plant hole has often been used in the past to plant grapevines. The spade causes compaction on the sides of the furrow (left) and this poor practice results in the poorly developed root system seen on the right (Louw & Van Huyssteen, 1993) (Photos: ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij).

FIGURE 5.16: Limited root development as a result of planting vines in a ripper furrow on a coarse sandy soil. The roots developed only inside the furrow due to the higher soil strength outside the furrow (Photo: ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij).

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