The influence of rootstock on vigor and bud fertility of ‘BRS Tainá’ grape in the São Francisco Valley

Abstract ‘BRS Tainá’ is a new seedless table grape cultivar developed and recommended for the Submedium of São Francisco Valley, the main producing and exporting region of table grapes in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of rootstock on vigor, bud fertility, sucrose and total soluble carbohydrates content in leaves of ‘BRS Tainá’ vine cultivated in semi-arid environmental conditions in the Brazilian Northeast. The treatments were represented by eight rootstocks: ‘101-14 MgT’, ‘IAC 313’, ‘IAC 572’, ‘IAC 766’, ‘Paulsen 1103’, ‘Ramsey’, ‘SO4’ and ‘Teleki 5C’. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four replications, in split plots, the production cycles were considered as plots, and eight rootstocks as subplots. The following variables were evaluated: pruning weight, stem diameter, number of lateral bunches, bud fertility, sucrose and total soluble carbohydrates content in leaves. The ‘BRS Tainá’ vine had moderate canopy vigor and 54% of bud fertility. The carbohydrate content and sucrose in the leaves did not differ among treatments during pruning. Therefore, it is possible that there is no effect of the rootstock on the initial vegetative growth of ‘BRS Tainá’ vines, which vigor and bud fertility remained stable in the initial production cycles.