Hort. Sci. (Prague), 2014, 41(3):147-151 | DOI: 10.17221/17/2014-HORTSCI

Vitis cv. Zilga is a vine for the northern temperate climate - Short communicationOriginal Paper

J. Karvonen

Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Of the grapevines grown in the Nordic countries, cv. Zilga, bred in Latvia, has proven to be very winter resistant and fast-maturing, and produces abundant harvests. In Finland, it is grown as horticultural and agricultural plant unprotected on open land even at 63 degrees latitude. In Southern Finland (60°24'10''N, 25°01'45''E), the growth cycle of cv. Zilga from bud break to harvest lasted 116 days and to leaf fall 125 days. At the beginning of the harvest, the total sugar content was 19°Bx. Tracking the phenology of the growth cycle and the environmental conditions of the growth site shows that cv. Zilga is well placed to make use of the high ambient temperatures and high solar radiation energy of Northern Europe in May, June, July and August.

Keywords: Nordic wine growing; soil temperature; short growing season; cool climate

Published: September 30, 2014  Show citation