soil depth

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ErikM

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I am looking at some land for a vineyard. There is anywhere from 24 inches to 5+ feet of soil on top of bedrock. The land has a good slope.
How much soil, how deep does the soil need to be to enable good yielding vines?
 
There is also the school of thought that believes better wine grapes come from thinner soils. Have you done any determination of topsoil constituents?
 
Just for information, I am on solid bedrock and have my test plot on 2 feet of topsoil I imported and placed with my backhoe. I had a good yield on 25 vines this year and have moved on to the main vineyard with 100 vines under the conditions you speak of. (Yours are actually better). Think of the vines in this case as giant potted plants. While they would prefer deep soils, if you do a soil analysis and follow the guidelines provided, you will do fine. The big issue is driving posts for a trellis. I wound up drilling them in with a compressor and rock drill, no fun, but they are solid. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you all. Saddlebronze, I feel a lot more confident with your input.
 

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