What does a vine root know, and how does it know it?

Scientists continue to have some success in unraveling the inner workings of a vine root’s rhizosphere and microbiome, the critical realms in a plant’s search for food and water. But they are still just scratching the subsurface of the underground culture of the world’s vineyards. As Roger Morris reports, debates rage as to whether a root has a social life, and researchers continue to ask, “What does a vine root know, and how does it know it?”

The silence of the vines can be maddening. Like jealous lovers, we worry if they are happy and whether we can ever completely satisfy their desires.

We prune this way then that. We green-harvest, then we don’t. We are sure that high density is the way then worry the vines feel too crowded. We apply tough love and cut off water so the vines will dig deeper to survive. We even try to guess the vines’ favorite animal. Is it the plow horse replacing the heavy tractors, or do the vines prefer smelly sheep and no tilling at all?

While we know there is constant communication going on between the leaves of the vine and its roots far below ground, we don’t hear or see this conversation. The best we can do is try to eavesdrop by observation, and we know we can’t observe everything about the whole plant because we only see half of it—the part above ground. We are like a physician trying to diagnose a patient in the examination room without knowing what’s happening in the microbiome within their gut.

Excerpt shared here with permission. Read the full article by Roger Morris with The World of Fine Wine.

Julee Klein