Growth Stages of the Grapevine: Adoption of a system for identifying grapevine growth stages

TLDR

The BBCH system, originally developed for all crops, has been adapted for grapevine, with preference for the Eichhorn and Lorenz 1977 system and subsequent amendments. The authors propose amendments and a new measurement system that balances a simple listing of major stages with intermediate detailed stages. They discuss the amendments and develop a new system of measurement and description of grapevine growth stages. The resulting system is named the Modified E‑L system.

Abstract

The foregoing paper by Lorenz et al. (1995), translated into English by P. May, describes a new system for the identification of grapevine growth stages called the BBCH system. This is an adaptation, for the grapevine, of a basic scale developed to cover all monocot and dicot crops. Appraisal of this and two other systems has led to a preference for that by Eichhorn and Lorenz (1977) but with some amendments. These amendments are discussed and a new system of measurement and description of stages of the grapevine is proposed which copes with the dual needs for a simple listing of major stages and, at the same time, provides intermediate detailed stages. It is called the Modified E-L system.