Continuous Mowing for Erigeron canadensis L. Control in Vineyards

Erigeron canadensis L. directly competes with vines for nutrients, light, and water, and its management represents a challenge, especially under a vineyard trellis. Conventional weed control in the under-trellis area is achieved by cultivation or multiple herbicides applications, thus leading to relevant environmental issues. For this reason, several eco-friendly or nature-based weed control strategies such as the use of cover crops (CC) that become more relevant in last years. A two-year trial was conducted on a vineyard aimed at evaluating the effect of CC (sown both inter-rows and under-trellis) managed with an autonomous mower (AM) on E. canadensis under trellis control. The combination of CC and AM provided an E. canadensis reduction between 61 and 84% compared to conventional management. The AM work when managing a spontaneous cover provided a density reduction of 26%. Moreover, an analysis of the trampling effect of the AM on the vineyard floor and E. canadensis density was conducted.