Grapes are a favorite and sought after berry. Due to its unpretentiousness, it can grow in the wild without any human intervention. But in order to get a good harvest of berries with high taste qualities, you need to work hard. It is important to provide careful and competent care for the grapes: timely watering, feeding, tying, pruning, planting. Read about it in the article.
How to grow grape seedlings?
The easiest way is used for this: cuttings are harvested on healthy bushes that bring a high yield. They need to be cut in October before the bushes are dug up for the winter. Cuttings can be prepared in the spring, during the pruning of the vines, but they will take root worse. For rooting, greenhouses, greenhouses, beds, windows in the apartment are used. But you can determine the cuttings at a permanent place of planting grapes. In this case, they need to be planted when the soil warms up to a temperature of +8 ... + 10 C about . In our region, this time falls around the beginning of May.
Preparation and planting of cuttings
Cuttings are prepared as follows: a strong shoot is taken, cut into small parts with three buds on each. One section is made at the lower kidney, the other is three centimeters higher than the last. It is important that the upper kidney is well developed. Before planting, two days before it, the cuttings are placed in a warm environment (room temperature) for soaking. It is advisable to lower them for 12 hours in liquid manure, diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 5.
Cuttings are planted in the same soil as for sowing seeds. Landing is carried out in rows located at a distance of 25 or 30 cm from each other. The interval between grape seedlings in a row should be 10 cm. The plant is immersed in the soil obliquely, dug with soil to the upper bud. At the end of the planting, abundant watering of the beds and mulching of the surface is done. For this, humus or sod land is used. A peephole above the surface of the soil is covered with mulch.
Culture inoculation in the spring
To carry out this procedure, the bush must be cut below the ground level by several centimeters (five to six are enough). Annual shoots will start to grow. Spread to them the shoots of the past or this year are grafted. Last year cuttings intended for vaccination should be stored in a cold place, otherwise they may sprout or dry. Vaccine material for the current period is taken on the day for which the procedure is planned. After the graft is grafted, it is tied, and then covered with molten paraffin to prevent drying. Vine grafting time in spring is determined by the shoots: they must be powerful and green.
Grape pruning
If this procedure is not carried out, there will be no good harvest. Pruning is necessary to create favorable conditions in the process of development and ripening of grapes: shoots will receive a lot of light and fresh air. The main objective of this procedure is the formation of a strong bush. Removing excess vine shoots, foliage, shading fruits, inflorescences and even clusters, winegrowers achieve high yields. The main shoots will receive more nutrients that will be used to form powerful roots and large fruits. Such a plant is able to overwinter under shelter in conditions of small frosts. Disinfected garden tools are used for pruning.
Grape garter
This procedure is necessary when growing a crop. It begins with her summer care for grapes. Last year's vines need to be tied to a trellis. So in the process of growth, they will grow in the right direction. In regions with a warm climate, garter begins at the end of April, while new shoots are not growing. In most regions of Russia, this procedure is done later, starting in the first decade of the summer month of June. It is very important that there are no return frosts.
What are the watering?
The culture responds well to soil moisture. Regular watering of grapes accelerates its growth, resulting in increased yield. But there is one feature: increased sensitivity of the leaves to water, so it is important not to harm the plant by watering. To do this, you must adhere to some rules, the observance of which will ensure the seedlings safety. Grape growers with experience growing crops never use irrigation. They carry out watering of grapes, using different types of soil moistening.
Moisture recharging soil
When caring for grapes, such irrigation is carried out in spring and autumn with the aim of impregnating the deep layers of the soil with moisture and its retention. In autumn, such a procedure is needed to protect the roots from freezing in the winter, as they are more severely damaged in dry land. Such irrigation should be carried out through drainage holes and trenches. If in winter there was little snow (precipitation), spring watering is necessary. Depending on the temperature of the water that will be used during the procedure, a specific goal is pursued. So, watering with cold water delays the budding of buds, so that the bushes are not damaged during late frosts. If watering is carried out with warm water, the vine will grow and develop faster.
Watering when planting
Grape care begins from the moment it is planted in the ground. If this occurs in the spring, the water must be hot to warm the ground for better growth. A bucket of water is poured into one hole, after which you should wait until it is absorbed. After that, the seedling is half asleep with soil, and the same amount of liquid is poured with the fertilizer diluted in it. Planting in the autumn is carried out similarly, only ordinary water is taken without any nutritional supplements.
Watering by growth period
If underground irrigation is not provided, special holes for water should be equipped. They are made in a circle at a distance of 30 cm from the vine bushes. The depth of such "reservoirs" is 25 cm. After this, the pits are filled with soil. When to water the bushes, determine by their condition. In the first year after planting in the summer, grapes are watered every week in the evening, after sunset. Under each bush, 5-20 liters of water are poured. After a month, the frequency of irrigation is reduced to once every half a month. During the ripening period, watering should be stopped altogether. In the autumn period, when preparing the bushes for winter, water-loading irrigation is carried out.
Fertilization by time
Fertilizing grapes is a mandatory agrotechnical measure when growing this crop. For good growth and fruiting, fertilizers should be applied at a strictly defined time:
- In the early spring, as soon as the winter cold ends, the first top dressing is carried out, which you can cook yourself. For this, superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium salt in the amount of 25, 10 and 5 grams, respectively, are dissolved in a bucket of water with a capacity of 10 liters. The prepared solution is enough for one bush of grapes.
- The second top dressing is done before flowering, in about two weeks. Make the same solution.
- Before ripening berries, plants need phosphorus and potassium, therefore fertilizers are added, the content of these trace elements.
- The next top dressing is carried out in the fall, after harvesting. Food is potash fertilizer. This procedure increases the frost resistance of plants.
In the spring, the best food for grapes is organic fertilizers, such as liquid manure. It is applied at the rate of one kilogram per square meter of land area. In the autumn period, every three years, fertilizing with dry fertilizer is mandatory: ash, manure, ammonium sulfate, superphosphate.
How to care
Grape care in the spring includes the following agricultural activities:
- Spraying. It is carried out to prevent diseases. Chemical preparations are applied to the soil, leaves and vine. It is important that the ground parts of plants do not lie on the surface of the earth, so they should be tied up, otherwise they will rot. After this, trunks and aisles are carefully spilled with water and mulched. For processing grape bushes, you can use Bordeaux liquid, preparations "Ridomil", "Tsineb".
- Pruning. It is held in the spring during the period of active sap flow. Sick and weak plants are removed. Two-year-old plants are cut by 60%, leaving full shoots in the amount of two or three pieces. But they should be shortened at the level of five buds from the beginning of the bush.
- Top dressing. Grape bushes in different periods of development need it. Nitrogen is necessary for the green part of the plants to grow. It is introduced into the soil in spring. In summer, during flowering, grapes need phosphorus, due to which the ovaries are well formed. This trace element contributes to the rapid ripening of berries. In the autumn, plants are fed with fertilizers with a high content of copper and potassium, which have a beneficial effect on the preparation of grapes for wintering.