Amur grapes are naturally found in the Far East (in forests) and in the northern provinces of China. It has powerful vines covered with brown bark, wrinkled matte leaves of green color, which acquire a beautiful red-brown color in the fall.
Wild Amur grapes settle near rivers and streams. The berries are about two centimeters in diameter, dark purple, almost black in color with different flavor accents. In the wild, the plant has female and male types of flowers. Vines with bisexual inflorescences grow quite rarely. Grapes of a female type of flowering fruit with seedless berries. Flowering begins in the second half of May. Bunches fully ripen in late September.
This grape can be divided into three ecotypes:
- southern;
- northern;
- Chinese.
In the cultivation of this plant a special role was played by breeder A.I. Potapenko. One of the first he decided to cultivate noble varieties from wild vines. And I must say that his idea, picked up by his followers, made it possible to create numerous Amur varieties and forms of grapes, characterized by frost resistance and hardiness.
Popular hybrids
Amur grapes today are represented by a huge number of varieties. Below we will present you the most popular and well-established varieties.
Marinovsky
The medium-sized clusters ripen in early September. The berries are small, slightly elongated. Thin skin is dark blue. They have a delicate aroma, and the taste is not very expressive.
Amethyst
A fairly powerful plant, which is characterized by bisexuality. On one shoot, up to four clusters ripen. Berries fully ripen in late August. They are very juicy and sweet, the skin is painted in dark blue. The clusters are large, the berries are medium in size, rounded. The fruits of this variety do not affect wasps. This variety gives the first crop the year after planting. To most fungal diseases characteristic of grapes it is steady.
Triumph
The plant is quite powerful. The fruits ripen in late August. They are painted dark pink and are quite large in size. The variety is distinguished by excellent taste. Productivity increases with the age of the plant.
Agate Donskoy
Many winegrowers believe that this variety has the most juicy and delicious berries. Great juices and wines are made from them. Bisexual plant with high resistance to common diseases.
Neretinsky
The variety has functional female flowers. Pollinators can be Amethyst, Agate, Marinovsky and other bisexual forms. Wine made from berries of this variety has a chocolate flavor. Berries ripen in late August. It often bears fruit in the second year.
New Russian
Extra table grade. The fruits ripen in late July. Powerful and bisexual variety. Berries are oval with a red peel. It has a special spring taste. The pulp is juicy and fleshy.
Amur breakthrough
This is, without exaggeration, the most popular variety. It is for this reason that we will talk more about him.
Grapes Amur breakthrough: variety description, reviews
This variety has two more copyright names - Odin and Potapenko-7. According to experienced winegrowers, the variety is unpretentious, endurance and ease of care.
It was brought out by A.I. Potapenko on the basis of Amur natural forms. The Amur breakthrough grape is distinguished by a powerful growth force and unusual foliage, which in the fall acquires an elegant crimson color. Thanks to these decorative properties, the variety, according to winegrowers, can be successfully used in landscape design.
External features
Outwardly, the Amur breakthrough grape resembles a very powerful deciduous vine covered with rather loose clusters. With the help of tendrils, grapes are climbed to nearby buildings. This variety has a high rate of shoot formation. In a year, plant growth can be up to 2.5 meters.
Vines
The bark covering the vine is dark. On old shoots it peels off. On young branches it is green or reddish. In the fall it becomes red-brown.
Leaves
The Amur breakthrough grape, a description of which can be found today in almost all gardening and viticulture guides, forms rather large leaves of a light green color. They have a rounded or elongated shape, along the edges with small sharp teeth.
The inner side of the sheet plate is covered with soft down. In autumn, the foliage becomes crimson-red, due to this the variety is often used to decorate fences, arbors. Leaf fall begins in early October.
Bloom
The Amur breakthrough grape begins to bloom in early May with small racemose inflorescences that have a yellowish tint. They are inconspicuous, but have a pleasant delicate aroma and emit a large amount of nectar.
Berries
The Amursky Breakthrough grape variety is famous for its excellent taste, although many believe that the northern varieties must be acidic and small, suitable only for making compotes.
The berries are round in shape with dark purple or dark pink dense skin, which literally shines in the sun, with a diameter of about one and a half centimeters and weighing up to four grams. The fruits of this grape are characterized by a high sugar content (23%). This figure is considered high even for many southern table varieties.
The weight of the clusters largely depends on the conditions of cultivation. The average cluster weight is 400 grams, but some wine growers manage to grow kilogram clusters. From one bush, 10 kg of berries or more are removed. The fruits have a pleasant, refined taste and can be used for fresh consumption, as well as for their use in the preparation of wine, preserves, compotes and jams. A coffee substitute is made from seeds and aromatic oil is obtained.
Frost resistance
Without exaggeration, we can say that the Amur breakthrough grape is a champion in winter hardiness. Surprisingly, adult bushes are able to winter without shelter and tolerate frosts up to - 40 ° C. However, it is better to shelter young vines from severe frosts. It is better to remove grape lashes for the winter from trellises so that they are covered with snow.
Very low temperatures can destroy a third of the vine, but the plant instantly recovers and bears fruit well. It is these qualities that made the Amur breakthrough grapes so popular. Buy seedlings in Moscow is not difficult. In the suburbs near Moscow, you can increasingly see this grape.
Growing Features
Unpretentious and hardy grapes Amur breakthrough requires compliance with the simplest rules for planting and care. You can grow it in the following ways:
- by seeds;
- layering;
- cuttings.
Seeds remain viable for five years. Germination on average is 60%. However, in this case there is a risk of losing varietal qualities. The vine, which is grown from seeds, bears fruit late, after almost five years.
Seeds in the autumn are planted to a depth of one and a half centimeters. Soak them before planting. In the spring they can be planted in pots and grown at home until they germinate and become seedlings.
However, most gardeners prefer to plant grape seedlings in the Amur breakthrough in summer. The bottom of the landing pit, fifty centimeters deep, is covered with a ten-centimeter layer of rubble, then soil, fertilizers and the upper nutrient layer of soil are poured.
The Amur breakthrough grape is undemanding to the quality of the soil. The description of the variety given by A. I. Potapenko, at the same time, emphasizes the fact that the variety grows best and bears fruit on acidic, well-moistened soil. If your site is alkaline, you can acidify it by adding turf or peat. Seedlings after planting are abundantly watered.
Watering
This variety is very in need of moisture. In Primorye, there is usually no shortage of it, and in more arid areas where this grape is cultivated today, it needs timely watering. The use of warm water is recommended for irrigation, especially with regard to the fruiting period. In a too dry summer, the Amur breakthrough grapes are watered twice a week abundantly.
Healing properties
We hope that you learned a lot of interesting things about Amur grapes (planting, care). The healing properties of this plant can also not be ignored. Amur grape is a unique plant, one of the survivors of the ice age. He adapted to the most severe conditions. This grape produces more than one hundred and fifty active substances.
Berries contain many B vitamins and pectins, fiber and essential oil, hemicellulose and protein, folic and organic acids, sucrose and antioxidants. A unique substance, resveratrol, was found in the leaves and skin. It is called the "elixir of youth" for its special ability to slow down the aging process. It is a very powerful antioxidant that has been proven effective in scientific experiments.
Amur grape is used to make medical tincture, which helps fight many diseases:
- heart and vascular diseases;
- diabetes;
- benign tumors;
- immunodeficiency;
- some pathologies of the liver;
- varicose veins;
- angina pectoris;
- atherosclerosis;
- hypertension.
To prepare such a tincture, petioles, berries or leaves of the plant are used. If you use berries, you need to squeeze them and leave only dry meal - juice in this case will not be needed. It is necessary to fill it with 500 ml of vodka and insist for a week in a cool and always dark place. Tincture is consumed in the morning, adding a teaspoon to one hundred grams of tea.
From the leaves and petioles, first make a decoction. One hundred grams of raw material is poured into 500 ml of water and brought to a boil. In a hot broth, you need to add 100 ml of vodka and cool the composition. The product is ready to use as soon as it cools. The dose is the same as in the first recipe. For healthy people, this tincture is suitable as a prophylactic. It will improve memory, give strength, improve the condition of hair and skin.
Amur grape breakthrough: reviews of gardeners
This variety can be grown not only in the northern regions, but also in the middle lane. Although some winegrowers from the Moscow Region note that it takes root quite difficult, then powerful bushes delight with rich harvests of healthy and delicious berries.
Contradictory reviews were given to this disease resistance class. In most reference books, the variety is called complex resistant, but middle-tier growers note that the plant is often affected by mildew. Many people believe that the Amur breakthrough is best manifested in Primorye, where weather conditions are somewhat smoothed: there are no spring frosts characteristic of the middle zone.
The undeniable advantages of varieties of gardeners include:
- profuse bearing;
- incorporated genetically high plasticity;
- high frost resistance;
- the ability of the vines to withstand high loads;
- early vegetation;
- excellent taste characteristics of berries;
- most valuable medicinal properties inherited from parental varieties.