Old vine bushes will no longer be able to bear fruit as before, but do not think that the only way out is to remove it. In no case do you need to do this, because the roots of perennial grapes are an excellent system for engraftment of young cuttings of other varieties.
What are the benefits of grape grafting on an old bush
By planting another grape variety on an old stock, a gardener gets a good harvest much earlier than planting a new plant, which will take a long time to develop its own root system. And it will take only one or two seasons for the grapes to begin to bear fruit, and for the third one you can already get a full-fledged crop. Also grafting grapes on an old bush is good because you can use not very compatible varieties, which is a plus for beginners in grafting.
Time for a vaccination procedure
The time when grape grafting will go best cannot be determined exactly. But the main thing is that the earth and air are warmed up to certain indicators. Experienced growers advise: the air temperature should be kept at least 15 degrees Celsius, and the earth - at least + 10 ° C. So grafting grapes on an old bush in spring, summer, autumn - in any of these seasons is quite real and doable. But if you decide to be vaccinated in the spring, the main signal for this will be the allocation of apiaries on the cut.
The vaccination process - where do we start, what are the main actions
The two main stages are the preparation of cuttings and a cut of the trunk of an old bush - a stem.
Preparation of cuttings
Cuttings can be from five to 15 centimeters long, the main thing is that they have at least one or two eyes. Before the day when you will begin the operation, wrap the cuttings with cuts in wet rags, and immediately refresh the cuts on the day of engraftment. As for the shape of the slices, they can be different depending on the method of engraftment, the main thing is that they fit tightly and coincide in shape with the stem. For example, here are a few possible ways.
It is important that the stalk should be placed in the stamb only with its cut part.
Stub preparation
Prepare the old root for engraftment. To do this, you first need to dig a hole around it with a depth of twenty centimeters. The next step is the removal of the ground part of the grape, and it is necessary to touch upon fifteen centimeters of the trunk in a dug hole. This, of course, is not very like the plant. But its root system will be able to cope with this shock. Next, grafting the grapes onto an old bush goes into the actual engraftment stage. The essence of the process is to split the trunk of the old and insert the cuttings of young grapes into it. There are several ways to do this. So, consider the options.
- Grafting grapes on an old bush by drilling. Using this method, you need to make a hole of the same diameter as the handle. The latter, in turn, is simply cleaned from the top layer of the skin. You do not need to sharpen it - it is already in the required shape. Important: to prevent the hole from being torn, first use a smaller drill, then a larger, required diameter. It is also necessary that the cambium layers coincide. The stalk should enter into the finished hole tightly: so as not to even cover the joint. But in this case, it is advised to sprinkle the grafted place with wet shavings and cover with glass to create a greenhouse effect. Inside, you must constantly maintain high humidity.
- Vaccination of grapes on an old bush splitting. Cleavage is the easiest and fastest way. The stamp must be split with a knife, an ax - in general, an object of this type. One, two or more cuttings can be placed in a split, and then tightly tighten the split with a dense cloth, cord or twine. The handle in this case should be sharpened by a wedge from two sides.
The hole must be loosened and covered with loose soil so that the stalk is completely covered. At this point, re-grafting of old grape bushes ends and goes into the care phase, which consists of removing weeds, loosening the soil, removing shoots of the old plant, which can “steal” vital juices from the grafted grape variety for full development.