Grapes are unusually healthy, and at the same time very tasty berry, which can be grown anywhere in Russia. However, in order to get a healthy plant that gives a good harvest, you need to have certain knowledge. So, we will consider how to plant grapes with cuttings in the spring correctly. Which landing method should I prefer?
Grade selection
When deciding which grapes from cuttings to plant, it is necessary to take into account the resistance of a particular variety to pests, diseases, and also adverse weather conditions. It is best to give preference to those varieties that are famous for stable fruiting, good pollination and the strength of the ovaries. So, when choosing grapes for planting, you should pay attention to varieties that bring juicy, sweet and large fruits: "delight", "harold", "galbena know", "arcadia" and "aladdin", "impulse", "gadahad", Kishmish No. 342, Nadezhda Azos, Kodrianka, Friendship, Timur, Laura.
Harvesting cuttings
Healthy cuttings of selected varieties should be prepared during spring pruning. The ends must be dipped in molten paraffin, wrapped in moist material and laid on a shelf as close to the ground as possible.
Get the cuttings on the eve of spring. Determine where they have the top and bottom and use the knife to trim the bottom. It is important that the cut passes under the lower kidney. Using an awl, make 3 longitudinal cuts between the two lower buds of the handle. It is from the places of incisions and the lower kidney that the root system will develop.
Features of the content of cuttings in spring
Immerse the cuttings for three days in a container with a solution of honey (2 tbsp. L. Honey in 2.5 l of water). This will wake them from hibernation. Next, plant the cuttings in plastic bottles, the soil in which should consist of earth, sawdust and humus, taken in equal quantities. During planting, it is necessary to ensure that the 2 lower buds are in the soil, and two more are above it. Then you need to moisten and a little tamp the mixture in the bottle and put the planted cuttings on the windowsill, located on the sunny side.
Water the plants should be settled with water once every three days. After watering, the soil must be loosened. After a month, the kidneys swell, leaves appear. Soon the time will come for their landing in the open ground.
Landing time
Many inexperienced gardeners are interested in when to plant grapes with cuttings? The best time for landing is considered to be early spring. Moreover, the event should be carried out until the process of movement of juices in the plant has begun.
Bulk beds or trenches?
The way the grapes are planted with cuttings is of great importance and directly affects the crop yield. If you give priority to reliable protection of this heat-loving plant from winter frosts, you should prefer trenches or boxes. The pit method has undeniable advantages:
- the roots of the plant are deep, and therefore in winter they will not freeze;
- in trenches it is much more convenient to cover the vines;
- watering grapes in the summer is more economical and more convenient;
- in spring, the plant is not afraid of return frosts.
When grapes receive insufficient heat in the summer, it is worth choosing bulk ridges:
- in the spring, the roots begin to warm up earlier and receive the amount of heat they need throughout the season;
- bushes are strongly protected from flooding;
- weed control is so much easier;
- grapes are provided with an excellent air regime.
How to plant grapes with cuttings in the spring in areas where groundwater is deep enough, or in regions that are characterized by snowless winters? In this case, it is worth giving preference to landing in a trench. In areas with insufficiently warm summers, stable snow cover, as well as with close-lying groundwater, the best yield can be obtained by growing grapes on ridges.
Landing in the pits
Before planting grapes with cuttings (in spring), it is necessary to start preparing trenches in advance, in the fall. It is recommended to place the ditches in the direction from north to south, in this case the sun throughout the day will illuminate the plant quite well from all sides. The width and depth of the ditches should average half a meter.
To fill the pits, it is necessary to prepare the soil mixture. To do this, mix in equal amounts of humus, the top layer of garden soil, gravel and
coarse sand. Also, mineral fertilizers with potassium sulfate and superphosphate must be added to the mixture, with most of the fertilizing to be located in the lower part of the pit, which ensures the best nutrition of the roots.
When filling the trench, it is necessary to ram it lightly with your feet, and at the end of the process pour water with a solution of potassium permanganate. Grapes will be sweeter and more fragrant if the bottom of the trench is lined with a layer of small stones or coarse sand, which provides better aeration of the soil.
When installing cuttings in the landing pits, it is recommended to use pegs, thanks to which the plant will grow more evenly and it will be easier to tie it up. On sandy soils, the root system of grapes should be deepened by half a meter, while on clay soils - by 20 cm.
Proper planting of grapes involves sprinkling the roots of the plant with a soil mixture, the layer of which should be 10 cm. From above, grapes should be covered with mulch, and then covered with a trench film. Such conditions contribute to faster heating of the soil, as a result of which shoots will develop well. You need to shoot the film with the onset of warm days, sprinkling the bushes with soil mixture.
Landing in the ridges
When grapes are planted in bulk beds, the roots of the plant gradually grow inland and in breadth, staying in favorable water, air and temperature conditions. The loose soil provides the best aeration of the roots, in which oxygen is accessed regardless of environmental factors. And on rainy days, the root system is well protected from waterlogging. As with the creation of the trench, soil is required for the ridges. For this purpose, it is necessary to mix gravel and sand mass, humus and loam in equal proportions, add superphosphate, as well as potassium sulfate.
The most optimal width of the ridges is 1 meter, and a height of 0.3 m. In order to provide the roots with good protection against frost, the slopes are recommended to be gentle. At the same time, if the winter is not snowy and is accompanied by severe frosts, then it is likely that the earth will freeze. In order to keep the plant roots from freezing, it is advisable to cover the slopes with corrugated cardboard.
Pieces of pipe should be installed in the hills of the earth, the diameter of which should be about 30 cm, this is necessary so that feeding the grapes and watering it will bring maximum benefit to the plant. In order to improve the air regime of the soil, it is useful to strengthen the slopes with empty bottles by sticking their necks into the soil.
Care for grapes in the spring after planting
Grapes are a capricious culture that requires special attention and care. To start looking after grapes should be immediately after planting. So, what should grape care be like in spring?
Since when planting bushes in the soil a sufficient amount of fertilizer was introduced, there is no need for additional fertilizing during this period. The main thing is to monitor the condition of the earth, to prevent its drying out, for which it is recommended to regularly water this berry crop. Caring for grapes in spring also involves loosening the soil and destroying the weed vegetation on it. Here, perhaps, is all that includes the concept of spring grape care in the first months of its life.
Prevention of plant pests, protection from diseases, pruning, shelter for the winter - this is only a small part of what a beginner gardener who has decided to grow grapes will have to face. However, all these activities are carried out in the following months of plant life.
If you clearly know how to plant grapes with cuttings in the spring, and even provide the plant with the required care, then you can safely count on the fact that in the near future you will certainly enjoy the delicious and healthy fruits of this culture.