The end of August and the beginning of September always delight us with delicious gifts. What could be better than a large, heavy bunch of grapes that one wants to pick from a vine? Each berry is filled with sunlight and seems to burn from the inside. And it seems that just about sweet juice will burst out and flow on the palms. Monarch grapes can be safely called one of the most delicious varieties.
Grade description
This complex form of a table hybrid was developed by Pavlovsky, a breeder, by crossing Talisman and Cardinal varieties with pollen added. Monarch grape variety is distinguished by especially large clusters of presentation, the weight of which can range from 500 to 1500 grams.
Flowering occurs at the very beginning of June. The flowers have a bisexual base. Berries ripen for 130 days, harvested after August 20. The bunch has, as a rule, a conical shape, less often - oval. After ripening, the brushes retain their taste and presentation for a long time, they hang on the bushes for a long time. Monarch grapes are distinguished by strong growth power of shoots (up to 2.5 m). Cuttings root without any problems, the ripening of the vine is normal.
The variety is able to tolerate frosts up to -23 degrees Celsius. Resistant to anthracnosis. It is also possible by grafting to protect this variety from phylloxera, although it grows much better on its own roots.
Monarch grapes: description of berries
Grains store sugar well. The berries themselves are yellowish in color, with pink or reddish blotches that appear due to "tanning" in the sun. The fruits are oval in shape and reach a size of 36x26 mm with an average weight of 15-25 g. With a long stay of the bunch on the bush, the berries begin to bloom, but the taste of the grapes only improves.
Monarch grapes, the photo of which are presented in the review, have grains with medium-density peels, but you can’t feel it at all during meals, and you can eat grapes with pleasure. The taste of berries is simple and pleasant, with a slight taste of nutmeg. There is also the possibility of collecting a second crop from provoked buds, while the taste of the berries does not change at all, but their size will be slightly smaller.
Shedding of the ovary during the pollination period
Monarch grape variety is prone to shedding ovary during pollination. Many gardeners face this problem. At the same time, climatic conditions do not particularly affect the loss of flowers. It is interesting that even on almost empty clusters this grape still sets a couple dozen berries, giving a crop weighing 500 g.
Inflorescence shedding is unsystematic and occurs on strong thickened shoots. But weaker shoots have a good pollination phase.
The solution to the problem of shedding
As it turned out, Monarch grapes dump inflorescences with strong fatliquoring of shoots. To avoid this, you should adhere to some recommendations:
1. Young hybrid forms of bushes : in the autumn, the entire vine that has matured is left, but nothing is cut, including the need to leave “doubles” and “tees”. The whole vine that emerged from the bush should be left until the pea phase, after which the bush can be normalized.
2. Old powerful bush: at least 60 buds should be planned for fruiting. Fruit shoots must be thin, then the inflorescences will not crumble.
How to choose a place to land
Since Monarch grapes love light, the place must be sunny and protected from the wind. An excellent solution would be a plot near the southern wall of the house, shed or fence. In this case, the soil should be well drained. Grapes are best planted on a gentle southwestern or southern slope, while placing a row in the direction of "south-north." What to do if the site is completely flat and the south wall of the house is already occupied? In this case, you need to create a place where the vine will be comfortable.
To do this, you need to build a fence up to two meters high anywhere in the house area, orienting it along the east-west line. Also for this purpose, you can use a dense hedge, you can still make a solid screen of vines or reeds.
Landing on ridges
There are several ways to plant grapes, focusing on the type of soil. For example, on sandy soils it is recommended to use the trench method of planting.
No need to rush with the planting of young plants in the ground, especially if you have not previously been engaged in the cultivation of these varieties. Let them stay in school until the first signal brushes (and it will be much easier to cover them). In the northern regions, it is better not to plant young grapes in the ground at all in the first year. It is best to keep them in buckets or barrels half buried in the ground. Such shoots will begin to bear fruit earlier.
A clear planning of the vineyard is necessary. It is not recommended to plant vines spontaneously. Varieties are best grouped according to their purpose, since the planting interval can be different. The distance between the grape rows should be at least two meters, and between the individual bushes 0.8 m (for juice-wine varieties) or 1.5 m (for table hybrids). To facilitate further care of plants will help their preliminary grouping by the timing of ripening berries, the degree of frost resistance and other general characteristic qualities.