When a young bush of grapes is planted in the soil, it usually receives a sufficient amount of mineral and organic fertilizers. Fertilizers are applied to the bottom of the landing trench. Sometimes when planting, a small amount of wood ash is added. Such top dressing is often enough to adapt a young bush, and it does not need additional fertilizer application at the first stage of development.
However, if the plant does not develop actively enough, it should be fed. This is usually done using ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate. Such fertilizers are applied in the form of a solution (45-50 grams of fertilizer per bucket of water).
Topping grapes in spring is usually done in portions. It is produced for the first time in the second year of the life of a vine bush, when young shoots begin to grow actively. Spring dressing of grapes is traditionally carried out as follows: nutrients in the form of a solution are poured into a pipe, which is dug in advance at a depth of half a meter.
For every kilogram of crop, the soil spends about 35 g of potassium and nitrogen and 15 g of phosphorus. You must remember this and apply this amount of fertilizer after harvest, so that the soil can restore its nutritional properties.
In addition to the obligatory autumn top dressing, for the normal development of shoots and active growth, top dressing of grapes in spring is necessary. The plant is fed with solutions of urea and ammonium nitrate (5%), also introducing them into the soil using a special pipe. Foliar top dressing of grapes can also be made.
The essence of such foliar top dressing is that nutrients enter the plant not only through the root system, but also through the leaves. The advantage of this procedure is that during its implementation the assimilation of the necessary nutrients occurs quickly enough. With this method there is no risk of excessive concentration of fertilizers in the soil. At the same time, top dressing of grapes in spring by a non-root method is less laborious. Such top dressing is usually done a few days before the beginning of flowering and after the end of the flowering period, that is, it is important to have time to feed before the ripening of the crop. Top dressing of grapes in spring is usually done on a calm, cloudless day. A lack of magnesium can cause the accumulation of nitrates in grapes, as well as their atrophy (drying out). Therefore, at the beginning of ripening, it is important to produce foliar dressing using fertilizers such as kalimagnesia or magbor.
To provide the grape bush with high-quality nutrition for a long time, from any side of the plant, a trench is dug out in the ground, the width of which should be about 80 cm and a depth of about 50 cm. 3 buckets of humus are brought into the trench per bush. Humus is mixed with the earth to about half the depth of the trench. The mixture is carefully tamped and covered with remaining soil. This introduction of organic fertilizers guarantees the normal development of grapes in the next 3-4 years. Then the same procedure is carried out by digging a similar trench from the back. Such events effectively stimulate the growth and active development of the root system of grape bushes.