Grapes in our area - the plant is quite rare, but in recent years significant shifts began to appear in this matter. More and more gardeners are mastering viticulture, as it allows you to get a considerable amount of products of excellent quality. And who will refuse home wine?
Since we are talking about this, it is impossible not to note the main principles of agricultural technology, without which
grapes cannot be
grown in the suburbs. Preparing for winter is one of the most important aspects, non-compliance with the conditions of which leads to the impossibility of obtaining any significant crop.
How to protect grapes from the hardships of the Russian winter?
The easiest and cheapest way to arrange appropriate shelter. Immediately, we note that the best option is obtained only if the vine was planted in accordance with all the rules, and the width and depth of the planting hole were not less than 60x60 cm. In this case, between the top edge of the soil and the recess in the hole there is about 15 cm of space where grapes can be rolled up. In the suburbs, preparation for winter is in many ways quite simple.
The easiest way is when the vine is still young, it is simply laid in a hole (turned into a ring) and sprinkled with peat or sawdust of deciduous varieties of wood. It is important to do this only in dry weather, having previously treated the vine and the soil itself with a 1-2% solution of copper sulfate. Be sure to collect all the fallen grape leaves, as they are an excellent store for pathogens and pests.
Do not forget to cover the vine with something waterproof on top of the poured soil. The same roofing material is quite suitable. Dryness is important here, since wet grapes in the Moscow region (the preparation for the winter of which we are discussing) will simply sprinkle in the cold.
More complex options
There are other ways to organize shelters. They are more applicable just to adult bushes. In this case, the vine should be laid on clean, dry boards, gently pinned to them. If it is not possible to find boards, you can stack and pin them on dry ground.
Above this structure, support arcs must be installed. There is no need to refine oneself by making them from metal or plastic, since the option with arcs from branches is quite suitable. To shelter grapes in the suburbs turned out as reliable as possible, on top of this kind of "greenhouse" you need to lay spanbond in a couple of layers. This material “breathes” by letting out fumes and preventing condensation and melt water from getting on the vines.
It is important to provide reliable protection from the bright winter sun, which can provoke premature awakening of the kidneys. This can be achieved by laying fir spruce branches on your “greenhouse”. The same measure will protect the grapes from voracious rodents. It would be nice to put poisoned baits under the spruce branches.
However, if specifically in your area there is no severe cold, then you can try to cultivate non - covering grape varieties for the Moscow region. Saperavi North and Sucriba have proven themselves best. In their case, the simplest shelter from the spruce branches is sufficient, since it is still worth insuring against especially severe and frosty winters.
If you do everything right, then the grapes in the suburbs (preparation for the winter of which we agreed) will thank you for their excellent harvests and high taste qualities of berries.