Planting Grapes With Seedlings In The Fall: How To Plant Step By Step For Beginners In Siberia And Other Regions? Soil And Place

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 13:15

Many gardeners prefer the autumn planting of grape seedlings. The procedure, carried out at the end of the season, requires careful preparation of both the beds and the planting material.

Pros and cons

Planting grapes in autumn with seedlings has both advantages and disadvantages. So, it should be mentioned that by this time the bushes usually have a rather strong and well-developed root system. Getting on the open ground, the culture quickly adapts, and therefore copes with wintering without any problems even in the presence of low temperatures. The seedling planted in the fall will enter the spring period quite strong and healthy . This means that it will be able to resist the effects of fungi, viruses, insects and immediately begin to grow and get stronger.

Another advantage is that in autumn, due to precipitation, the soil is already well moistened, and therefore does not require additional irrigation . In the fall of the market for planting material, prices have decreased and the assortment has expanded - this will allow you to choose the most suitable option with the best characteristics. The main disadvantage of the autumn procedure is the possibility of losing a seedling during a cold snap.

In principle, the presence of a covering material, as well as consistent preparation for wintering, will prevent such a nuisance. In addition, compliance with all recommendations will allow you to get hardened specimens in the spring that will cope even with spring frosts.

Timing

It is customary to carry out autumn planting from the beginning of October until the soil begins to freeze. However, the main role in the choice of the date is undoubtedly played by the climatic features of the region . The time is calculated so that at least a month and a half is left before the arrival of the first frost, so that the seedling has time to adapt in a new place. Temperatures at this time should be kept within the range of +15 +16 during the day and +5 +6 at night.

Thus, in the south of Russia, planting is carried out from mid-October to early November. For the Moscow region and the regions of the middle zone, the first half of October will be more successful, and for the Leningrad region - the last days of August and the first of September. In the Volga region, Siberia and the Urals, it is better to plant seedlings in the first two September weeks.

Site selection and preparation

The place where the grape seedlings will be located must meet the requirements of the culture, that is, be well lit and protected from the cold wind . It is best to plan the beds on the south, west or southwest side of any buildings on the site. A house, garage, shed or closed veranda will be able to warm up from the sun during the day, and provide additional heating for planting at night. As a result, the ripening process of the fruits will significantly accelerate, and they themselves will reach the required level of sweetness. Whenever possible, the blank wall of a south-facing building is painted white for better light and thermal reflection. Culture seedlings are planted at a distance of 1-1.5 meters from it.

The vineyard will thrive on the slopes of the south, southwest, or west sides. On the contrary, the decision to plant the crop in the lowlands, where during cold snaps the minimum temperatures are observed, and there is also the likelihood of flooding, will be very bad. The culture does not like groundwater, which rises higher than 1.5 meters.

Another important rule is to arrange grape bushes, maintaining a distance of 3 to 6 meters to nearby large trees that have the ability to draw nutrients from the soil . Forming a full-fledged vineyard, it should be oriented from north to south. The dimensions of the row spacing in this case should be from 2, 5 to 3 meters, and the step between individual seedlings should be from 2 to 3 meters.

As for the soil, most of all the grapes love black earth, loam and light earth , and it reacts worst of all to salt marshes. Acidic soil is normalized by adding lime or dolomite flour, and peat soils are enriched with river sand in the amount of 2 buckets per square meter. A pit for grapes is dug in advance - in 2-4 weeks, so that the earth has time to settle, and the fertilizers applied are distributed over the soil and not further provoke a burn of the root shoots. The dimensions of the recess, on average, have a depth, width and length equal to 60-80 centimeters, although, of course, one should be guided by the size of the root system.

If there is a suspicion of a close occurrence of groundwater, the bottom of the hole must be formed with a drainage layer of gravel 5-7 centimeters thick. Next, it is best to form two layers of soil suitable for the culture.

The first is a mixture of a couple of buckets of humus or compost, 250 grams of superphosphate, the same amount of potassium sulfate, 3-4 buckets of fertile soil mixture and a kilogram of wood ash. Thoroughly mixed components fill the pit 20-25 centimeters. Next, a fertile layer 10 centimeters thick is formed in the hole, the main purpose of which will be to prevent the root system from burning with an abundance of fertilizers. After sealing the contents of the recess, it should be watered with a bucket of water. Another option for organizing a pit for grapes suggests starting with a layer of chernozem with a thickness of 10 to 15 centimeters. Next, a bucket of rotted manure follows into the hole, and then a layer of suitable fertilizer is formed. The latter can be 150-200 grams of a potassium preparation, 400 grams of ordinary superphosphate, or 200 grams of double superphosphate. Optionally, at this stage, a couple of cans of wood ash are involved. Completes the "composition" one more layer of chernozem.

The above scheme is suitable for planting grapes on clay soil or black soil . However, in the case of sandy soils, the situation is somewhat different. Initially, the hole is dug 10 centimeters deeper and wider. The bottom of the depression is formed by a clay “lock” 15 centimeters thick, as well as a fragment of roofing material. The next layer, as in the previous scheme, is obtained from nutrient soil and black soil.

The only exception is the mandatory use of potash fertilizers containing magnesium. The finished pit is irrigated abundantly using several buckets of liquid. This watering should be repeated three times with an interval equal to a week.

Preparation of planting material

The first stage in the preparation of planting material should be the correct choice of the seedling used . A healthy annual will have to be involved, which has at least three developed root processes, and the growth is from 15 centimeters. The thickness of the base of the specimen should start from 5 millimeters, and ripe buds should be present on the shoot. A seedling that is too short for an autumn planting is not suitable. The planting material should be free of any wounds, damage or incomprehensible spots. Before starting work, the seedling should be checked: for this, the top of one of the shoots is shortened by 1 centimeter - a bright green tint should be found on the cut.

A couple of days before the procedure, the roots of the seedling are soaked in water in order to be fully nourished. Growth stimulants are not particularly required for grapes, but a "talker" made of clay, mullein and water will be useful. In principle, it is not forbidden to additionally use a heteroauxin solution in which the seedling will have to stand. Sometimes a mixture of 1 tablespoon of honey and a liter of water is prepared as a stimulant for grapes. On the day of moving to open ground, the roots of the plant are pruned with pruning shears. For the most part, no more than 1-2 centimeters will have to be removed so as not to harm the root system, but the upper and lateral processes should be cut off completely. Also, the number of eyes of the seedling decreases to 1-2 pieces.

It should be clarified that seedlings for autumn planting can be purchased at the nursery, but they can be grown independently . In the second case, the preparation of planting material begins in the spring - it is then that the petioles are cut off, which subsequently must acquire roots. "Home" petioles are carefully removed from their containers so as not to damage the root system, after which they are soaked for 12-24 hours in water. Such a procedure will allow you to clean the root processes of excess soil to the maximum. Immediately before planting, sticking out in different directions and too long shoots of the root system are cut off, and the remaining ones are dipped in a mixture of mullein and liquid clay.

Landing technology

Novice gardeners should step by step follow the instructions for autumn planting in open ground - this is the only way to ensure that the culture can be preserved in winter, and next spring it will begin to actively develop . After the pit "sits down" and the air fills all available voids, you can start working. An annual seedling is neatly located in the hole, and its roots are straightened around the entire perimeter. It is better that the upper peephole of the plant goes into the soil by 10-15 centimeters. In principle, it would be nice to bend it in a north-south direction. The plant is covered with half-fed soil, which is then compacted and irrigated with a bucket of water. After absorbing moisture, the well is completely filled.

It is necessary to be able to plant grapes correctly in wells . Dug up with a drill or crowbar, they usually have a depth of 60 to 65 centimeters. In this case, the seedling is neatly placed on the bottom of the hole, and then lifted slightly, which allows the roots to straighten and take the required position. Ideally, the underground branches should be at a 45-degree angle to prevent them from bending upward. The well is backfilled and compacted, and a small mound is formed at the top.

To easily find grapes next spring, you should stick a peg next to it.

In the nursery, it is most often possible to acquire a one-year or even two-year vegetative seedling. The plant, when grown in a container or pot, has a closed root system, and therefore a limited root length. NS When moving it into the hole, you should proceed with caution, not allowing the earth to fall from the root system. It should be mentioned that a vegetative seedling requires a depth of 25 centimeters on black soil and 30 centimeters on sand. The pre-planting pit is compacted and watered 2-3 times, maintaining an interval of about a week. 7 days after the last watering, a recess under the container is dug right in it, equal to 55 centimeters on black soil and 65 centimeters on the sand.

The hardened seedling is carefully removed from the container along with a clod of earth and moved into the recess. The pit is immediately filled with nutrient mixture, compacted and irrigated. A peg is buried nearby, on which a vegetative sprout is subsequently fixed. If the grapes have not previously passed the acclimatization procedure, then in the first 7-10 days of planting, they will need to be protected with a screen made of plywood or branches installed on the south side.

Another method of planting grapes requires digging a square hole with sides of 80 centimeters. During its formation, two earthen piles are immediately prepared: the first from the upper third of the earth extracted from the hole, and the second from the rest of the soil. The first pile is mixed with humus, a kilogram of ash and 500 grams of potash-phosphorus fertilizers. It is laid back into the pit so that about 50 centimeters remain from the earth layer to the surface. The soil is watered abundantly and, if necessary, reported to the same level. In this form, the pit is left for a couple of weeks.

On the day of landing, a wooden peg is driven into the recess. The planted seedling is immediately tied to an auxiliary structure and the pit is filled with the remaining soil from the first pile. The content of the second pile is supplemented with coarse sand or fine gravel, after which it is also used to fill the depression. The seedling is covered with soil by 30 centimeters, covered with polyethylene and irrigated with 3 buckets of water.

It should be mentioned that in all cases it is important to maintain the required distance between individual seedlings .… In principle, for those varieties that grow weakly, it will be sufficient to withstand 1, 3-1, 5 meters, and for the strong ones, 2 to 2.5 meters of free space will be required. A seedling planted in the fall is extremely important to properly store in winter. A young plant, within a few weeks after planting, will need to be protected with agrofibre, straw, fallen leaves or such improvised materials as tarps or plastic bottles. The easiest way is to take a soda bottle with the neck cut off and cover the seedling with it.

If the beds are covered with tarpaulins or leaves, an earthen layer can also be formed on top. However, the most effective is a combination of several methods: straw mulch up to 5 centimeters thick, covered with polyethylene and dry peat, forming a layer of 15 centimeters.