Some gardeners are afraid to grow grapes due to lack of knowledge or experience. In fact, it is a very grateful culture. Fulfillment of agrotechnical requirements guarantees a quality harvest. One of the valuable varieties for beginner winegrowers is Athos grapes.
It was bred by Ukrainian breeders in the early 2000s, who crossed two varieties “Talisman” and “Kodryanka”. Gardeners love the variety for its excellent taste and super early harvest. So that the cultivation of Athos grapes does not cause problems, we turn to a detailed description of the variety, a photo of the plant, reviews and videos of growers about it.
Main characteristics
The most attractive characteristics of Athos grapes are called amazing unpretentiousness, disease resistance and super-early ripening. Those who do not like to wait can immediately choose a variety for planting. The berries ripen in 100 days, and at the end of July they are already ready for use. Variety “Athos” is very good fresh, for making juices and jams, used by winemakers to produce young red wine. Gives drinks a rich taste and color.
We will continue the description of the Athos grape variety with the external characteristics of the bush.
The plant is vigorous. This must be taken into account when choosing a landing site.
Clusters are dense cone-shaped, there is no pea berry. The weight of one can reach one and a half kilograms.
The berries are large, dark blue.
The shape is very beautiful – elongated with a pointed end. The mass of one grape reaches 12 g. The taste of Athos grapes is sweet with a slight sourness. The skin of the fruit is dense, but in the process of eating it is almost invisible. According to gardeners, ripe Athos grapes can be on the bushes for a month. During this time, they do not crack or crumble, increase their sugar content and become much tastier. At this time, you should not be afraid of wasps, they do not attack the variety, but the birds bring a lot of grief to gardeners. The sweet taste of the berries attracts birds, so measures must be taken to scare the birds away from the vineyard. Grapes have a good ability to “raisin”. If you leave the clusters on the bush, then by September the grapes turn into high-quality sultanas.
The flowers are bisexual, which eliminates the need to plant pollinating varieties.
The vines of Athos grapes are powerful, painted brown. Leaves with a slight pubescence of the lower plate, medium in size, dark green in color.
Variety “Atos” demonstrates good frost resistance. Up to -23°С grapes hibernate without shelter.
The description of the grape “Athos” indicates that the yield of the variety is average. The grape growers’ comments state that the harvest is 130 centners per hectare, subject to agrotechnical requirements.
It tolerates a slight delay in watering, and also has excellent transportability. In combination with an attractive form of berries, the grape hybrid has high commercial qualities.
Another important property of the Athos variety is disease resistance. It is almost not affected by oidium, powdery mildew and mildew. But the variety is not capable of resisting gray rot enough. Therefore, attention should be paid to the prevention of this disease.
An early harvest and undemanding to protective measures allowed the grapes to take a leading position in the line of popular varieties.
Gardeners willingly share their feedback and shoot a video about Athos grapes:
Despite the huge list of advantages, it must be remembered that the result depends on the first actions of the gardener.
Soil preparation and planting
The requirements of “Atos” for a seat do not differ from the preferences of other varieties. The hybrid loves sunny places without the proximity of groundwater. If the water is closer than two meters to the surface, then this will harm the root system of the grapes and the plant may die. In this case, a drainage system is organized, drain grooves are laid.
According to the description of the variety, Athos grapes are planted in autumn and spring using the same technology (see photo).
In the spring, you should wait until the ground warms up well, and in the fall you need to finish planting until mid-October. In both cases, pits 0,7 m in size are dug at a distance of 2 m from each other. For the vigorous Athos, it is better not to reduce these parameters.
A layer of crushed stone or gravel is laid at the bottom of the pit.
For spring planting, all work is carried out in the fall, so that the earth sags and the pit takes on real dimensions.
Nutrients are added to the prepared pit. Mix equal parts of black soil and manure, then fill the pit with the mixture, leave until spring.
For autumn planting, they start preparing holes for 1,5 months. It is important to consider here that only ready-made humus or compost needs to be applied.
Gardeners need to approach the choice of Athos seedlings very carefully. An initial visual inspection is required.
Seedlings choose:
- without mechanical damage;
- without spots and marks on the leaves or stem;
- with at least three roots;
- not less than 0,5 m high.
For beginners in viticulture, it is better to purchase ready-made seedlings, and experienced gardeners themselves cut the Athos variety. A purchased seedling should be placed in a separate pot.
Before planting, the roots must be cut if their length is more than 10 cm. Dead and dried parts are also removed, then the roots are soaked in warm water for 24 hours.
A grape seedling is placed in a hole, covered with soil, leaving 2 buds on the surface. At the same time, a tube is installed in the pit, which helps to make watering of high quality.
More about spring planting:
Bush care
If you look at the photo of adult Athos grape bushes, you can see what a vigorous variety it is.
Given the large mass, the feeding area of one plant should be 4-6 square meters. m. Growing varieties “Atos” does not cause gardeners much trouble.
Grapes need:
Sufficient watering. “Athos” maintains normal development even with small interruptions in water supply. This characteristic is very suitable for growers who have problems with the delivery of water. But you need to try to water the early ripe variety once a week.
Top dressing. The variety needs additional nutrition in standard doses and according to the classical scheme:
- Before bud break, a bucket of nutrient mixture is prepared for each bush and watered. 5 g of any potassium salt, 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of superphosphate are added to a bucket of water.
- Before flowering, top dressing is repeated in the same dose and with the same composition.
- In the phase of the beginning of fruit ripening, ammonium nitrate is excluded, the remaining components are left and the grapes are fed again.
- In autumn, the Athos variety needs potassium. A fertilizer containing at least 40% potassium is suitable.
- The variety responds well to fertilizing with organic matter. Manure is brought in once every three years with simultaneous digging of the soil of the vineyard.
Another important point in the care of the Athos variety is pruning. Vigorous grapes without pruning develop poorly and bear fruit.
When pruning, the load of the bush is normalized:
- eyes 30-35 pieces;
- shoots 20-24 pcs.
On fruiting shoots leave 6-8 eyes.
In the autumn of the first year after planting, the two strongest vines are cut into 2-3 buds.
In the second year, the inflorescences that appeared on the shoots from these buds are removed.
Pinch the tops of “Athos” at the end of August.
In the fall, fan pruning is done for the first time.
In the third year, the kidneys are removed in the spring, except for the top 3.
In autumn, a full pruning of the vine.
In the future, the formation of the variety is repeated.
For beginner growers, fan pruning:
Although the grape “Athos” refers to resistant varieties before diseases, but some troubles can occur during cultivation.
The variety is affected by gray rot. To prevent the development of the disease, preventive treatments are done. If the plant gets sick, then the berries will be impossible to store and transport. The danger is that the course of the disease lasts 2-3 years. Spraying with fungicides helps prevent this. Benleit, Penoknazol, Topsin work well for the Athos variety.
Handle with care so as not to burn the plants. Use a 1% solution in a volume of 3,5 liters per 1 sq. m area.
Of the pests, leafworms are dangerous for Athos. For the fight, insecticides are used – “Chlorophos”, “Karbofos”, “Gardona”.
The second enemy of the variety are birds. Gardeners fight with them with rigid nets that cover the vines.
Reviews
In addition to the description of the variety and the photo of the Athos grape, the reviews of experienced winegrowers are very useful for beginner gardeners.