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There are several ways to propagate grapes. For example, seeds are a very rare way to grow at home. By rooting the layers available on the bush site – a method not suitable for every variety and summer cottage. And the most common way is to grow grapes from cuttings. Many gardeners do not know how to grow grapes from cuttings correctly, so they prefer to propagate the required variety by planting expensive seedlings. However, at home, you can successfully grow grapes from cuttings.
How to prepare cuttings
Harvest cuttings or chibouks in the fall, from well-ripened, grown over the summer, healthy shoots that crackle when bent and have a uniform color. If the cuttings are not developed, poorly ripened, very thin, have any damage by pests or diseases, cut from barren bushes, or, conversely, very thick, fattening, then they are not suitable for rooting and planting. At the end of October, when the foliage completely crumbles from the vine, before the onset of the first frost, cuttings are cut for cultivation. Cuttings harvested before the start of sap flow in early spring are considered the best for rooting, they retain viability and freshness well.
The cut vine is cleaned of tendrils, stepchildren and cut into cuttings 45-75 cm long. However, the vine 110-135 cm long is better preserved in winter, and in spring when cutting chibouks it gives less waste. After that, the chibouks are collected in bunches, according to the variety, marked with a label, wrapped in a tight bag and placed in a dark, cool place for winter storage. They store cuttings in basements, cellars or pits, which are prepared right on the site. They are laid vertically or horizontally, densely sprinkled with wet sand, roasted sawdust or structural soil. Before laying, to protect the cuttings from mold, they are treated with a solution of 5% iron sulfate.
If, after pruning, the cuttings were in the yard for a long time, they must be placed in warm water for 1,5-2 days before being stored. Before planting the shank, you should check them by carefully removing a little bark from the edge with a sharp knife. The wood should be bright green in color, and when cross-sectioned, the bud inside should be dense and green. If the eyes are dark brown inside, then the buds have died and the chiboks are not suitable for germination.
Preparing for rooting
Before planting grapes with cuttings, you must first prepare the containers for planting and the substrate, which is prepared from earth, sand, humus and sawdust, mixing everything in equal proportions. So that the substrate is always loose and does not compact, it should be moistened periodically. To drain excess moisture, drainage is laid and several holes are made at the bottom. As a container for rooting cuttings, cardboard juice or milk bags, plastic bottles with a cut top, and cake boxes are also suitable.
Secateurs make cuts at the cuttings, the lower one is right under the kidney, the upper one is 2,5-3,5 cm above the kidney. After that, furrows are made on the bark, that is, scratches are applied from the middle to the bottom, using a sharp nail or a thick needle. Then the cuttings are placed completely in water for 1,5-2,5 days, depending on the degree of their drying. After that, the cuttings are placed for several hours in a bowl with a rooting stimulator according to the instructions. And they are placed in jars with clean water in a sunny place, according to the varieties. After 12-16 days, the upper bud should swell and the growth of a young shoot should begin. Water is kept at a level of 3,5-5 cm, adding as it evaporates.
After 22-28 days, the first roots will appear. The appearance of the first roots is the main condition for planting cuttings in a pre-prepared substrate.
A drainage layer of 2-4 cm is placed in the container, 5,5-7,5 cm of the earth mixture is poured on top, the cutting is set vertically and filled up to the top, leaving a green young shoot above the substrate. Moderately water the freshly planted chubuk and put it on the windowsill, on the sunny side. After a few days, you can feed with a small amount of potassium or wood ash. Nitrogenous fertilizers are not recommended, as this can cause active premature growth of the young shoot. The stalk is regularly watered with a small amount of water. With strong growth, pinch it. When the air temperature is 2-5C, rooted cuttings are planted in open ground, carefully pulling them out of the container so as not to damage the roots. Until the grape stalk is fully established, it should be darkened from direct sunlight.
Kilchevany
You can kilchevat cuttings not only in hot and cold greenhouses, but also in boxes with sawdust or old buckets that are dug into the ground. There is also kilchevanie in room conditions, using a special device with electrical heating. In practice, this procedure is performed, as a rule, according to the following scheme.
A hole is dug in the vineyard, the depth corresponding to the length of the chubuk. They are installed vertically and ends down and covered with earth by ¾. Then, they cover the soil around with thick cardboard and add loosened soil to the soil level. Around the pit, a bulk small border 9-14 cm thick is made from a mixture of humus, straw, manure, to protect the soil from excessive heating by the sun’s rays in the daytime.
After 23-26 days, the condition of the cuttings is checked. Why carefully rake the ground and inspect their sections. If tubercles of future roots or brownish-white influxes of callus have formed on the calcaneal node, the kilching is stopped. You should not allow the formation of excessively long roots, because when planted in a shkolka, they will certainly be damaged or broken off.
Boarding at school
The area where grapes are grown from cuttings is called shkolka. It should be in a well lit and ventilated area. One of the main conditions for better rooting and development of seedlings is light loose soil and a sufficient amount of fertilizer.
In the spring, in mid-April, they prepare the soil for planting cuttings. They dig the site to a depth of 35-40 cm and add 1,5-2,5 buckets of sand, 80-120 g of nitroammophoska, 0,5-1,5 buckets of humus per 1 sq. M. Then they dig the site again, mixing the soil. Then small mounds are made from north to south, into which the chibouks will be inserted. Before planting, the cuttings are soaked for 15-20 hours, cut with a sharp secateurs into 3 eyelets, so that the lower cut is 0,4-0,7 cm below the lower eye, and the upper one is 0,7-1,4 cm above the upper . The upper cut is covered with paraffin with 2,5-4% bitumen to slow down the evaporation of moisture in it and prevent it from drying out.
Ready cuttings are planted in the ground and watered abundantly. The ground near the heel is covered with mulching material – a black film, a piece of roofing material or dense cellophane. You should regularly check the ground under the covering material, moistening it if necessary and not letting it dry out completely. With proper care, by the fall you can get healthy seedlings with a developed root system.
Care and landing in the ground
In the last weeks of May, when the air temperature rises to 10-15 C and the risk of spring frosts passes, grape seedlings are planted in open ground. Seedlings are planted at a distance of 2,3-2,7 m from each other and 1,8-2 m between rows.
A denser planting pattern requires the formation of vertically growing bushes for the next season. Although with this method of cultivation high fruiting, however, additional care and special efforts are required when sheltering the bush in winter.
In order to form the required number of branches faster, it is better to plant 2-3 seedlings of the same variety in the planting pit. To stimulate the development of the root system and improve survival, it is necessary to cut the roots of the seedling before planting by 0,5-0,7 cm. At the bottom of the planting pit, a mound is poured in the center, a cutting is placed on it, spreading the roots in different directions, and covered with soil . The soil is compacted, watered and the seedling is covered with a cardboard cap so that it does not suffer from direct sunlight.
Video “Preparation of cuttings and their rooting”
How to prepare grape cuttings, the better to process them, where to store, what conditions are necessary for successful rooting, this video clearly shows.