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In autumn, gardeners literally work to form the next summer’s crop. What you need to know about the features of caring for grapes in the fall? Before wintering, it is necessary to carry out agrotechnical measures related to watering, pruning, feeding and sheltering grape bushes for the winter.
As you can see, caring for grapes in the fall is not much different from the usual work on the plantation. Early and medium ripening varieties are prepared for winter in August, and late-ripening grapes a little later. All activities for the care of grapes begin after harvest. The task of caring for a plantation in autumn is to speed up the maturation of the vine. Grapes must accumulate enough carbohydrates to overwinter without damaging the eyes and wood.
Autumn events at the plantation
How to care for grapes in the fall, what work needs to be done on the plantation, and in what sequence. That’s what we’ll talk about.
Even a novice gardener understands that the maturation of the crop requires a high nutrient return from the plant. It spends all its strength on pouring grapes. Therefore, care must be taken that the vine is not overloaded. Otherwise, the plant will go into the winter weakened, which will lead to its freezing.
This is especially true for grape varieties with late ripening. After all, they have little time to prepare for winter. Part of the clusters will simply have to be cut if, according to weather forecasts, a sudden cold snap is foreseen.
Features of watering
Grapes need abundant watering when the clusters ripen. But excessive zeal is inappropriate, as cracking of the berries may begin. And this, in turn, negatively affects the taste and commercial properties of grapes.
Providing proper care for the vineyard in the fall, watering is not recommended to be ignored, especially if there is no precipitation. The soil under the vine should be sufficiently moist, to the depth of the root system. In this case, the plant is better prepared for winter.
Of course, the choice of irrigation dates and the amount of moisture during autumn work on a vineyard will depend not only on precipitation. Here, the composition of the soil, the direction and strength of the wind, the air temperature in autumn, as well as the depth of groundwater are of great importance.
Plants should go into the winter well soaked in water. In the fall, many gardeners encircle the vines with grooves, then the water will go to its destination – into the root system.
Each watering in the vineyard (in autumn too) should be accompanied by loosening the soil. This will provide oxygen to the roots and allow moisture to stay in the soil longer. For the same purpose, mulching of the near-stem circle is carried out in preparation for the winter of a vineyard.
How to feed in autumn
It’s no secret that grapes are grown in one place for no more than 6 years. But even during this time, if top dressing is not carried out, the soil is greatly depleted, the plants weaken, and cease to produce crops. Even in one season, the vine draws a large amount of trace elements from the soil.
What needs to be done during autumn care to restore fertility when preparing grapes for wintering and to form a future crop:
- Firstly, autumn feeding of grapes is carried out to saturate plants with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. For this, appropriate fertilizers are used.
- Secondly, since autumn, grapes must also be fed with calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, boron, copper and other trace elements.
The autumn diet of minerals can be replenished in two ways:
- apply fertilizer under the root;
- carry out foliar feeding, that is, spray the plants.
Both activities related to plant nutrition are mandatory when preparing a vineyard for winter. After all, at this time the harvest of the next season is laid. The better you feed the grapes before sheltering for the winter, the higher the yield of the crop will be, and the fruits themselves will be tastier and more aromatic.
They take care of the vine, carry out top dressing not only in the fall. They are performed periodically during the entire vegetative period. When carrying out foliar top dressing, they simultaneously take care of the fight against pests and diseases. Feed the plants in the evening when the air temperature drops. At this time, the stomata on the leaves are open, and the grapes absorb nutrients better. In addition, the absence of the sun protects the plants when feeding on the leaves from possible burns.
The last foliar feeding of grapes is carried out in the fall after harvesting and pruning, so that the plants feel protected in winter. Nutrients accumulated in the root system of the vine contribute to the formation of buds, the rapid maturation of shoots.
Autumn pruning
First, let’s figure out why grapes are cut in the fall:
- Firstly, the bush is rejuvenated, therefore, the yield of the crop will be higher.
- Secondly, juice circulates better on young shoots.
- Thirdly, plants are perfectly prepared for winter.
- Fourthly, a thinned vineyard is easier to care for, they have fewer diseases and pests.
Novice gardeners who are interested in the features of care are concerned about the time frame for pruning the vine in autumn. We note right away that the care procedure must be performed when there are no leaves left on the grapes, that is, the rest time comes. This means that sap flow stops, just like photosynthesis.
Not a single experienced gardener will be able to name the exact timing of the grape operation. Everything will depend on the region, climatic conditions and the time of the onset of winter. The main thing is to have time to carry out the autumn pruning of grapes before the first frost and night temperatures drop to 0 degrees. Otherwise, during operation, the vine will break due to fragility.
How to cut
- first you need to clean the bark;
- remove shoots with the slightest damage, especially diseased ones and those that have not had time to ripen;
- they remove mustaches, hemp, old shoots (four- and six-year-old) on the sleeves, leaving young shoots and replacement horns;
- at least 16 eyes should remain on each arrow, and 4-7 pieces below.
You need to work with a sharp secateurs so that splits and snacks of the bark do not form. After pruning, all sections must be treated with garden pitch to avoid infection of the grapes.
Protection against diseases
Grape care in the fall should be comprehensive. In addition to pruning, watering and top dressing, plants need to be disinfected, spores of fungal diseases and pests must be destroyed. Otherwise, after winter dormancy on the grapes, there may be an outbreak of diseases and an invasion of harmful insects that have wintered under cover.
It is not worth neglecting chemicals when caring for grapes in the fall, since only biological treatment will not give the desired result.
Preparations for the rehabilitation of the vine during autumn care:
- Bordeaux mixture for cleaning fungal diseases;
- Bordeaux liquid for tillage and sleeves;
- Dimethoate – the destruction of pests when washing grape bushes;
- Fitosporin, Trichodermin, Gamair, Gliocladin;
- for processing plantings of grapes, in the form of mixtures that work at the biological level in the autumn;
- Oksikhom, Aktellik from ticks and itching.
Shelter of grapes
When the leaves have flown from the plants and all the necessary measures have been taken to care for the vineyards in the autumn, care must be taken to shelter the plants for the winter. Usually these works take place at the end of September and beginning of October, depending on climatic conditions and the degree of cooling. The design of the shelter should protect the grapes from precipitation.
Hurry “tightly” to cover the landing should not be. Otherwise, the root system will pop out. Be sure to leave vents for air circulation. At first, the shelter works to maintain more or less stable temperatures around the root system. The fact is that warming often returns in this autumn period. Therefore, a light shelter is first established over the grapes in the fall. But the design must be mobile in order to reliably insulate the landings in the event of a sharp cold snap.
How to deal with seedlings and first-year plants
Young grapes especially need shelter for the winter: those planted in autumn and annual plants. How to protect them from freezing, we will try to briefly tell. Here is the easiest way:
- a ditch is dug around the young grapes to a depth of about 30 cm. The connected shoots are laid in it.
- dig a ditch 30 cm deep across the entire width of the grapes;
- earth, humus and earth again are poured on top: the height of each layer is at least 10 cm.
For recommendations from experienced gardeners on autumn work in the vineyard, see the video:
Conclusion
It is impossible to say that autumn work in the vineyard causes many difficulties. After all, before engaging in some kind of culture, people study the features of caring for them. This also applies to grapes.
Of course, at first, some mistakes, when caring for grapes in the fall, cannot be avoided. Even experienced gardeners fail. If you seriously decide to start growing grapes, you will have to study special materials. We hope that our article will be useful.