How to plant grape cuttings in autumn

Growing vines is not easy. Especially when it comes to reproduction. You can get new bushes in different ways: planting seedlings, cuttings and grafting. Today we will talk about how to get a vine in one of the vegetative ways – cuttings.

Gardeners consider autumn propagation of grapes the most successful, and especially the cutting method of planting in the ground. After all, young plants with the advent of spring receive an impulse to develop, and the first bunches are removed from them already in the second year. How to plant grapes in autumn with cuttings or chibouks, what points you should pay attention to – this is the topic of the article.

Important nuances

If you want to get cuttings yourself, you should take care of healthy planting material long before planting. Chubuks are cut from mother bushes that have shown themselves excellently during the fruiting period, without the slightest sign of disease.

It is impossible to use for propagation cuttings with mechanical damage, elongated internodes. Thinned and twisted planting material is also discarded.

Mother bushes are chosen in advance, you can even make marks on them so that in the fall you do not confuse the branches due to the rapid growth of the vine. They begin to prepare the cuttings when the foliage flies around the grape bushes. Cuttings or chibouks are prepared from fruited grapes.

How to determine that the vine is ripe:

• branches turn light brown;
• a green shoot, if taken in hand, will be much colder than a vine ready for cutting;
• matured cuttings placed in a 2% iodine solution will change its color: the solution will turn blue. Fatty shoots are not suitable for cutting cuttings, since they lack the ability to give a root system.
• cuttings must be at least 10 cm in diameter, with 3 or 4 live buds;
• the length of the chubuk is about half a meter.

Preparation of cuttings

It depends on how the grafting of the vine is carried out and the preparation of planting material whether the planted grapes take root. Therefore, this work must be taken seriously.

In other cases, the cutting material is wrapped in a wet napkin and placed in a plastic bag.

1. To cut the cuttings, you need to use a sharp knife or secateurs. The main thing is that when cutting, there are no creases and flattening of the bark. Pay attention to the cut: in a mature cutting, it will be white. The eyes on the vine should sit firmly and not crumble when lightly pressed.

   

2. During grafting, the cut is made obliquely, and the lower part of the incision is made next to the eye, and the upper part is 2 or 3 cm higher than the buds left. The cuttings are placed in water for 48 hours, then the cut is treated with melted paraffin and again in water for a day, but already with a growth stimulator of the root system.
3. The cuttings are placed in sawdust or soil, to which a root growth stimulator is added. In the future, the seedlings are watered, preventing the top clod of earth from drying out.

If in the fall, for some reason, it is not possible to plant the cuttings in a permanent place, they can be kept tied in bunches in the basement until spring or dug on the street in trenches and covered for the winter.

We offer you to watch a video on how grape cuttings are prepared:

Soil for grapes

Planting grapes with cuttings in autumn can be carried out in any soil, since grapes are an unpretentious plant in this regard. Although some nuances still exist. Table and dessert grape varieties love different soils and are planted differently.

If you decide to propagate table grapes with chibouks, it is best to plant them in humus-rich soil on hillsides. Moreover, groundwater in this place should be at a depth of three meters.

Vineyards feel great on rocky and dark soil. It warms up better because it attracts the sun’s rays more strongly.

Types of soil that grapes love:

• clayey;
• slightly carbonate or carbonate;
• light-colored sandstone;
• chernozem;
• red soil;
• sandy soil;
• serozems;
• light and dark chestnut soils.

In a word, the soil should be light, breathable and fertile. During the growing season, after you plant a grape cutting, the soil must be constantly loosened.

Planting pits or trenches are prepared in advance, fertilizer is applied to them. Before planting the cuttings, the soil should settle well.

Choice of landing site

If we are talking about planting grapes with chibouks in the fall in the ground, you need to choose the right place:

1. You can’t plant a vine there, the old plantation has just been uprooted. Spores of fungal and viral diseases, as well as insects, may remain in the soil. Planting can be started only after 2-3 years.
2. Ventilation is important for the vine, so you should not plant cuttings between trees and in the shade.
3. Seedlings obtained from cuttings are planted in the direction from south to north. In this case, the vineyard will be illuminated from morning to evening, the entire plantation will receive enough heat and light.

Planting pit preparation

The planting of chibouks of grapes is carried out in pits or trenches. When digging, the soil is discarded on two sides. On one side is the upper one, with fertile soil from a depth of no more than 30 cm. The rest of the earth is laid on the other parapet. She is then generally removed from the site. The width of the trench should be at least 80-90 centimeters.

If grapes are planted with cuttings in autumn in pits, then they should be 80×80 cm. The depth of the trench and pit is also at least 80 cm. The planting site for cuttings should be spacious, since growing grapes have a powerful root system, it should not feel cramped.

The bottom is covered with drainage (fine gravel can be used), at least two buckets of humus and mineral fertilizers must be laid on top.

Humus and fertilizers are mixed, a layer of fertile soil, previously taken out of the pit, is poured on top. The fact is that it is impossible to plant chibouks directly on humus. They will get burned, the development of the root system will not occur.

Planting cuttings

Planting vines is not such an easy job, it requires attention and patience. The harvest depends on how correctly the future grapes are planted.

It would be nice to watch a detailed video before starting work, because each gardener acts in his own way:

And now about how to properly plant cuttings:

1. Planting cuttings begin in the fall in October. Work can be carried out until the first freezing of the soil.
2. There should be at least 2,5 meters between planted plants.
3. Between the grape rows make an indent of 3 meters.
4. The stalk is buried in the soil and dug in with earth and trampled down the earth around it. When planting grapes, you need to ensure that at least two buds remain on the surface.

   

5. After that, a plastic bottle is put on each cutting and the earth is spilled.

When the water is absorbed, the soil needs to be loosened in order to resume the access of oxygen to the depth. Since the planting of grapes in autumn is carried out at a temperature close to zero, the cuttings must be immediately covered with needles. You can also use sawdust or peat. The height of the mound that can protect grape plantings from frost must be at least 30 cm.

Already in the fall, an excellent root system is formed on the chibouks, so the rapid vegetative development of a young seedling begins in the spring.

Instead of a conclusion – advice

Everyone knows that grapes are a heat-loving plant. The root system does not withstand temperatures below -5 degrees. Therefore, after planting the cuttings, it is mulched, and the seedlings are covered for the winter.

When planting cuttings, point your eyes to the south or in the direction of the trellis. Then it will be easier to work with grapes.

When the first snow falls, even a small amount, it is advisable to pour it into a mound on young plantings.