Contents
Grapes are a rather capricious and demanding culture in terms of agricultural technology. An important component of caring for him is fertilization: without this, annual and plentiful harvests can not be expected. Feeding grapes with urea is a simple and affordable way to provide it with nitrogen. But so that the substance does not do more harm than good to the vines, it is necessary to know at what stage of the growing season to use urea, how to prepare a working solution and apply fertilizer.
Is it possible to feed grapes with urea
Urea (aka carbamide or diaethylamide of carbonic acid) is a universal mineral fertilizer used to feed any fruit and ornamental horticultural crops by root and foliar methods. It works for grapes too.
Urea is considered a “mono fertilizer”, containing about 46% nitrogen in the amide form. Such top dressing is successfully “assimilated” by grapes. Once in the soil, the substance is first converted to ammonium, then to nitrate, in the process slightly reducing the concentration of the main ingredient. Accordingly, subject to the dosage, there is no risk of “burning” the roots.
You can make the procedure even more effective by adding urea-compatible magnesium sulfate. Also, the fertilizer does not “conflict” with the vast majority of insecticides and fungicides, pesticides. On the contrary, their addition to the mixture increases the effectiveness of other chemicals, since carbamide provides greater “permeability” of tissues and better hydration of the roots.
Urea is a substance in the form of medium-sized round white granules, non-toxic, odorless, easily soluble in water.
Why treat grapes with urea
Top dressing of grapes with urea in the spring is necessary in order to quickly “bring” the vines out of the winter “hibernation”, to activate the process of formation of “quality” green mass – strong shoots, large leaves. Weak plants are not able to provide the gardener with a good harvest. In autumn, excess nitrogen is harmful for vines, but a high concentration of urea solution is used as a foliar top dressing to protect grapes from pests and increase cold resistance of plants.
Pros and cons of using urea for grapes
Subject to the concentration of fertilizer in the solution and fertilizing the grapes at the right time, urea will only benefit. Advantages of carbamide:
- the presence of nitrogen vital for grapes in a high concentration and easily digestible form;
- the possibility of using urea as root and foliar top dressing;
- this is a “long-playing” fertilizer;
- quick effect;
- the suitability of urea for processing grapes in spring and autumn from diseases and pests;
- the ability to “work” in a weakly and medium acidic substrate;
- the possibility of mixing with preparations against pathogenic microflora and harmful insects.
In some cases, fertilizing grapes with carbamide will have to be abandoned. Accordingly, urea has not only pluses, but also minuses:
- with a deficiency in the soil of urease, feeding the grapes will not give the desired effect;
- fertilizer is highly hygroscopic;
- if the grapes are fed too often with urea or its concentration in the working solution is exceeded, the vines begin to “fatten”;
- urea cannot be used for fertilizer in highly acidic or alkaline soil;
- 5-7 days should elapse between the introduction of urea and other means.
Fertilizer gives the best effect when the working solution penetrates to a depth of about 50 cm.
When to Treat Grapes with Urea
Spring root dressing of grapes with urea is carried out annually or with an “interval” of one season, depending on the type and quality of the soil, variety, age of the vines, and other factors. At the end of the growing season, the procedure is repeated every autumn.
Autumn urea treatment of grapes
Spraying grapes with urea in autumn is carried out only after harvest, when the vine has already shed all or most of the leaves. Often, carbamide is used not in a “pure” form, but in a mixture with any fungicides in order to get rid of not only harmful insects, but also pathogenic microflora.
In autumn, feeding grapes with urea will not provoke the growth of new shoots.
Spring treatment of grapes with urea
The timing of fertilization in the spring depends on the climate in the region. It is necessary to wait until the night temperature is at least 5 ° C. In areas that differ in the most favorable growing conditions for the crop, this is approximately the second decade of March. It is undesirable to be late with the application of fertilizer – heavy spring rains soon begin, “washing out” nitrogen into the deeper layers of the soil, where it will be useless for the roots of the vines.
To treat the grapes with urea for the first time in the spring, the winter shelter is not removed from the vines. It is only slightly opened, then restored to its original form. The second time the same fertilizer is applied around the middle of May – it is at this time that shoots and leaves grow most actively in the vines.
The first top dressing of grapes with urea in the spring is root. During the second solution of carbamide, not only water the soil, but also spray the vine. This will help her to assimilate the maximum of nitrogen, get rid of pests and pathogens that begin to become more active. Although spraying grapes with urea in the spring against pests is rarely practiced, other drugs are used at this time – “highly specialized” insecticides and fungicides. In most cases, gardeners postpone urea treatment against pests until the fall.
In the absence of special pipes for watering grapes, the roots are “ringed” with a furrow with a diameter of about 50 cm and the nutrient solution is poured into it. Growers growing many vines can fertilize grapes with urea by digging a groove running parallel to their row on the trellis at a distance of 40-70 cm.
If it is planned to introduce humus into the trunk circle, this is done at least two weeks after feeding the grapes with urea
How to dilute urea
For root dressing of grapes, a 3-5% solution of urea is prepared (in exceptional cases, its concentration can reach up to 7%). For foliar – its content is reduced to 1%. The treatment of vines against diseases and pests is carried out with a 6-7% solution. Accordingly, for 10 liters of water you will need from 100 to 700 g of urea. It is convenient to measure the required amount with a tablespoon – it contains about 10 g of granules.
Preparing fertilizer is extremely simple. Urea dissolves easily, so the required volume of granules is simply added to a container with water and stirred intensively until they completely “disappear”.
To prepare a working solution of urea, only settled water at room temperature is used. In too cold, carbamide dissolves longer, hard contains compounds of calcium, fluorine, chlorine, which immediately react with it and reduce the effectiveness of the fertilizer.
Carbamide is completely safe for human health. Therefore, when working with it, you can do without personal respiratory and eye protection. The only exception when it is worth wearing goggles, gloves and a respirator is if the solution is being prepared for the first time. At the same time, it is advisable to conduct an “individual intolerance test” by dropping a little liquid on the inside of the wrist or elbow. If after 15-20 minutes there is no negative reaction, the product is completely safe for a person.
It is advisable to use the working solution for feeding grapes immediately
How to treat grapes with urea
In order for the fertilizer to benefit the vines, it is necessary not only to choose the right treatment time and prepare a solution of the required concentration, but also to avoid common mistakes. Often, novice gardeners apply fertilizer superficially, simply pouring the solution around the trunk circle.
Such top dressing with urea “inhibits” the ability of the vine to draw potassium and phosphorus from the soil, which are vital for grapes to ripen the crop. Also, watering provokes the “desire” of the roots of the vines, which usually go deep into the substrate, to be closer to the surface. After improper feeding with urea, grapes become more susceptible to drought and cold.
Watering
It is impossible to specify the rate of the solution specifically. It is determined, taking into account the age and dimensions of the vine. No less important is its development last season. As a rule, the norm varies between 10-25 liters per bush.
If the growth rate of the vine was clearly slower than typical for the variety, the leaves turned yellow too early in autumn, the concentration of urea in the dressing solution increases to 6-7%. When, on the contrary, leaf blades retained a green tint until late autumn and “held” on the vine, the urea content is reduced to 3-4%.
The solution is “introduced” into irrigation pipes or pre-prepared grooves. 10-15 minutes before this, a bucket of clean water is poured there. As soon as the solution “leaves” completely into the pipe, the same amount is poured from above.
If grooves are used to fertilize grapes with urea, the soil is also moistened before and after fertilization. A day later, when the top layer of soil dries out, it is loosened to a depth of 8-10 cm.
For watering before and after feeding the grapes with a solution of urea, it is advisable to use water heated to 28-30 ° C
Spraying
Spraying is a less effective top dressing than watering grapes with urea. Therefore, in the spring, when the goal is to provide the vines with nitrogen, they are held together. The introduction of fertilizer into the near-stem circle mainly affects the green mass of the plant, spraying – on its generative function.
If you regularly carry out foliar feeding of grapes with urea in the fall, the total volume of the crop, the size and sugar content of the berries increase. Carbamide also has a positive effect on the “eyes”, increasing their frost resistance.
For pests, urea is a poison that “burns” their surface protective shells. Insects deprived of them die from frost in winter. Especially effective is the treatment of vines against aphids, flower beetles, weevils, suckers.
Conclusion
Top dressing of grapes with urea is carried out mainly in order to stimulate the process of increasing green mass. With a nitrogen deficiency, the vine forms a fragile stem, small, “sluggish” leaves. This, in turn, negatively affects the yield, size, and taste of berries. In autumn, an excess of nitrogen in the soil is harmful for the vine; in such conditions, it will not be able to prepare for the winter. Shortly before the end of the growing season, fertilizer is applied to destroy pests at different stages of development, which are going to winter in the near-stem circle and on the plant itself.
