When to open grapes after wintering and how to do it?

Experienced winegrowers know exactly how to produce all the activities associated with the care of the bushes of grapes, including the timing of their digging after wintering. Inexperienced people need to know certain requirements for this period and the process itself.

Grapes of any variety are heat-loving plants, because the presence of strong frosts for him - an uncomfortable environment. Each year, breeders try to bring winter-hardy varieties that can easily withstand cold temperatures up to -25 degrees, but they have not yet managed to deal with temperature fluctuations. It is a sharp change of weather and affects the vine, condemning the husbandman to the loss of the crop, and even the entire bush.

It is not an easy task to properly and promptly open a bush after wintering, because for this you need to choose the optimal weather conditions. With warming and the first warm rays of the sun, the vine begins to bud, for which it is essential to grow under optimal conditions. If during this period there will be a temperature jump from plus to -5, then the young shoots will die.

It is also dangerous to perederzhivat the vine in the shelter, when the outside will begin a stable heat. As soon as the earth warms up sufficiently, the kidneys will still begin active growth, and without the participation of the sun they will not be able to develop normally and will die.

There are no absolutely precise established dates for the discovery of grapes, because each region has its own climatic features, and it is necessary to focus exclusively on the weather. When the snow melts completely and the ground dries out well, this will be the first sign that you can go to the vineyard. Temperature indicators should be consistently high during the day and not less than five degrees below zero at night.

The disclosure procedure itself is advisable to plan on a clear and sunny day so that the vine has time to dry out, which minimizes the harm from nighttime coolness. If a significant cooling is expected, it is better to cover the bushes at night and open it again during the day. If it is not possible to immediately respond to climate change, you should not rush to discover if the nights are still cold. When the thermometer's indicators are kept on the positive mark day and night, you can completely open all the bushes and prepare for further work to care for them.

The process of opening the bushes of grapes will largely depend on how it was closed. The simplest option so far is to use a simple earth, which sprinkled the vine. In this case, you need to open a bush at a time when there is no longer any snow on the soil, but the ground is not completely dry. This is important because hardened soil can damage the buds of the plant, and pulling it out will be much more difficult. The ground covered with grapes should be broken and loosened to make it easier and more convenient to get to the vine, which is carefully removed from it after removing the supports holding it to the ground.

The shelter process can be carried out using plastic bags of suitable dimensions, burlap and roofing material, which keep heat well and do not let the cold inside. The shelter process consists of the construction of special supports on which the vine will be placed in the covering material. It is easier to remove such a structure, because it is not necessary to dig anything out of the ground, it is enough to remove the material with which the bush was covered, and then dismantle the supports themselves.

If the weather in the region is unstable or very cold, as in the Altai Territory, it is best to combine both options. For this procedure, you need to dig a trench and lower the vine into it. It wraps itself in covering material, after which everything is securely fastened to the ground with the help of a support frame and sprinkled with earth. It is necessary to remove such a structure in this order:

• loosening of the soil and its complete cleaning at the location of the grape bush;
• dismantling the retaining frame;
• removal of covering material from the vine;
• tying each branch higher from the ground.

There is a similar option, which differs only in the fact that trenches are used instead of ground dripping. This is true for a very cold winter, where the soil freezes through quite deeply. This procedure consists in immersing the vine, which is already insulated, in the ground, pressing it with studs and dropping it on the ground. You can open a bush when there is no risk of frost.

If the bushes of grapes actively fruit, it is important to maintain their ability to proper development and growth. To do this, you need to properly perform all the procedures for the care throughout the year. In central Russia, where the winter cold can be quite strong, but not critical, you can use the shelter of grapes with the help of earth or ground dripping of the vine in the covering material.

At a lower temperature, it is important to protect the bush from freezing in winter and not to rush to dig it out in the spring, waiting for the soil to warm up and stable nighttime temperatures without frost. If you do not follow these rules, you can very quickly lose all the bushes of grapes, left without a crop, vitamins, and possibly earnings.

The time to open the vines will vary depending on the region in which the bushes are planted. To determine the most appropriate time frame, you should focus on:

• climatic features of the region;
• the possibility of return frosts, their strength and duration.

It is extremely dangerous for young kidneys to be exposed to frost, because the result may be dead sprouts or fruitless lashes.

If we are talking about the middle belt of Russia, the Volga region, or the Moscow region, the timing will vary depending on the temperature and the amount of precipitation that has already fallen. If spring is early, then it is possible to open the grapes by mid-April, and with prolonged warming the first days of May will be the optimal period.

In Ukraine and southern Russia, the climate is warmer, therefore the dates will vary. The most suitable time for the disclosure of the bushes will be the end of March and the beginning of April, when frost is not expected. To determine a more specific date, you should closely monitor the weather.

As for the north of Russia and the Far East, then there is a shift in the other direction due to the colder climate. Grapes are usually opened in May, but plastic wrap is installed for protection, which is removed during the day and covers the bushes at night in order to avoid frosting of young buds.

The process of opening the bushes will largely depend on the way in which they are sheltered, and the region where the vineyard grows. In a warm climate, everything is quite simple, the main thing is to avoid delays in case of well-established warm weather, so that the kidneys do not go upright in shelter. But in the case of cold and very cold regions, there is a specific nature of work.

If there is a probability of frosts that will come even in May, then it is necessary to open a bush differently. First you need to make ventilation in the shelter, so that the vine is still protected, but already accustomed to environmental conditions. Next is the process of waiting for green growths to appear. After that you need to make a complete extraction of the vine and garter branches. Kidneys that appear in this way can give a full harvest.

Starting work on the disclosure of bushes, it is important to make sure that near them there is no stagnation of water, which will adversely affect the development of the plant. To prevent such situations when planting the grapes themselves, it is important to place them on a hillock, and not in a lowland.

In order to make the opening of the bushes of grapes on time and not to lose the crop, It is important to follow certain rules:

• Works are carried out only when the weather has finally become warm and there is no risk of severe frosts. For each region, the dates will vary.
• It is necessary to conduct an opening on a warm and sunny day, preferably in the morning, so that there is enough time for drying the vine in the sun and its acclimatization to new conditions.
• In case of possible frosts, it is worthwhile to have means of protection that can cover the bushes for the night.
• With a sharp change in the weather for the worse, it is important to save the kidneys. If they have already appeared and are ready to grow, they should be treated with a solution of ferrous sulfate. This will slow down the process for at least a week.
• To avoid the loss of fruiting buds, you can tie up the vine vertically, which will contribute to the growth of the top, and then all the rest in turn. When the lower ones are activated, those that will bear fruit, there should be no danger of frost.

Grapes for normal growth and development should be properly tied up, but these activities are not done immediately after disclosure. This delay is due to the fact that at any moment frost can strike and the vine will need to be quickly hidden. Using any of the covering materials makes it much easier when the branches are located on the ground.

Perederzhivat vine without tying, too, is not worth it, because the kidneys will soon begin to develop and grow, and because of the recumbency, they can grow in the wrong direction. In addition, starting garter branches, which already have green shoots, there is a high probability of breaking off many of them during the procedure itself.

If the weather is set to be quiet and warm, this is the perfect moment to raise the vines on the supports and its garters. It is important to carry out this work on a sunny day in order for the bush to dry out on all sides, otherwise there is a huge risk of infecting it with mildew.

When the vine has been completely open, but there is a threat of cold weather, it is necessary to protect young buds from danger. In the event that they have already proklynulis and begin to grow, it is necessary to slow down this process, with which copper sulphate does an excellent job. It is important to make a solution, which should be treated bushes and wait a day, so that the process was started. If it is not possible to use chemical methods, then a simple vertical garter can become an alternative to them.

A vine that has been raised from the ground and tied up should be treated as soon as possible for diseases and pests. Initially, the best remedy for this was the Bordeaux liquid, but now a large number of other drugs have appeared that give the same result, but are far less toxic.

Many growers prefer to use "Ridomil" for the treatment of bushes, because it copes well with the protection of bushes from fungal diseases and is effective in the fight against mildew. Carrying out the first spraying will depend on how healthy the shrub was, which was prepared for wintering. If signs of damage were noticed, then the drug should be used immediately after raising the vine, if everything was fine, then you can wait with this procedure and do it when there are about five sheets on the bush.

At the moment of active leaf growth, it is important to carry out an additional treatment against the pests, which by this period become as active as possible. The most common means for this are Nitrofen, Karbofos and Oxy. These insecticides and fungicides will keep the bush intact. These are only the first actions of the grower after raising the vine, but for the successful growth of the bush it is important to know what to do next.

The grapes that have lain in the ground all winter, when the spring comes, noticeably weaken, therefore, for the start of active growth it cannot do without help. It is best to place nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers under the root. In order to help the grapes to grow faster and not waste extra forces, it is important to prune unnecessary branches, shorten those that are still needed for growth, and remove all those that have been damaged or are no longer needed. It is very important to properly form a shrub so that it has the right amount of buds, grows well and throws out the maximum number of brushes.

When the bush has been opened, raised and tied up, it needs to be watered, but this procedure needs to be done on time and correctly. Its main task is the awakening of the grapes, which for some time inhibits the process of budding. Watering is carried out immediately after the bush is opened. An important detail will be the temperature of the water, which should be warm. It is this nuance that helps the plant to grow faster. In the event that the risk of cold weather is great, the water should be cool, which will give energy and strength to grow to the vine, even in cool time.

Watering in the spring should be the most abundant, because at this time there is an opportunity to well nourish the soil, which then will be the source of food for the bush. The average amount of water poured under the bush in the spring, can be up to 300 liters. Subsequent watering will be less intense, they need only 20-30 liters and no more. It is necessary to moisturize the soil at this time no more than once a week, and in wet weather - once every ten days.

For effective irrigation, you can use the holes, which are located at a distance of half a meter from the stem, or in trenches made nearby. Various methods make it possible to saturate the soil at the bush with moisture, which will feed the grapes. To moisten the roots, you need to pour water into special pipes, which were dug in at the time of planting the seedling.

Another important event in the care of grapes in the spring will be loosening the soil around it. This process is needed to give the earth more lightness, which promotes the active penetration of air into the deeper layers. It is necessary to loosen the soil only twice - the first falls at the time of the opening of the bushes and the garter of the vine, and the second is timed to the time when the grapes start flowering. This process is also useful in that it makes it possible to add to the soil the necessary fertilizers needed by the plant during this particular period of time. The first loosening should raise the soil to a depth of 20 cm, and the second is more superficial, for it is enough to update the 10-cm layer of soil.

Another step in the care of grapes is to mulch the soil, which is designed to stop the growth of weeds near the bush and help retain moisture in the ground, preventing it from actively evaporating. The procedure is carried out with the help of straw, bots or films, which need to be laid near the bush and left so until the buds begin to open.

Any grape, wherever it grows, can endure wintering in different ways, so after opening it, you must carefully inspect the vine for frostbite or damaged areas.If there are such places, they should be immediately eradicated by cutting the bush. Such activities are called "sanitization", followed by a formative one. Her task will be to adjust the length of each bush. An important point will be the processing of slices, which should heal quickly, to enable the bush to go into active growth.

If the grapes are pruned in a chaotic manner, and the cuts are not processed, the healing will take a long time, the bush will lag significantly behind in development and is unlikely to yield a good harvest. If you need to cut the old branch, then do it under the ring so that the stump that remains from it is no more than 1 cm.

When working with grapes, each stage is important, because they can not be neglected. A good winegrower must understand all the subtleties and nuances that he may encounter.

For information on when to discover grapes after hibernation, see the next video.