Top dressing of grapes: types and basic rules
Grapes are often called an unpretentious plant. This statement can be called fair, because in natural conditions it is able to produce abundant fruits without outside interference and special fertilizer. However, when cultivated in home gardens and under conditions of large-scale breeding in the spring, it requires the skillful application of minerals and nutrients. This approach is the key to a rich harvest.
However, fertilizer and top dressing are of different types, and all procedures require strict adherence to certain rules. Otherwise, there is a big risk not only to reduce the harvest, but also to be completely left without grapes. In viticulture, there have been cases when inexperienced farmers applied too much fertilizer in the spring and burned the plant during the period of the most active growth.
Many gardeners traditionally fertilize the soil on a large scale in the spring in their gardens, but a special procedure is needed for grapes. This is due to the fact that the mineral elements must be in a certain form, available for absorption by the root system. Otherwise, the plant may not receive the right amount of nutrients necessary for the ripening of berries.
A special fertilizer system for grapes has the following objectives:
- creation of conditions for organic nutrition;
- creating conditions for mixed nutrition, consisting of several types of fertilizers.
There are several types of fertilization procedure, which differ in the way nutrients are applied:
- Complete fertilizer, when microelements are introduced into the soil during its deep processing. This is usually done when new vines are planted. The procedure provides the plant with nutrition for two years. It is repeated with the same frequency. The long period is due to the fact that the vineyards only partially absorb fertilizers from the soil.
- Top dressing of grapes, which can be root and foliar. It is an additional way to increase yields and is used along with a complete fertilizer.
Root top dressing of grapes
This procedure should be carried out in the spring two to three weeks before flowering. The raw materials selected as fertilizers are placed in the root hole to a depth of 0.3 meters. If the plant is planted on dense soils, loams or chernozems, then the depth can increase up to half a meter. If the plant is already several years old, then top dressing should be applied along the perimeter two to three meters from the main trunk. In the spring, before the vines bloom, the most suitable fertilizers are ammonium sulfate, urea, saltpeter, superphosphate and potassium salts.
To prepare fertilizer for root dressing, you will need 10 liters of water, 20 grams of saltpeter (you can take 20 grams of urea or 40 grams of ammonium sulfate), or 20 grams of any potassium salt, or 50 grams of superphosphate. Such a composition can significantly increase the yield of the vineyard.
Manure, bird droppings or ash can be used as organic fertilizers for feeding grapes. For better penetration of nutrients into the soil and plant roots, organic matter must be diluted with water. It is advisable to water the soil around the root system of the vine after digging up and forming a protective barrier that will prevent the spreading of the water solution.
In the spring, two weeks after the flowering of the vine, it is necessary to make another root dressing of the grapes. It will help stimulate the growth of grapes and berries. When the grapes begin to ripen, you can feed the plant again. Superphosphate and potassium salt are suitable for these purposes. In order for the plant to overwinter well and survive the frost period, after harvesting the grapes should be fed with a solution of potassium salt.
Foliar top dressing of grapes
This procedure involves spraying plants with a solution of nutrients. The leaves of the vine have a unique surface that is able to absorb potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and distribute them to all parts of the vine. Foliar top dressing of grapes is most often used in climatic extremes. It is under such conditions that the root system of the bush weakens, and its ability to absorb minerals from the soil is sharply reduced.
To achieve a good harvest, spraying should be carried out together with root fertilizer. The ideal time for this procedure is 10 days before the flowering of the vine. Top dressing will allow you to save flowers and increase the number of ovaries of berries. The composition for spraying is prepared as follows. For 10 liters of water, you should take 150 grams of superphosphate, or 100 grams of ammonium sulfate, or 50 grams of ammonium nitrate, or 50 grams of any potassium salt, or 10 grams of zinc, or 1/2 gram of boric acid.
To prepare a complex fertilizer for spraying, it is necessary to insist 200 grams of superphosphate in 1.5 liters of water during the day. Then remove the solution from the sediment and add water so that the total volume becomes 2 liters. Separately, you should prepare a mixture of 100 grams of ammonium sulfate, 70 grams of potassium sulfate and 2 liters of water. The next step is mixing the two solutions and bringing the total volume to 10 liters. Boron, chromium, as well as glycerin or sugar can be added to the resulting extract in order to ensure good adhesion of the solution to grape leaves.
Any foliar top dressing is not recommended to be carried out in front of direct sunlight. The optimal time for this procedure is morning, evening or cloudy weather, but without precipitation. Following this rule will protect the vines from sunburn. It is necessary to avoid spraying grape bushes in the fall. Such actions can provoke the growth of shoots, which is extremely undesirable in the autumn-winter period, when the plant can simply die under the influence of low temperatures.
A special type of top dressing is the so-called "green". It consists in planting peas between vines in the spring before flowering. The cultivation of this plant allows you to additionally supply the grapes with useful substances.
