The grape harvest is over, and it's time to think about how to prepare the vine for the winter. There is nothing particularly difficult in these actions. The only question that, in ignorance, you can think about: "How to spray grapes in the fall?" But first things first.
I need watering in autumn
Not everyone realizes the importance of autumn watering of grapes. However, such watering is favorable for the accumulation of moisture in the soil for the new growing season. This topic is even more relevant in a dry autumn. Cracked and porous from lack of moisture, the earth passes frosty air to the roots of the plant, which leads to their damage or even death.
Therefore, the preparation of grapes for winter includes mandatory water-charging watering, unless, of course, autumn was characterized by heavy rains. In this case, it will be superfluous.
The most effective way to irrigate grapes is through grooves previously dug around or along the bushes. Otherwise, the water will scatter in all directions. And nothing to the rootswill get. Moisture charging watering is desirable to be carried out in October, using a significant amount of water.
Loosening
Not only does soil loosening help retain moisture. It also facilitates the saturation of the soil with oxygen. After all, if you periodically destroy the crust, which is constantly formed on the ground, the air penetrates much better and faster to the roots of the plant. And this is also an essential condition, which includes the preparation of grapes for winter.
In addition, loosening helps to cope with weeds more effectively. Not to mention that after it the earth absorbs water very well when it rains or the plant is watered.
An alternative to loosening can be mulching, which some gardeners prefer. Mulch also prevents crusting of the soil.
Fight disease
After the last berries have been removed from the bushes, it is necessary to conduct a thorough inspection of the vine and foliage for pest infestation. Autumn processing of grapes from diseases is a guarantee that next year it will bear fruit well. After all, the main thing is to notice the infection in time and prevent the spread of the infection.
Due to the fact that the crop is harvested, chemicals can also be used as drugs against diseases and pests. So what to spray grapes in the fall?
When mildew is affected (yellow or dirty gray oily spots can be found on the leaves) plantmust be treated with special preparations such as "Amistar", "Efal", "Cartocid", "Strobi" and others.
Oidium is the second most common grape disease. The most unpleasant smell of rotten fish is a sign of this disease. How to process grapes in this case? Spraying with colloidal sulfur is recommended (5 grams of the substance is taken per 4 liters of water). A solution of potassium permanganate is also suitable (for 10 liters of water - 5-7 grams of the drug). The drugs "Fundazol", "Falcon" and others will also help.
Disease prevention
If no obvious diseases were found when examining plants, how to spray grapes in the fall and should it be done at all?
Experienced gardeners carry out preventive treatment of grapes 4-5 times during the season. As a result, they manage to harvest good crops without knowing what diseases are. The penultimate preventive treatment is carried out shortly before the ripening of the berries. And when to spray the grapes in the fall? This should be done after harvest, in September, to avoid an autumn outbreak. With this treatment, preparations for mildew (Folpan, Ridomil, Kuproksat) and oidium (Euparen, Tilt-250, Topaz) should be used. You can also use the "Plantafol 5:15:45" tool to simultaneously feed the vineyard with potassium, which contributes to better maturation of the vine.
Calculating the dosage of drugs
When to spray grapes, we found out, now consider the calculation of the dosage of funds. This is also a very important point that should not be ignored. The calculation of the dosage of drugs should be done, focusing onthe area occupied by the vineyard, not the capacity of the sprayer. If the packaging of the drug used indicates that it is enough for 10 liters of water and 2 acres, then in order to treat a vineyard of 4 acres with a sprayer with a capacity of 10 liters, you need to use 2 packages. You can find a description in the special literature, which gives the dosage of this agent per hectare, and recalculate for the area of \u200b\u200bhis vineyard. Then it will be possible to use so much water that the solution is just enough for the area to be treated.
Feeding is also needed
During the fruiting period, the plants have lost their strength, so they need to be fed before wintering.
Organic wood ash fertilizers are best for grapes. But it's important not to overdo it. Carrying out the simplest procedure for mulching the soil with compost or rotten manure will be enough for autumn top dressing. And this is much better than treating the grapes with some special fertilizers.
True, there is an opinion that for more abundant fruiting every 3-4 years, it is still necessary to enrich the soil with microelements. For example, for 1 sq. m contribute 10 g of potassium s alt and 20 g of an aqueous extract of superphosphate. You can add a few more grams to choose from: zinc sulfate, boric acid, potassium iodine, manganese sulfate.
Some gardeners advise once every 2-3 years to use potash-phosphorus fertilizers at the rate of 25 g of potassium sulfate and superphosphate per 1 square meter. Hold a roottop dressing is best in late autumn.
Pruning grapes in autumn
When the last foliage falls from the vineyard, after two weeks, you can start trimming the bushes. Previously, this should not be done because of the threat of preventing the completion of photosynthesis processes, due to which nutrients accumulate in all parts of the plant. Delaying is fraught with the onset of frost, when it is too late to decide how to process the grapes for the winter or how to cut them correctly?
Pruning primarily involves the removal of diseased and old shoots. Only after that you can start examining he althy sprouts, they should also be thinned out. However, we must not forget that not all grape shoots can survive the winter, which means that a reserve must be left. In the spring, you can return to the pruning procedure and finally form the vine bushes as you wish.
We cover the grapes for the winter
If the local winters are not severe frosts, and the grape varieties are cold-resistant, then there is no need to cover the bushes for this period. In all other cases, it is worth doing it, otherwise you can be left without a crop.
There are two ways to hide bushes. In the first case, the vine bends down to ground level, and then takes cover. In the second, it is not removed from the trellis, the shelter is made directly on them.
The material used for this is different: film, sawdust with foliage, and spruce branches. Lasthas significant advantages: it is well ventilated and retains snow cover. The film, on the contrary, interferes with ventilation, with warming, both the humidity and the temperature under it rise, which is fraught with the development of decay processes.
When carrying out the whole range of measures to prepare the vines for winter, including the right approach to the question of how to spray the grapes in the fall, you can be quite sure that a good harvest will be grown in the new season.
