Growing grapes from cuttings, rooting and planting in the ground

There are several ways to propagate grapes. For example, seeds are a very rare way of growing at home. By rooting the cuttings available on the bush site is a method that is not suitable for every variety and suburban area. And the most common way is to grow grapes from cuttings. Many gardeners do not know how to grow grapes from cuttings correctly, so they prefer to propagate the required variety by planting expensive seedlings. However, at home, you can successfully grow grapes by cuttings.

How to prepare cuttings

Cuttings or shanks are harvested in the fall, from well-ripened, healthy shoots that have grown over the summer, which crackle when bent and have a uniform color. If the cuttings are not developed, poorly ripe, very thin, have any damage from pests or diseases, cut from barren bushes or, conversely, very thick, fattening, then they are not suitable for rooting and planting. At the end of October, when the foliage from the vine completely falls off, before the onset of the first frost, cuttings are cut for cultivation. Cuttings harvested before the start of sap flow in early spring are considered the best for rooting, they retain their vitality and freshness well.

The cut vine is cleaned of antennae, stepchildren and cut into cuttings 45-75 cm long. After that, the shanks are collected in bunches, according to the variety, marked with a label, wrapped in a tight bag and placed in a dark cool place for winter storage. Cuttings are stored in basements, cellars or pits, which are prepared right on the site. They are laid vertically or horizontally, densely sprinkled with wet sand, fried sawdust or structural soil. Before laying, to protect the cuttings from mold, they are treated with a solution of 5% ferrous sulfate.

If, after pruning, the cuttings were in the yard for a long time, they must be placed in warm water for 1.5-2 days before storing them. Before planting the shafts, you should check them by removing a little bark from the edge with a neatly sharp knife. The wood should be bright green in color, and with a cross section of the eye, the bud inside should be dense and green. If the eyes are dark brown inside, then the buds have died and the stems are not suitable for germination.

Preparation for rooting

Before planting grapes with cuttings, you must first prepare containers for planting and a substrate, which is prepared from earth, sand, humus and sawdust, mixing everything in equal proportions. In order for the substrate to be always loose and not compacted, it should be periodically moistened. To drain excess moisture, drainage is laid and several holes are made at the bottom. As a container for rooting cuttings, cardboard bags made of juice or milk, and plastic bottles with a cut-off top, and cake boxes are also suitable.

Sections are made from cuttings, the lower one is right under the kidney, the upper one is 2.5-3.5 cm above the kidney. After that, a furrow is made on the bark, that is, scratches are made from the middle to the bottom, using a sharp nail or a thick needle. Then the cuttings are placed completely in water for 1.5-2.5 days, depending on the degree of their dryness.After that, the cuttings are placed for several hours in a bowl with a rooting stimulator according to the instructions. And they are placed in jars of clean water in a sunny place according to the varieties. After 12-16 days, the upper bud should swell and the growth of a young shoot should begin. The water is kept at a level of 3.5-5 cm, adding as it evaporates.

After 22-28 days, the first roots will appear. The appearance of the first roots is the main condition for planting cuttings in a previously prepared substrate.

A drainage layer of 2-4 cm is placed in the container, 5.5-7.5 cm of the soil mixture is poured on top, the cutting is placed vertically and poured to the top, leaving a green young shoot above the substrate. Moderately watered the freshly planted stem and put it on the windowsill, on the sunny side. After a few days, you can feed with a small amount of potassium or wood ash. It is not recommended to apply nitrogenous fertilizers, as this can cause active premature growth of young shoots. The stalk is regularly watered with a small amount of water. With strong growth, it is pinched. When the air temperature is 2-5C, the rooted cuttings are planted in open ground, carefully pulling them out of the container so as not to damage the roots. Until the grape stalk has completely taken root, it should be darkened from direct sunlight.

Kilchevanie

Cuttings can be cut not only in hot and cold greenhouses, but also in boxes with sawdust or old buckets that are dug into the ground. There is also room-based kilchevka using a special electrically heated device. In practice, this procedure is performed, as a rule, according to the following scheme.

A hole is dug in the vineyard, the depth corresponding to the length of the shank. They are vertically installed with their ends down and covered with earth by ¾. Then, cover the soil around with thick cardboard and pour the loosened earth to the soil level. Around the pit, a small bulk curb with a thickness of 9-14 cm is made from a mixture of humus, straw, manure, to protect the soil from excessive heating by the sun's rays in the daytime.

After 23-26 days, the condition of the cuttings is checked. For this, they carefully rake the ground and examine their sections. If tubercles of future roots or brownish-white nodules of callus have formed on the heel node, the kilchevaya is stopped. Do not allow the formation of excessively long roots, since when planting in a school, they will certainly be damaged or broken off.

School boarding

The area where grapes are grown from cuttings is called a school. It should be located in a well-lit and ventilated place. One of the main conditions for better rooting and development of seedlings is light loose soil and a sufficient amount of fertilizers.

In the spring, in mid-April, the soil is prepared to plant the cuttings. Dig up the area to a depth of 35-40 cm and add 1.5-2.5 buckets of sand, 80-120 g of nitroammofoska, 0.5-1.5 buckets of humus per 1 sq. M. After that, the area is re-dug up, stirring the soil. Then they make small mounds from north to south, into which the shanks will be inserted. Before planting, the cuttings are soaked for 15-20 hours, cut with a sharp secateurs into 3-eyed ones, so that the lower cut is 0.4-0.7 cm below the lower eye, and the upper one is 0.7-1.4 cm above the upper ... The upper cut is covered with paraffin with 2.5-4% bitumen in order to slow down the evaporation of moisture in it and prevent it from drying out.

Ready cuttings are planted in the ground and watered abundantly. The ground near the heel is covered with mulching material - a black film, a piece of roofing material or dense cellophane. The soil under the covering material should be checked regularly, moistening it if necessary and not drying it completely. With proper care, you can get healthy seedlings with a developed root system by autumn.

Care and planting in the ground

In the last weeks of May, when the air temperature rises to 10-15 C and the risk of spring frosts passes, grape seedlings are planted in open ground. Seedlings are planted at a distance of 2.3-2.7 m from each other and 1.8-2 m between rows.

A denser planting scheme requires the formation of vertically growing bushes for the next season. Although with this method of cultivation, high fruiting, however, requires additional care and special efforts during the winter shelter of the bush.

To form the required number of branches faster, it is better to plant 2-3 seedlings of the same variety in the planting hole. To stimulate the development of the root system and improve survival, it is necessary to cut the roots of the seedling before planting by 0.5-0.7 cm.At the bottom of the planting pit, in the center, a mound is poured, a stalk is placed on it, spreading the roots in different directions, and covered with soil ... The soil is compacted, watered and the seedling is covered with a cardboard cap so that it does not suffer from direct sunlight.

Video "Harvesting of cuttings and their rooting"

How to prepare grape cuttings, the better to process them, where to store them, what conditions are necessary for successful rooting, this video clearly shows.