The shelter of young grapes for the winter is a prerequisite for its preservation from frosts and temperature surges, which are fatal for immature plants. If you save young shoots from frost, at the end of next summer they will give an excellent harvest.
How to protect young grapes from frosts?
There are three ways to hide the grapes:
- Hilling . It is often used for the preservation of young bush grape. The method involves the creation of a dense embankment around the bushes from the earth up to 30 cm high. Humming is a completely inexpensive way, while quite effective.
- Semi-open way. In this case, the earth should be sprinkled with only a part of the crown that is closer to the ground, and cover the rest with a film, a dense cloth or straw. This method is suitable for southern regions, since part of the bush still remains weakly protected.
- Full shelter . It is considered the best way. In this case, you need to remove the vines from the trellis, cut the grapes, and the remaining shoots gather in a bundle and bend to the ground, covering them with a cloth and a film.
How to properly cover the young grapes for the winter?
Begin to cover the grapes only when the temperature on the thermometer drops to -8 ° C. The first weak frosts harden the grapes, acting positively.
It is important to know how to prepare a young vine grape for the winter after harvesting: grapes should be well watered, spending 10 liters of water per bush. At the same time, feed the bushes with superphosphate or boric acid, and also treat them with copper sulfate or manganese for disease prevention. After this, the vine needs to be shortened and pressed to the ground. Only after all these measures can the grapes be harbored.
What is harboring young grapes for the winter?
Depending on how you decided to hide your young grapes for the winter, the choice of material will depend. If you live in young latitudes with a mild climate, you can simply bush the bushes with earth. But for the middle band, a more serious shelter will be required.
As a covering material, films are often used. It is pulled over the sprout-strewn shoots, laying on metal arcs pre-installed over a trench with grapes at a distance of every 50 cm. A kind of tunnel turns out, and the film should not touch the vines.
Another material popular among gardeners is agrofibre . Its advantage is that under it condensate does not accumulate, as under a film, and it does not need to be raised periodically to ventilate the hotbed.
However, with agrovoloknom need to be careful. The fabric skips moisture, which means that during the thaw season it can lead to decay of plants and frostbite in moments of severe frost. This can be avoided by using with it an additional shelter film or other reliable material.