How and when to feed grapes to reap a good harvest

Fertilizer for grapes must be applied throughout the season - spring, summer and autumn, especially if it grows on poor soils. Feeding is carried out:

• before flowering
• before fruit formation
• before the berries reach technical maturity.

This scheme for applying fertilizer according to development phases is considered optimal. It has a beneficial effect on the quantity and quality of the harvest. It is important to remember that you cannot feed the plant during flowering.

The range of substances necessary for the full development and ripening of grapes is very wide: nitrogen, phosphorus, copper, potassium, boron, zinc. At different periods of growth, it needs certain fertilizers, so when fertilizing it is necessary to strictly adhere to the scheme. Most of them are applied in early spring and autumn.

Feeding scheme:

Note: Fertilizers are needed not only to increase yields. They help the bushes survive the winter: strong, thick branches that have accumulated many useful substances can withstand the cold more easily.

Foliar feeding

Conventional feeding is supplemented with foliar, or foliar, which consists of spraying dry leaves. They improve the taste characteristics of grapes and increase yield. They can be combined with preventive treatment against diseases and pests.

The first foliar feeding is carried out 14 days before the buds are laid. The fertilizer must contain phosphorus.

Then three more feedings will be required, and each subsequent time it is necessary to reduce the amount of phosphorus. They are carried out at the following times:

• After the inflorescences are formed.
• Before the fruits ripen.
• In preparation for wintering.

Foliar feeding is recommended in calm, dry weather.

Is it possible to fertilize during flowering?

Flowering of grape bushes in different regions of Russia occurs at different times: from mid-May to the end of June. The opening of flowers in inflorescences takes turns, but in general this process does not take more than 1–3 weeks. It is very undesirable to disturb the plants at this stage of development, so they are fed for the last time 7–10 days before the first flowers appear, and then the procedure is repeated after they fall off. In addition to fertilizer, watering the bushes is also excluded. Excessive humidity can also cause the ovaries to fall off and disrupt further fruit formation.

Did you know? The oldest grape variety is Limnio (or Kalabaki). From the 3rd millennium BC. it was grown on the Greek island of Lemnos and used in the treatment of various diseases.

Submission rules

The main rule for feeding grapes is to apply fertilizers at the level of the main roots. To do this, when planting a seedling at a distance of 50-70 cm from it, a plastic pipe with a diameter of 10 cm is dug to a depth of 40 cm - watering and fertilizing are carried out through it. This way you can achieve maximum absorption of nutrients. With surface feeding, additional roots begin to grow, and this slows down the development of the vine.

Important! Before each feeding, the grapes need to be watered abundantly.

Another way is to lay a trench around the bush along its entire diameter at a distance of 50 cm and pour fertilizer into it.

You need to pour a nutrient solution into the resulting groove, then fill it with soil.

What is the plant missing?

General feeding options were described above. But there are also more specific ones - when a plant has a lack of a specific element - and it must be compensated. Although you can try to determine this deficiency using laboratory tests, it is much easier to do this by visual signs, by changes that occur in the plant. Let's consider the main ones:

• The leaves begin to develop particularly asymmetrically - a lack of zinc.
• The veins and petioles of the leaves begin to turn red - a lack of phosphorus.
• The leaf blades turn noticeably pale - a lack of magnesium.
• The leaves turn yellow, chlorosis begins - iron deficiency.
• The edges of the leaves acquire a characteristic brown tint - a lack of potassium.
• A characteristic marble pattern appears on the leaves, the berries become smaller, the flowers fall off - a lack of boron.
• The lower leaves begin to become smaller - lack of nitrogen.

Accordingly, it is necessary to add the fertilizer that contains the component that your plant is currently experiencing a deficiency of. Use strictly according to the instructions so as not to harm the grapes.

Summer feeding of grapes

In summer, the grapes grow actively and fruit formation begins. During the growth of the bush, the root system draws all the nutrients from the soil, so fertilizing is necessary for the ripening of the berries. If there is a lack of nutrition, the grapes will be small and sour.

You should not apply fertilizers indiscriminately. It is recommended to use only the missing ones. To do this, carry out a visual inspection of the plant (this method is not very accurate) or do a laboratory analysis of the soil or leaves.

Concentrated dry fertilizers should be applied with caution, as they can burn the roots.

After the formation of the ovary, phosphorus-containing fertilizing is necessary.

In July (in the first three weeks of the month before the formation of berries), potassium-phosphorus fertilizers with the addition of magnesium, boron, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, and sulfur are needed. They are necessary to accelerate the ripening of berries and increase their sugar content. Microelements improve immunity and promote productivity growth.

Acidic soils require fertilizers that include calcium. They can be in the form of a solution or dry. They are scattered under a bush or spilled on the ground.

14 days before the berries ripen, around the end of August, you need to apply potassium fertilizers. At the end of summer, after the fruits ripen, the soil is depleted and needs potassium.

Grapes respond well to organic matter. From organic fertilizers, gardeners use wood ash, which contains nitrogen, potassium, magnet and other necessary elements. To prepare the solution you will need 1 liter jar of ash and 5 liters of water. The mixture is infused for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Before feeding, the resulting solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:5.

Wood ash can be mixed with superphosphate and diluted with water (1 cup of ash and 50 g of superphosphate are required per bucket of water). The prepared solution is watered over the grapes while the fruits are ripening.

Wood ash is not only food for grapes, but also a means of preventing diseases and pest invasions

Another popular top dressing among gardeners in the summer is a liquid infusion of chicken manure. For 1 liter of dry litter you need to take 5 liters of water, the mixture should steep for 10 days. Before watering, dilute 1 liter of the prepared solution with 10 liters of water.

In summer, a solution of rotted compost or humus is used for fertilizing. They water the soil around the bush, stepping back about 30 cm from the root.

Mineral and organic fertilizers

Organic feeding of grapes with mullein, wood ash, manure, and chicken droppings always causes a pleasant reaction in the plant. But in the absence of organic fertilizers, you can turn to minerals.

Ammonium sulfate

Ammonium sulfate consists of 24% sulfur and 21% nitrogen. These elements play an important role in the redox processes of grapes in early June. A lack of sulfur can impede protein synthesis, and therefore vine development. Sulfate works effectively on soils that are neutral in acidity.

Ammonium nitrate

Feeding grapes with saltpeter is useful when the soil is highly acidic. This fertilizer is in the form of beneficial calcium nitrate.

The more grape bushes there are on a plot, the faster the land is depleted. Foliar feeding is carried out using nitrate to replenish the soil with the necessary microelements.

Superphosphate

Powdered superphosphate has 19.5% phosphorus. Suitable for all soils except highly acidic ones. In the latter case, you can mix the substance with limestone or chalk.

Due to its gypsum content, powdered superphosphate can be beneficial for most garden plants.

Double superphosphate has a more concentrated phosphorus oxide content - 48%, but does not contain gypsum.

Autumn feeding

In early autumn, fertilizing is necessary for fruit ripening. For this purpose, fertilizers with boric acid are used. Thanks to boron, the yield increases by 20%, the grapes produce large, aromatic, sweet fruits that do not crack and are stored well. To prepare a solution for spraying grapes, you will need ½ teaspoon of powdered boric acid and 1 liter of warm water.

At the beginning of September, the ground around the bushes needs to be dug up, adding a solution of compost, chicken droppings or manure. Thanks to organic matter added in early autumn, the air permeability of the soil improves.

In autumn, soil preparation for the next season begins

Since the grapes have used up all the nutrients in the soil over the past season, they need to be replenished. In autumn, the soil is fed with potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Fertilizers strengthen the vine's immunity and help it survive the winter. In the first days of November, granular fertilizers are scattered around the grape bushes, then the soil is dug up and watered.

Every three years in the autumn, it is necessary to add manure, wood ash, ammonium sulfate, and superphosphate to the soil.

Content

• Types of fertilizers
• Feeding in grooves and holes
• What to feed Organic fertilizers
• Mineral fertilizers

Couleur / Personal archive

If you grow grapes not only for decorative purposes, but also to obtain high yields , they must be fed regularly . It is very important to know and understand what, how and when to feed grapes. After all, during different periods of growth, a plant needs different nutrition and a different set of microelements.

You should not rely on “rich” soils in your garden, since any soil is depleted over time and does not always contain exactly the nutrients that a mature grapevine at different periods of its growing season.

efes / Personal archive

Adviсe

Tip 1

The effect of the nutrients in the spray solution can be prolonged if you irrigate the bushes with clean water daily. The dried solution becomes liquid again and is absorbed by the plant.

Tip 2

Ash is considered a universal fertilizer, which is used to feed grapes throughout the growing season. It is important that a maximum of one bucket is applied per bush per season.

Tip 3

It is not recommended to mix organic matter with mineral fertilizers. It's best to alternate them.

Tip 4

Dry nitrogenous fertilizers should not be scattered over the surface of the soil, since nitrogen evaporates very quickly. They must be used for irrigation or embedded in the ground.

Tip 5

Grapes do not like chlorine, so fertilizers should not contain it at all or contain it in minimal quantities.

Signs of nutritional deficiency

The lack of nutrients in the tissues of grapes is noticeable to the naked eye; you just have to carefully examine the leaves of the bushes. A too pale surface of the plates indicates a nitrogen deficiency, yellowed leaves with green veins indicate a lack of iron, brown roots indicate a need for potassium. If the grape leaves have become brown and unusually dark, and flowering is consistently delayed, add more phosphorus to the fertilizer. In some cases, the death of the grapevine is observed in its individual areas, and if there are no other signs of possible ailments, it is recommended to feed the bushes with sulfur-containing compounds.

Did you know? The heaviest bunch of grapes in history weighed 9 kg and 398 g. In 1984, Chilean winegrowers introduced it to the world.

Attentive attitude to the crop always guarantees its good development and abundant harvest. You should not ignore the fertilizer application scheme and the rules for choosing the most suitable composition at each stage of the vegetative development of the bush, in particular during its flowering.

What to feed in spring

During the swelling of the buds, root feeding is carried out. When using synthetic mineral fertilizers, it is necessary to make a composition of 90 g of urea, 60 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium sulfate.

Each substance is dissolved separately in water according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then the liquids are poured into one 40-liter container. Water is added until the container is completely filled. Fertilizer is applied to a depth of 30-40 cm in the grooves near the roots of the grape bush.

Mineral fertilizer can be replaced with organic fertilizer - liquid manure is applied at the root at the rate of 2 kg of dry matter per 1 m2. This amount of manure is diluted in a bucket of water, the mixture is allowed to settle, mixed well, and then fertilized.

In the spring, before the grapes bloom, foliar feeding is carried out. For 10 liters of water, use 40 g of urea, 50 g of potassium sulfate, 100 g of superphosphate, 5 g of boric acid, diluted separately in your own container. All components are combined together and the volume of the resulting mixture is adjusted to 10 liters. The composition is sprayed on the vine and leaves. The work is carried out early in the morning or after sunset in calm weather. Before treating the bush, it is necessary to water the plant at the root with settled rain or spring water.

You can read more detailed information in the article: Spraying grapes in spring