Features of growing grapes in Siberia in greenhouse conditions

Self-grown grapes will always find a place on your kitchen table - either in the form of sweet, large and tasty berries, or in the form of homemade wine. In addition, surplus grapes can always be sold or gifted to your acquaintances and friends. But how to achieve a bountiful harvest of this crop in the middle zone, where there may be a lack of light and heat? The solution to this problem is to grow grapes in a greenhouse.

Growing grapes in a greenhouse

Why is it worth growing grapes in a greenhouse?

Compared to open ground, growing grapes in a greenhouse has many advantages. This is especially true if your plot of land is located in mid-latitudes or slightly north of them.

1. Creating favorable temperature conditions - even without the use of artificial heating, the greenhouse will be 2-5 degrees hotter. This may seem insignificant to humans, but to grapes it is very important.

Greenhouse grape growing increases yields

• The opportunity to get the harvest earlier - with the right growing technology and favorable conditions provided by the greenhouse, the harvest can be obtained 2-4 weeks earlier than in open ground. This is especially important for late grape varieties, which do not have enough heat outside the greenhouse for this.
• No problems with insects and diseases - the greenhouse will partially solve the problem with wasps that damage and eat berries. In addition, mildew or oidium are extremely rare in closed ground.


Oidium on a grape leaf

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• No need to treat with chemicals - since the grapes in the greenhouse are protected from diseases and plants, they need to be treated much less frequently. As a result, the cost of berries is reduced, their safety and environmental friendliness are increased.
• Frost protection – the lining and foundation of the greenhouse will protect the plants inside from sudden temperature changes. This is especially important for those grape varieties that do not have sufficient resistance to cold.
• There are no problems with cracking of berries - there is no precipitation in the greenhouse, optimal temperatures and humidity are maintained.
• High yield , which depends on the density of planting seedlings (from 4 to 8 kg of berries per square meter of greenhouse).


Grapes in a greenhouse

• Convenient working conditions – there is no gusty wind blowing in the greenhouse, and it is not so cold in autumn or winter. And with proper arrangement of trellises, the harvesting process will be significantly simplified.
• The possibility of using the greenhouse for growing other crops - in the space between the trellises you can grow strawberries, garlic, spinach, onions or flowers.

It should be borne in mind that to start growing grapes, significant initial investments will be required - for the purchase of seedlings, arrangement of the foundation and construction of a greenhouse. You will also need to spend a lot of effort caring for this crop, and it will not begin to produce crops right away. But all the costs will be more than recouped by a large number of tasty and nutritious berries, which you can either consume yourself, sell or use for wine production.


When growing grapes, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on care.

How to plant

To plant a berry crop in a greenhouse, you need to prepare the holes. Their depth will be 40-45 cm. Place them at a distance of 1.4-1.8 m. The best time for planting is November. Place the vine with the sprouted root system in the hole and cover it with earth, lightly compact it and water it with water. Immediately after this, mulch the soil around the vine. To do this, you will have to cover the soil with black film, which will retain moisture and heat.

An important aspect of planting remains pruning and pinching of the seedling. Reduce its length by 2/3 of the summer shoot, and trim the shoots on the sides to the first bud. You also need to get rid of weak shoots, leaving only the strongest ones. Carefully secure all branches to the trellis. But how you can make homemade wine from Isabella grapes, and how to do it correctly, is indicated in the article at the link.

The video shows how grapes are planted:

Choosing varieties

The process of growing grapes in a greenhouse begins with the selection of a variety. If you are a beginner and have not previously dealt with such an agricultural crop, then give preference to early and frost-resistant varieties, which are guaranteed to produce a bountiful and high-quality harvest in the greenhouse. These include various types of raisins, Korinka Russian and Michurinsky. As soon as you successfully obtain a harvest from early and frost-resistant grape varieties, move on to other varieties designed for cultivation in the southern regions, Kuban or Moldova.

Kishmish grapes Korinka Russian

Important! When planning to grow grapes in the Urals, North-West or Siberia, equip a greenhouse heating system and artificial lighting. They will help plants cope with the lack of sun and heat, which will be noticeable even taking into account the microclimate of the greenhouse.

Some of the varieties that are suitable for growing in a greenhouse located in the middle zone are shown in the table below.

Table. Frost-resistant grape varieties recommended for growing in greenhouses.

A few more suitable grape varieties for the greenhouse

Grapes Arcadia

Prices for Arcadia grape cuttings

Arcadia grapes

Trimming technologies

In the spring, when the sap begins to flow, the bush begins to grow at tremendous speed. From each bud, young shoots and fruit clusters grow in the vine. Already in the second year the seedling will bear small fruits.

There is no pruning in the first year; the vine strengthens, develops and gains strength.

Next spring, 3-4 buds are left on the two strongest shoots, the rest are cut off. By the end of the season, the seedling develops two arms, each with two young shoots.

According to a combined principle, grapes are pruned in the Urals in the third year of life. It is as follows: the outer lower shoot is cut into 3-4 eyes, the inner upper shoot is left 9-11 eyes long. This is the so-called fruit link. The flower stalks that appear in the spring are removed, leaving 4-5, so as not to weaken the young plant.

In subsequent years, the bush continues to form according to a similar principle. Every year the number of fruit links increases, and the vine becomes strong and healthy.

Grapes are a self-pollinating plant, so there should be one male branch on the bush. The internodes of the female are much shorter than those of the male. The procedure helps increase fruit yield, accelerates the aging process, improves the quality and increases the size of berries, and greatly facilitates the process of caring for the vine during harvesting and sheltering for the winter. Along with increasing yield, it also increases the frost resistance of the bush. Pruning young bushes and grape vines forms the main part of the skeleton - the trunk and sleeves.

Scheme for pruning a two-year-old bush: sleeves, extra vines, stepsons, places to trim vines and frozen areas of vines

Features of a greenhouse for grapes

A greenhouse designed for growing grapes has significant differences in its design from traditional greenhouses for tomatoes and cucumbers. Let us consider separately all the features that need to be taken into account during construction.

Dimensions. A greenhouse for growing grapes must have a significant height - from 2.5 to 3 or more meters, depending on the design and size of the trellises. The optimal building area designed to meet your own needs for grapes is 25-30 m2. Larger greenhouses can be used to grow berries for sale or wine production.

Greenhouse for growing grapes

Foundation. The soil in a greenhouse for grapes must be reliably protected from freezing. In addition, without a foundation, weeds, pests and uncontrolled drafts will penetrate inside. Build a shallow concrete strip foundation.

Sheathing. For a greenhouse, it is desirable to use transparent cellular polycarbonate - a material with high light transmission and good thermal insulation properties. Polyethylene film is acceptable, but only for unheated structures.

Diagram of an example greenhouse

Prices for cellular polycarbonate

cellular polycarbonate

Frame. Grapes do not like to be rushed and do not begin to produce a good harvest right away, so the greenhouse must be durable and have a significant service life. And as a material for the frame, the optimal choice in such conditions would be galvanized steel profiled pipe - it is quite strong, durable and easy to work with.

Heating. If you plan to grow grape varieties that are not designed for cold weather, then the greenhouse will need heating. To do this, you can use infrared lamps suspended from the ceiling (in this case, you will need to significantly strengthen the frame of the building), or a heating cable placed under the soil of the greenhouse. For those who like simple options, installing conventional heating radiators is suitable.

IR lamps for heating greenhouses

Heating cable installation

Lighting. Southern grape varieties in the conditions of Siberia or the North-West may lack sunlight. This drawback can be corrected with the help of special fluorescent lamps. They are represented by fluorescent, LED and sodium subtypes.

Ventilation. For a small greenhouse designed for growing grapes for personal consumption, two windows located in the gables of the building will be sufficient. If you plan to produce berries or wine for sale, then the greenhouse should be larger, and accordingly, the number of transoms should increase. To ensure an optimal microclimate, equip all vents with thermal cylinders that open and close the doors at a certain air temperature inside.

Photo of a bimetallic element for automatic greenhouse ventilation

Special fan for greenhouse

Important! Unlike other crops, grapes do not require frequent watering. But doing it (watering) manually requires a lot of labor and time. Partially solving this problem will help by installing an automatic watering system controlled through a regular valve or a special microcontroller.

Drip irrigation in a greenhouse

Do-it-yourself trellises for a greenhouse

The main element of a greenhouse for growing grapes is trellises - trellises that serve as support and a means of controlling the direction of growth of the crop. There are many varieties of this design; vertical single-plane and horizontal T-shaped trellises are best suited for use in a greenhouse. Let's look at how they are created.

Trellis for growing grapes in a greenhouse

Vertical single-plane trellises, roughly speaking, are a fence made of wooden pegs or metal pipes, between which a wire is stretched at a certain pitch. The vines are attached to the wire and shaped in a certain way.

Diagram of an example trellis for grapes

As a result, it becomes possible to grow a larger number of bunches per unit area and, accordingly, obtain abundant harvests. You can arrange vertical trellises as follows.

Step 1. Inside the greenhouse, mark places for pegs.

Step 2. Drive in stakes or pipes at the required points. For the former, use a 50x50 mm beam, for the latter, steel pipes with a cross-section of 7-10 cm. The depth to which they are driven is 1-1.5 m, the height of the trellis above the ground level is 3-3.5 m. The distance between individual stakes or pipes - from up to 6 m.

An example of a vertical trellis for grapes with a seedling in a trench

Important! Treatment of wooden stakes with protective compounds is undesirable - these compounds can subsequently harm the vine, leaves or berries. Copper sulfate can be a safe alternative.

Step 3. At a height of 50 cm from the grape seedling, stretch a wire with a cross-section of 3 mm. Fasten with wire loops, nails or metal staples.

Step 4. Pull the second wire 35-40 cm above the first wire.

Step 5. Repeat step #4 two to four more times (depending on the desired trellis height).

Step 6. At a distance of at least 0.5-0.75 m, begin installing a new trellis.

Advice! Arranging a cornice, as in the image below, will help increase the usable area of ​​a vertical single-plane trellis.

Vertical trellises with cornice

Horizontal trellises are arranged somewhat differently. They can be either T-shaped supports, between which wire is stretched at intervals of 30-40 cm, or a lattice using thick metal pipes as support. The latter design turns out to be quite complex and heavy, but at the same time very convenient for harvesting - the bunches of berries hang at the level of the average person’s head and there are no problems with removal. In addition, under such horizontal trellises you can at the same time grow strawberries or other similar crops.

T-shaped trellises

An example of growing dark grapes on a horizontal trellis

Important! Regardless of the design, the top rows of the trellis should not be closer to the greenhouse skin than 30-40 cm. Otherwise, there will be a risk that the grapes will get sunburn.

The upper part of this grape bush is on an arbor, the lower part is like a single-plane trellis

Preparatory work

The soil should be thoroughly warmed up, the approximate temperature is 10 degrees Celsius. To do this, the greenhouse is heated artificially. The soil should be loose, soft, slightly acidic. The required substrate is made up of different parts of peat (3 parts), loamy soil (7 parts), sand (3 parts), crushed chalk or lime (50 grams per bucket of soil), mineral fertilizers (50 grams of nitrogen, 30 grams of superphosphate, 15 grams potassium). The prepared soil mixture is poured into deep holes, into which young seedlings will subsequently be planted (if planting is carried out in a greenhouse).

In the room you need to install trellises in advance, stretch the wire on which the garter will be made. The wire must be placed at a distance of 20 centimeters from the glass to avoid burns to the vine. The distance between the wire rows should be about 20 centimeters.

Planting grape seedlings

You need to start planting seedlings in late winter or early spring, it all depends on the grape variety and its resistance to frost, and the plant material must meet the following requirements:

The place for planting a seedling should be no less than 30-50 cm from the greenhouse lining. The interval between plants in a row depends on the specific variety and can reach from 0.5 to 1.5 m. Preparation and planting are carried out using a certain technology.

Step 1. Dig a hole 80x80 cm and 70 cm deep. It is advisable to arrange trellises at the same stage.

Scheme of a finished hole with a grape seedling

The depth of the pit should be 70 cm

How to prepare a planting hole for grapes

Step 2. Place a quarter of a bucket of wood ash in the bottom.

Step 3. Create a drainage layer 20 cm thick. To do this, fill in expanded clay or gravel. Insert a tube with a cross section of 10-12 cm into the resulting layer, which will be used for watering. Its height above ground level should be at least 5-10 cm.

Drainage layer

Important! The drainage layer does not have to be placed directly under the future seedling. It can be installed nearby, at the entrance of the irrigation pipe. In this case, the depth of the hole directly under the seedling is reduced to 50-60 cm.

Location of pipes for irrigation and drainage layer

Step 4. Prepare the substrate for the seedling. There are two recipes. The first uses 1 part sand to 2 parts humus and 5 parts fertile soil. In the second recipe, for 1 unit of sand mass, take 2 units of peat and 4 units of loam. Add fertilizer or lime to the substrate (the latter is taken from a ratio of 100 g per bucket).

Step 5. Pour the substrate into the hole in a layer 20 cm thick and pour water. If the substrate has settled and decreased in volume, add more.

Backfilling the substrate

Step 6. Plant the seedling in the soil, straighten the lower root system and add another 15-20 cm of substrate on top. As a result, the remaining depth of the hole should be 10-20 cm. Orient the seedling parallel to the greenhouse skin.

Planting a seedling

Scheme of planting seedlings

Advice! To plant a large number of seedlings, you can dig a trench of appropriate depth, width and length.

If you plan to plant a seedling not in the spring, but in the fall, take care of its proper shelter for the winter

Selection of planting material

When choosing seedlings, preference should be given to zoned specimens. And also make sure that:

• the height was about a meter;
• when cutting the bark, the color of the shoot is green;
• roots are developed, brown, with branches;
• when the root is cut, the color is whitish or milky;
• if the seedling is sold in a container, the soil in it should be moderately moist;
• the leaves of a green seedling should be light green without spots or bulges;
• When pressed, the buds should not crumble or fall off.

Before planting a seedling with an open root system, the dew roots will need to be removed. Since developing rapidly, they can take over the main nutritional function, as a result of which the deeper roots atrophy. Superficial roots can easily die during the first soil frosts. This is relevant for the Urals, where the earth warms up unevenly.

Grape care and pollination

The main principles for ensuring good conditions for grapes are the correct temperature, access to sunlight and shoot formation.

Grapevine care cycle diagram

The temperature is regulated by heating and ventilation. The optimal regime for grapes depends on the stage of growth. So, in the spring, at the stage of bud formation, the plant needs +10-20°C during the day, and at least +8°C at night. During the flowering period, the optimal temperature during the day is +25°C, at night +15°C. And when the berries begin to ripen and fill with juice, it should be a little hotter in the greenhouse - +30°C during the daytime and +18-20°C during the dark. When using artificial heating, try to reproduce these cycles so that the plant does not experience stress and produces the best harvest.

The optimal temperature regime for grapes depends on the stage of growth

Important! The above optimum temperatures are general guidelines. More precise values ​​depend on the specific grape variety, so before choosing each of them, read in detail the description and experience of working with one or another type.

Providing access to sunlight is achieved through the correct design of trellises and their proper location. In addition, make sure that the vines on the lower wires are not shaded; if necessary, it is permissible to cut off a certain number of sheets in that place.

The formation of shoots is a very important part of grape care. As a result, you should have strong branches with fruit-bearing vines. Stepchildren (also called second-order shoots) and weak branches must be cut off to the first “eye”. This way, you will prevent the plant's resources from being wasted on parts that will not produce a harvest. In addition, you need to trim the tops of the shoots a little each season. Forming grapes is an art, and for a better understanding of the process you should turn to specialists or reference literature on viticulture.

Grape care

The structure of a grape bush

Inspect the bunches regularly. If damaged, rotten or diseased berries are found, cut them off immediately. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to thin out clusters of small fruits and weak branches in order to prevent overload and “direct resources” to higher quality berries. The optimal distance between branches during the ripening period is from 6 to 8 mm. Carry out thinning carefully, using thin and long scissors, so as not to cause additional damage.

Thinning grapes in a greenhouse

Since there will most likely be no bees in the greenhouse, pollination of the grapes must be carried out independently. Carry out this activity after the flowers of the plant open. Everything is quite simple - light and quick blows are applied along the stem. An alternative method is to tap the flowers of one plant and then transfer the pollen on your hand to another.

Removing a vertical cordon

Video - Growing grapes in the middle zone

Video - Caring for grapes

Ventilation

The greenhouse should have several doors to provide a natural ventilation system.

To save time, it is better to install a special hood, which will completely replace the air in the room in a few minutes.

Ventilation is done for the following purposes:

1. Preventing stagnation of air masses provokes the accumulation of harmful bacteria, which are causative agents of serious diseases.
2. Control of air humidity - excess moisture is a trigger for the activation of bacteria that cause rotting of the vine.
3. Release of insects that pollinate grapes.

When ventilating, it is important to prevent a sharp drop in air temperature, which will stress the grapes and slow down their growing season.

Watering and fertilizing

It is worth noting that grapes do not require frequent watering. Excess moisture can harm the crop and lead to cracking of the berries. Perform the first watering before planting the seedling, when forming a hole - 20 liters of warm water for each hole. Then the same amount - after planting, the place should be well saturated with water, but make sure that due to excess moisture the plant does not “drown” and begin to rot.

An example of a do-it-yourself subsurface irrigation scheme

After seven days, watering is repeated, and the soil in the hole with the seedling is also mulched. Further, already in the summer, the grapes are supplied with water once a week; watering should be done either in specially dug holes and grooves, or in a tube inserted into the drainage layer - most of the moisture should flow to the lower roots of the plant. As the berries ripen, the frequency of watering decreases so that the fruits do not crack due to excess moisture. In the future, plants with an age of several years are watered as needed, carefully controlling the level of soil moisture - the latter should not be too dry, but its transformation into sticky and wet mud is also undesirable.

If you connect flexible hoses to the tubes, watering can be automated

Grape feeding is carried out in four stages:

• in the spring when planting;
• 15-12 days before flowering;
• when berries with a diameter of a pea are formed;
• at the beginning of ripening.

In all cases, superphosphates, potassium and nitrogen fertilizers are used. It is allowed to use fertilizer in liquid form, as well as slurry. The exact values ​​of fertilizers that need to be applied to each plant depend on the specific variety; be sure to check this point when purchasing seedlings from a winegrower.

Table of mutual influence of fertilizers when applied together

Growing roses in a greenhouse for sale

Growing roses for sale in a greenhouse is a profitable business, because the demand for the queen of flowers does not decrease even in the winter months. Depending on the region, profitability can be 200% or more, and the payback period does not exceed two years.

Preparing grapes for winter

Caring for the grapes does not end after harvesting - you need to prepare for winter. Shoots must be protected from hypothermia. To do this, they are removed from the trellis wires and laid on the ground. It is desirable that this be the bottom of the trench, lying below ground level. Then the shoots are covered with straw, spruce branches or other similar materials. It makes sense to also put mouse poison there, otherwise rodents that get into the greenhouse can cause significant harm to the plants.

Reeds for shelter

Grapes sheltered for the winter

If it is possible to temporarily dismantle the roof of the greenhouse, do so; the fallen snow will help protect the grapes from hypothermia. Also, do not forget to make a snow bank around the walls of the greenhouse in December so that the soil inside does not freeze too quickly.

As mentioned above, growing grapes in a greenhouse is a complex, labor-intensive and long process. But the reward for the effort is appropriate. And for experienced gardeners, grapes from greenhouses can be a good source of income.