Delicious grapes that require minimal effort, giving a consistently high yield, resistant to diseases and growing conditions - this is the dream of any summer resident. These qualities boast a table variety of the Bulgarian selection Augustine. Consider the characteristics of this variety, the rules for choosing a seedling and planting, how to care for it and whether to shelter for the winter.

History and origin of the variety

This hybrid was obtained at the Institute of Viticulture in Pleven (Bulgaria) on the basis of a less stable table variety Pleven and an unpretentious universal variety from France, Villard Blanc. This variety took all the best qualities from its mother varieties and became the pride of local breeders. Due to its unpretentiousness, stability and excellent commercial qualities of bunches, the Augustine variety has become very popular in many countries and has been tested over many years of cultivation, being considered a reliable variety.

Detailed description and characteristic

This is an early complex-resistant variety that tolerates temperatures up to -24 ...- 27 ° С. Augustine grape bushes are vigorous, with dark green foliage and a reddish-brown vine with specks. Leaves with three slightly dissected lobes of almost round shape. The bush forms bisexual inflorescences that are well pollinated even in adverse weather.

Dense clusters of conical shape weighing up to 800 g grow out of them. The berries are covered with a waxy coating, in a state of full maturity they acquire amber tones and look as if they glow from the inside. They have an oval shape and weigh about 5–8 g. Their pulp is dense, fleshy, with a harmonious sweet taste and pleasant smell.

Did you know? The vast majority of European vineyards are made up of technical varieties, and in the Middle East countries traditionally grown table varieties and raisins. Despite this, the leader in the cultivation of table varieties is Italy - it grows about 1.5 million tons of grapes per year.

Productivity and Harvest Dates

Bunches usually ripen by mid-August. Productivity from 1 bush can reach 60 kg, and with industrial cultivation is 120-140 kg / ha. Clusters after ripening are able to hang on bushes without losing their qualities for up to 2-3 weeks, so the whole crop can be harvested at one time.

Appointment

The variety is usually consumed fresh, but it can also be used for conservation. Sugar content (17 g / 100 ml) and acidity (7 g / 1 l) allow you to get wine from it without adding sugar. Of course, the yield of wine will not be as large as that of technical varieties, but if a large crop is obtained that is not planned to be sold, then obtaining white wine or juice is a good way out.

Advantages and disadvantages

• The advantages of the variety include its following qualities:
• early bearing
• stable and high yields;
• unpretentiousness to growing conditions;
• excellent presentation;
• good transportability and storage;
• resistance to frost and disease;
• pleasant taste;
• almost no wasp damage;
• the possibility of use for the gazebo.

• This grape has few disadvantages:
• large bones;
• shedding berries from bunches during long transportation or with a late harvest;
• after long heavy rains, crackling of berries is observed.

Features of grape planting

Augustine saplings have a good survival rate. The main thing is to choose a suitable planting material and follow the basic rules of planting.

Did you know? Of the total number of grapes that are grown in the world, about 80 - 90% are used for making wine and juices, about 10% - for fresh consumption and only 5 - 6% are used for drying.

What time to plant a variety

Augustine grape seedlings are planted in spring or autumn. It is best to give preference to spring planting, during the period when the threat of return frosts passed. A plant planted in the fall does not always have time to take root; moreover, such a planting period is suitable only for the southern regions. However, a lot depends on warming for the winter.

Selection of seedlings

Seedlings are best bought in the season of their mass sale. Buying on the market from cars or from unfamiliar people is buying a pig in a poke. It is best to opt for a manufacturer with good reviews and recommendations.

When buying, you must:

1. Carefully inspect the seedling for diseases - there should be no suspicious spots and plaque on the plant.
2. Look at the number of sheets - there should be at least 4 pieces.
3. Pay attention to the volume of the landing tank. In a container of at least 1 liter, the roots develop more strongly than in small glasses.
4. Inspect the roots. In transparent containers it is easy to see how developed the root system is. If the container is opaque, then you should look at the bottom - well-developed roots will stick out from the drainage hole. When buying a seedling with an open root system, you should pay attention to its color - it should be light, and have a cream color on the cut. If thickenings are found on the roots, then you need to refuse the purchase, since this indicates the presence of pests.
5. Make a cut at the top and make sure that the inside of the stalk is green.
6. Touch the eye. If he does not hold well and falls off, then the seedling has already died.
7. If a grafted seedling is bought, then you should check how well the scion keeps on the stock, whether there is a gap between them.
8. Pay attention to the leaves - at the time of purchase in the autumn period they should be absent from the seedling.

Important! A seedling will take root better if its roots are previously soaked in water for several days . Soaking can be done with a stimulant, for example, “Heteroauxin”.

Site preparation

It is recommended to prepare the landing pit 1–2 weeks before landing. The place should be chosen well-lit by the sun and without drafts. It is better to stay in an elevated place, rather than in a lowland where cold air accumulates and water stagnates. If the vine bush is planted near the buildings, then you should choose the south side, since it is the longest lit by the sun, which is important for this culture. Berry bushes or trees should not grow near grapes.

Another bush of grapes should be located at a distance of not less than 2 m, and the aisles should be at least 2 m. A hole is dug about 80 cm deep and of the same width. In this case, the upper soil layer is laid separately from the soil from deeper layers. Then organic matter (humus) is poured into the pit and a fertile top layer is placed on it. In organic fertilizers, you can add ash or some complex mineral fertilizers. A pair of buckets of water is poured on top so that the soil sags properly.

Landing technology

Landing itself will take much less time and effort, but everything should be done correctly. In the planting pit, a depression is made in which the seedling is placed. Then the roots are gently straightened and covered with soil on the root neck, taking into account the subsidence of the soil. The lower kidney should be above the ground. Tamp the soil and watered. You can put mulch on top.

Important! Before planting, the seedling should be accustomed to street conditions - the sun and air temperature. If there is no time for this, then landing is best done in the evening, and in extreme heat shade from the sun for several days with a newspaper curtain made of a newspaper cut into strips.

Growing and further care

Grapes should be well watered. Watering should be carried out in mild weather about 1 time per week, and in dry - 2-3 times a week. Each bush is desirable after watering, when the soil is still wet, well loosened. This will improve the process of moisture and oxygen entering the soil. During heavy rains, watering should be stopped. Watering should only be done under the root, since dropping water on foliage in direct sunlight can cause burns on the leaves. In the cold period after shelter for the winter, watering is stopped completely, until spring.

To improve productivity, fertilizers should be applied at least three times a year:

1. The first top dressing is made in the spring immediately after the opening of the bushes. For this, rotted manure or bird droppings are well suited. For fertilizer, take 0.5 l of rotted manure on a 10-liter bucket and water it abundantly (2 buckets per 1 bush). Then, wood ash is introduced into the soil and loosened. The introduction of wood ash as a top dressing is an excellent prevention of fungal diseases. It is also recommended to periodically be added to water for irrigation.
2. The second top dressing is done before flowering. Use mineral fertilizers. To do this, mix nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a ratio of 3: 2: 1. 30 g of the resulting mixture are diluted in one bucket and the bushes are watered.
3. The third fertilizer application is carried out at the stage of berry formation. 50–70 g of superphosphate and 20–25 g of potassium sulfate are diluted in a 10-liter bucket.

Did you know? Now in the world there are at least 10 thousand grape varieties. In the CIS countries are grown more than 3 thousand varieties.

Trimming and shaping a bush

Bushes should be pruned in the spring and autumn before the onset of frost. In the fall, they cut a long vine and leave only 5-6 branches with eyes, which are the strongest in appearance. In early spring, as soon as the frost has gone, the grapes open and remove all dried, weak and damaged branches. Then the vine is raised and carefully fixed to the installed trellis.

For the Augustine grape variety, molding in the form of a multi-arm fan (for sheltered cultivation) is preferred. To do this, in the first year 2 shoots are left, cutting them in the fall by 3-4 buds. In the spring of the third year, only 4 shoots are left and grown on the bush, and in the autumn their ends are cut a little. In the spring of the fourth year, a fruit arrow and a knot of substitution are formed on each sleeve. In subsequent years, on the substitution knot, a new knot and a fruit arrow are formed from the new shoots that have grown, and the old one is cut off.

Soil mulching

To protect the soil from drying out, mulching is carried out. As mulch, sawdust, straw, grass, branches, manure, peat are used.

Important! When mulching grapes, do not use coniferous branches and sawdust from pine. These components oxidize the soil, which is bad for this crop.

Do you need shelter for the winter

This variety is relatively frost-resistant and even when the temperature reaches -23 ... - 25 ° C, cracks do not go along its bark. In the south, where there are no special frosts, bushes can not be covered. In the middle lane should provide shelter for the winter from frost. It must be done before the onset of frost, until the wood has lost its elasticity, otherwise the vine may break. Snow falling in winter will also provide additional protection against the cold. The protection is removed after the temperature is set above 0 ° C without forecasts for frost.

Shelter of adult plants is as follows:

1. The branches of adult specimens are neatly folded and placed in previously dug trenches in the ground.
2. Then they lay the film, avoiding its contact with the shoots.
3. Straw, coniferous branches and a small layer of soil are placed on top.

Diseases, pests and control

Augustine grapes may be affected by various pests:

1. During ripening, juicy berries are very attracted to birds and wasps. To protect against such pests, bunches of grapes are placed in special nylon bags with small cells. Such a device does not allow pests to reach the berries, but at the same time it passes air and sunlight well. Additionally, small birds (sparrows) can be scared away by tying ribbons to bright bushes or by setting a scarecrow. From the invasion of wasps, sticky traps or insecticides can be used. It is also important to find wasp nests and destroy them.
   

2. This plant crop may be susceptible to the invasion of phylloxera (grape aphids). These are insects of very small sizes, which have a yellowish-green color. Such pests infect the roots and leaves of the plant. Blisters form on the affected leaves from the underside. Prevention is spraying with fungicides ("Aktara", "Confidor"). To prevent the appearance of these harmful insects, grapes are best grown on clay or sandy soils. Aphids do not like them, but on light chernozem it reproduces very quickly.
   

3. When growing Augustine, you can also encounter such a pest as a bunch of leaflets. These are small caterpillars about 10–13 mm long, which are laid by brown butterflies with blue-brown spots on the wings. The caterpillar infects clusters of grapes, they begin to rot. They should be fought against using chemical agents such as Bi-58, Talstar, and Fury. Spraying is done 3 times with an interval of 12 days.
   

Consider the main diseases that grapes can be affected by:

1. Mildew (downy mildew). It is detected in the form of oily spots of yellow-green color, which eventually acquire a brown color. Leaves dry and fall off. When moisture enters the leaves, a white coating forms on the back side - this is a mushroom mycelium. The berries begin to dry, rusty spots appear. The reason is often high humidity in hot weather. It is necessary to fight this disease with the help of the chemical preparation “Poliram DF” or Bordeaux fluid.
   

2. Anthracnose. This fungal disease manifests itself in the form of gray-brown spots on the foliage. The shoots begin to dry and break, the inflorescences darken and dry. Often this fungus appears during rainy weather. The drugs "Polyram DF", "Bellis", "Acrobat Top" help well in this case.
   

3. Bacterial cancer. This disease manifests itself in the form of formation in the basal part, which can be either brown-black or white-yellow. Bushes affected by such a disease must be disposed of. Such a disease is better to prevent than to treat. For this, a thorough examination of the seedlings is carried out and standard preventive spraying is carried out.
   

This variety is notable for its good resistance to fungal diseases, but grape growers recommend that preventive treatments be carried out with a weak solution of sulfur after removing the shelter in the spring. For this, 30–35 g of sulfur is dissolved in a 10-liter bucket. Air temperature during such processing should not be higher than + 17–18 ° С.

Find out if grapes can cause allergies and how they manifest.

In the spring, after removal of the shelter, spraying with Bordeaux liquid, Ridomil and Fitosporin preparations was also recommended. During the ripening period, it is recommended to carry out preventive spraying with 1% manganese solution. Augustine grapes are able to produce high yields with minimal care and are not very dependent on the vagaries of the weather. This is a real find for beginners in viticulture.