The cultivation of grapes is not limited to planting and harvesting. All winegrowers know that even the most unpretentious variety needs seasonal care. This article will tell you how to care for vines in the summer.

Care for grapes in the first year after planting

Only a rooted bush needs special attention. Caring for young grapes in the first summer is different from how it should be looked after in subsequent years.

Did you know? To make just one bottle of wine, you need 600 grapes.

Necessary types of work:

• loosening of the soil, compacted after planting, as well as after each irrigation and rain : this opens the access of air and water to the roots and weeds are destroyed;
• watering : a 10-liter bucket per plant weekly, with the addition of nitrogen fertilizers;
• pinching stepsons : all grown shoots break off, except for one, the strongest, which will become a full-fledged vine by autumn;
• pruning of root shoots that form underground : dig a hole around the root (20 cm), cut the shoots on the top of the root and again cover it with earth, this is necessary to strengthen the root system.

Thanks to such actions, the bush will enter the winter healthy, ready to actively grow and bear fruit from the second year.

How to care for grapes in summer

In summer, as in other seasons, vines need to be watered, fed and protected from diseases and pests. Summer manipulations also include garter, debris and pinching of shoots, chasing and thinning of leaves. All "green" actions must be performed annually to ensure access of air and sunlight to all shoots, to correct their growth, accelerate it and contribute to the ripening of berries. The peculiarity of these operations is that they are very simple and can be done without garden tools. The main requirement is timeliness.

Watering

Proper watering is especially relevant in the summer, as moisture evaporates not only from the soil, but also from the leaves. And the higher the temperature of the air and soil, the greater the loss of moisture. With poor watering, leaves and bunches wither, and the berries are smaller. Excessive watering should also be avoided, as the roots rot, which leads to the death of the bush.

Find out how to water the grapes in the summer and how often.

There are 2 types of watering:

• moisture-charging: saturate the soil with moisture before winter, and also after it (if there was no snow);
• vegetation: to moisten the earth in the summer heat.

The frequency and type of watering is related to the grape variety:

• early varieties need autumn moisture recharge and two vegetative irrigation in June and July;
• medium grades - in addition to moisture recharge, three summer moisturizations (in June, July and early August);
• late - four vegetative irrigation (in mid-May and in the summer months) and moisture recharge.

A particular need for moistening the vine feels when:

• buds bloom;
• flowers finish blooming;
• when the berries ripen.

Do not water when:

• buds will form and bloom, otherwise the flowers will crumble;
• ripening of berries ends so that they do not burst.

Grapes are one of those plants that should be watered rarely, but very plentifully: once a month, 50–70 liters per 1 bush or 1 m². It is this amount of water that is needed to wet all layers of soil in which the roots are located.

Read also about how to care for grapes in autumn.

Irrigation methods:

• fill the ditches between the rows with water;
• pour the right amount of fluid into a ditch dug around each bush;
• fill the hole around the trunk with water;
• drip irrigation (the best option).

If water is poured into the ditches, they must be sprinkled with dry earth after the moisture has absorbed.

Fragment of weak shoots

For clusters of beautiful and tasty berries to ripen in August, the bush must be freed from unnecessary branches by breaking off.

The extra include:

• barren lower branches without buds open;
• one of two shoots growing from one eye;
• shoots that are underdeveloped and lagging behind others in growth;
• densely growing branches.

You need to break off the excess during the period of budding and after tying up the bushes.

Important! You can break off only those sprouts that have not reached 15 cm in length so as not to harm the entire vine.

Benefits of this procedure:

• the bush is freed from unnecessary load;
• "Harvesting" of useless shoots that will not bring a crop.

Grape pruning scheme in summer

Inflorescence normalization

In the northern and central regions, all clusters tied to the bush will not have time to ripen. Experienced growers know: to get a crop with some brushes, you need to remove those that are smaller and weaker. On each branch, 1-3 of the largest brushes are left, usually the lower ones. Due to this, the quality of the crop will increase: large and sweet berries that burst and rot less.

The operation to tear off the upper inflorescences is carried out when the berries on the bunch are very small, usually in August. In the southern regions there is no need for normalization of inflorescences. Weather conditions there contribute to the ripening of all clusters.

Dry garter

The so-called “dry” garter is one of the first summer “green procedures”. It consists in the fact that the old shoots that survived the winter are tied to the lower level of the wire support. This process is carried out in April-May in the southern regions and in early June in the northern and central ones. The next step will be the “green” garter: the growing green branches are tied to the upper wire levels.

What is a garter for?

• the lashes receive the right directions for growth;
• growing vines do not break;
• all buds are evenly distributed, so green shoots grow better;
• easier care for the bush;
• the risk of contracting diseases with mildew and oidium is reduced;
• the bush bears fruit better;
• quality of berries improves.

Fertilizer application

Feeding is an essential part of summer grape care. This helps the plant bear fruit. Fertilizers are best applied in liquid form with watering. Essential nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and others. You can use complex mineral fertilizers containing these substances. The most suitable organic fertilizer for the summer period is wood ash, for example, sunflower. It also contains the same minerals, especially a lot of potassium.

Did you know? The first literary references to the vine and berries can be found in the Old Testament, Babylonian cuneiform writing and Homer's Odyssey.

Examples of nutrient mixtures for summer top dressing:

• dissolve superphosphate (20 g), ammonium nitrate (10 g) and potassium salt (5 g) in 10 l of water, water in June and July;
• mix a mixture of superphosphate (50 g) and ash (1 cup) in 10 l of water, water when the clusters ripen (in August).

Preventative treatment

Most often, grapes get sick with fungal diseases such as mildew, oidium and gray rot. Preventive treatment against them in the summer should be carried out when berries have already formed on the hands, but still very small, the size of a pea.

You can use the following tools:

• against mildew - preparations containing copper: copper sulfate, Azofos;
• against oidium - means containing sulfur: colloidal sulfur, “Quadris”, “Cumulus”;
• against gray rot - a pink solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per bucket of water).

Other fungicides that are used to prevent fungal diseases: "Topaz", "Ridomil Gold", "Flint Star", "Strobi". The most common grape pest is a spider mite. Against him, drugs will help: Actellik, Tiovit Jet, Fufanon and other acaricides.

You will also be interested to know how to properly spray grapes with baking soda.

Pinching and chasing vines

Pinching, or shortening the branches - the necessary action to slow their growth and stimulate the filling of bunches. The procedure is very simple: in the fruiting lashes, the top is plucked so that after the second brush on the branch there are 5 leaves. Pinch off too long shoots (2.5 m) so that they stop growing. Nipping is performed in June.

Chasing is part of grape care in the second half of summer (late July or early August). In fact, this is the same pinch, only at the same time the shoots are more shortened (by 15–20%). There should be 15 leaves on the branch, which are enough for the normal development of the crop. This procedure speeds up the ripening of berries.

Video: summer chasing of grape shoots

Thinning leaves

During the ripening period of berries, or rather 3 weeks before harvesting, unnecessary leaves break off.

These include leaves that:

• grow on the bottom of the vines, old;
• grow near clusters and shade them.

Performing this procedure opens access to ripening sunlight for the sun and promotes the ventilation of the entire bush.

Important! Do not leave torn foliage on the ground. Over time, it can become a breeding ground for bacteria and infect the vine.

As you can see, in the summer, winegrowers do not have time to relax. All “green procedures” are very simple and straightforward. But the quality of the future crop depends on their timely implementation.