Grapes, being both resistant to drought and a moisture-loving crop, need balanced watering. How to properly water the grapes will be discussed in the article.

The importance of proper grape watering

Having branched roots that penetrate deep into the earth, vine bushes tolerate drought well. However, a lack of moisture adversely affects the growth rate of the plant and especially on productivity. Waterlogging of soil and deciduous mass is also harmful to grapes. Hence the need to comply with the rules of irrigation of the vine for the growth of this crop.

Water requirements

The best water for irrigation is considered rain. If there is no way to collect it in the right amount, you can use the tap, but only after daily settling. In this case, the water temperature during irrigation should be close to the temperature of the surrounding air.

Important! In hot weather, you should not water the vine with cold water, otherwise the plant may experience heat shock due to the difference in air and water temperatures. In an extreme case, grape bushes can be poured with well water in the morning before dawn, when the soil has cooled after night.

How much time and how often to water?

If the answer to the question of whether to water the grapes is obvious, then it is impossible to say unequivocally how many times the vine should be watered per season. This becomes clear when studying the factors that influence irrigation scheduling:

• soil composition - for example, sandy soil requires frequent, but not plentiful watering, and clay and chernozem soils need to be moistened rarely, but plentifully;
• weather conditions - after rain the need for irrigation is reduced to zero;
• grape variety - a plant ripening in late autumn requires more active and plentiful irrigation during the season;
• the age of the plant, its size and yield - more abundant irrigation of old plants, as well as having many inflorescences and bunches;
• the number of sunny days during the season - the more there are, the more often watering.

Important! With any schedule and intensity of watering, do not wet the leaves, this negatively affects the entire plant. In general, watering grapes is divided into three phases:

1. During the formation of the kidneys and their blooming.
2. When ovaries appear.
3. During the growth of the bush and ripening of berries.

In the first year of vine growth, it should be watered weekly, using up to 15–20 L of water. In the second year, the bushes are watered twice a week.

How to water grapes: methods and technology

Most often, 2 irrigation methods are used in the form of:

1. Underground.
2. Elevated, or superficial.

Underground watering

A method that allows you to save water, increase the frost resistance of the vine and prevent the occurrence of fungus.

It requires some effort. To this end, you need:

1. Dig a drainage hole in the ground 1 m deep.
2. Pour a small layer of mineral fertilizers and humus into it.
3. Place a drainage layer of crushed stone or expanded clay on top, filling the hole halfway.
4. Put a pipe with holes along the entire length vertically into the pit.
5. To fill up with the earth. Above the surface should remain the end of the pipe to which to attach the watering hose.

Overhead Watering

This type of irrigation is simpler to perform. It is enough to dig furrows near the bush with a depth of up to 20 cm, into which to pour water. The method is useful for seedlings and young plants, but is not suitable for adult plants, since it does not moisturize the entire root system that goes deep.

Humidification of the upper part of the soil forces the plant to actively develop the upper root processes, which is dangerous for the vine with the onset of a cold period of time.

Did you know? If there are up to 4 thousand potato varieties in the world, and about 6 thousand varieties of all fruit crops, then there are more than 10 thousand grape varieties.

Features of watering depending on the season

In the spring, with the beginning of the growing phase, intensive watering is required for the full development of shoots, leaves and root system. The first is to revitalize the kidneys. The second - 3 weeks before flowering.

In the summer heat, it is important to keep the soil stable and moist. And if before flowering and during it, in order to avoid shedding of ovaries and poor pollination, the time comes when you can not water the bushes, then during the period of fruit filling the plant needs a lot of moisture.

Learn how to water the grapes correctly and how often in the summer.

At this phase of the development of the vine, she consumes half of the total water consumed during the season for her watering. Abundant irrigation is carried out before the stage of softening of the berries. During the ripening period of grape brushes, irrigation is not carried out, since it can lead to cracking of ripening grapes and insufficient formation of sugar in the berries.

Proper autumn irrigation, which is also called moisture recharging, after harvesting allows the plant to prepare for wintering, since dry soil is fraught with freezing of roots. In regions where grapes are not sheltered in the open ground for the winter, irrigation is carried out after the leaf mass has fallen. In the same place where the vine has to be covered for the winter, hydration is carried out after this procedure. In case of rainy autumn, additional watering is not practical.

How to combine top dressing and watering?

For active growth and good yield, the vine must be fertilized. In the spring, in the phase of rapid growth of green mass, the plant primarily needs nitrogen, which is abundant in organic fertilizers.

Get acquainted with the peculiarities of feeding grapes in autumn.

During flowering, the formation of ovaries, at a time when grapes are already with bunches of berries, when he is singing, he needs more potassium, phosphorus and calcium, which are supplied to the plant as part of complex mineral fertilizers.

2 weeks before the full ripening of the crop, top dressing is stopped. And in the fall, to strengthen the immune system and a successful wintering of the root system, the vine again requires potassium and phosphorus. And each time it is recommended to fertilize with irrigation of the grape bush, since the liquid facilitates the delivery of nutrients to the plant and contributes to their better absorption.

Did you know? Grapeseed juice has an advantage over cow's milk in nutritional value, and with respect to its usefulness it is equated to female milk, therefore it is sometimes called vegetable milk.

When to stop watering the grapes?

Grapes cease to moisten when he sings, which often happens in August. Watering of late varieties, the fruits of which are intended for long-term storage, is stopped in the fall 30 days before the harvest.

After harvesting, on the eve of wintering, the vine is watered again. A seemingly simple action to irrigate grape bushes in fact requires taking into account many factors. However, the strict implementation of the above requirements leads to a significant harvest of sweet and juicy grape berries.