Judging by the name "Super Extra", this grape variety should be distinguished by super-quality extra-class. Indeed, he has an outstanding precocity and excellent ability to adapt to a variety of climatic conditions. The features of Super Extra grapes and the proper care of it will be described below.

Variety breeding history

Super Extra grape variety was bred in the Rostov region relatively recently. Experienced winegrower E. Pavlovsky, crossing the well-known varieties Talisman and Cardinal, mixed their pollen and eventually got a vine that was superior in quality to the source material in all respects. The result was a grape variety whose early maturity allowed large clusters to ripen almost everywhere, except for places with permafrost.

Did you know? Cultivated grapes were grown in ancient Egypt, and the age of petrified grape seed found by archaeologists is 60 million years.

Description of Super Extra Grapes

This grape variety stands out among its counterparts not only by record agrotechnical dates for fruit ripening, but also by the appearance and taste of berries.

Appearance of the variety

Tall bushes of grapes are decorated with five-bladed leaves of a radically green color. The weight of the clusters is usually 500 g, but can reach 800 g. The berries in the clusters are ovoid, reach a length of 3.5 cm and a width of 2.5 cm. One white berry with a golden hue can weigh up to 10 g .

Characteristics

The pulp of grapes is different in meatiness and sweetness and is enclosed in a strong peel, whose stiffness is not all about taste, but provides berries with good preservation and excellent transportability.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Super Extra is characterized by early maturity and adaptability in various climatic conditions, as well as high productivity.

• In addition, the positive qualities of the variety include:
• uniform ripening of the bunch along the entire length;
• ability to withstand frosts down to –24 ° С;
• the ability to transport over long distances without losing its presentation;
• high (up to 18%) sugar content in berries;
• immunity to common grape diseases like oidium and mildew.

Did you know? Grapes are the only plant on our planet that has been honored with the creation of an entire science in its honor - ampelography.

• The few disadvantages of the variety are usually considered:
• susceptibility to phylloxera disease;
• the different sizes of berries on the hands, which are smaller, the lower they are;
• peel stiffness on berries

Features planting and growing grapes Super Extra

Being an unpretentious variety, Super Extra is able to grow in any soil. However, for its comfortable growth and high yield, you need to monitor the composition of the soil: for example, clay soil should be improved by adding sand and humus to it, and sandy should be enriched with humus.

For planting grapes you need to choose the most sunny place on the site. This is especially true for the northern regions. In addition, the vine should be well protected from the effects of wind. In cold climates with strong air currents, such conditions are best provided in a greenhouse.

Landing rules

Since grape bushes require room for their optimal development, the distance between them should be kept at least 1.5 m when planting. Usually, grapes should be planted in early spring or autumn, more often preferring spring planting.

The landing process itself is as follows:

1. 2 weeks before planting a seedling, dig a hole 60 cm wide and the same depth. Pour 1 bucket of water with the added humus into the pit.
2. A day before planting, sapling roots should be immersed in a low-percentage solution of potassium permanganate (3 g per 10 l of water).
3. Immediately before planting, cut the roots and shoot by 3-5 cm, on which leave the 4 most developed buds and 3 less developed ones.
4. Then dip the roots and the lower stem part into a suspension of clay.
5. Pour 1 shovel of fertile soil into the pit and place the prepared seedling on the heel.
6. Carefully spread the root system and sprinkle with fertile soil.
7. After that, lightly compact the soil, water it and, if necessary, add more earth on top.

Important! After planting, spring seedlings require shading, and autumn seedlings require shelters for the winter.

How to propagate Super Extra grapes

The most reliable way to propagate this variety is using layering. With this reproduction, the most developed shoots need to be placed on the ground, pinned to it and sprinkled with soil. After the formation of roots, layers can be separated from the parent plant and planted in a pre-prepared new place.

But most often this grape is propagated by cuttings in the form of annual shoots with 4 eyes. Prepared cuttings should be planted in plastic glasses filled with a mixture of leaf humus and soil, pour and cover with a plastic bottle cut from below. Every day they need to be watered and kept under the bottle until the first leaves appear on them. Then the resulting seedlings must be planted in the ground.

Also find out why the grapes on the bush wither.

This plant can also be propagated with the help of green cuttings that are formed in the process of pinching. On the broken stepson, leave 2 kidneys and the top sheet and immediately put the shoot into the water, and then plant in a glass with fertile soil, create greenhouse conditions using the same plastic bottle cut from the bottom and pritenit. Shade must be maintained until the plant is accepted. After rooting, the stalk can be planted in open ground.

Super Extra successfully propagated by vaccination. For this, the stem of this variety with 4 eyes is grafted onto a woody vine of a similar grape variety.

It is possible to propagate this plant with seeds. However, this method is rarely resorted to, since the resulting seedlings often lose their varietal condition.

Care

Care for the vine, like any other plant, consists of watering, fertilizing and pruning.

Features of watering

They consist in the need to strictly observe watering standards. Excessive watering is just as contraindicated for this variety, as well as overdrying of the soil. And in fact, and in another case, there is a sharp drop in productivity and a noticeable decrease in the quality of berries.

In addition, an excess of moisture in the soil leads to an overflow of berries with liquid and to their subsequent cracking. In the absence of rain, the vine should be watered once every 2 weeks, pouring no more than one and a half buckets of water under each bush.

Table grape varieties also include:

What to feed

To get a decent harvest, the vine needs to be fed with nutrients. During the season, root and foliar top dressing should be carried out several times. In spring, when the green mass builds up, the plant needs nitrogen, the deficiency of which can be filled with organic fertilizers in the form of humus or compost. It is also useful in pits dug around the bush to sprinkle wood ash in the spring.

And before flowering and with the beginning of the growth of berries, the vine needs potassium, phosphorus and calcium. The plant receives them through foliar feeding - spraying foliage with a solution of complex mineral fertilizers containing the necessary trace elements. Large grape leaves actively absorb beneficial substances that fall on their surface with a spray.

Foliar top dressing with wood ash has proven itself well. The potassium and phosphorus in its composition pass into the water within 3 days - for this, 2 kg of ash must be added to 6 liters of water. After insisting, the resulting concentrate should be filtered and diluted with water to a full bucket.

Also, in the absence of complex mineral fertilizers, you can prepare a solution of 200 g of superphosphate and 1.5 l of water. After daily infusion, the solution must be filtered and diluted with water to a 2-liter volume. Then in another bowl dissolve 100 g of ammonium sulfate and 50 g of potassium sulfate in 2 l of water. Important! For better foliar feeding, fine spraying is recommended, which allows the leaves to absorb nutrients more efficiently. After that, mix both solutions and dilute with water to get a full bucket. It is also useful to add 3 large tablespoons of sugar to the solution to slow the evaporation of top dressing from the surface of the leaves.

Pruning

Grape yield in many respects depends on its correct formation by means of pruning. For Super Extra, this is especially true because of the tendency of its bush to actively grow, forming on the shoots a lot of stepsons, reducing the yield of the plant.

The stepsoning is carried out in such a way that in the nodes of the vine 3 leaves remain - 2 stepson and 1 main. And stepsons growing out of other stepsons are plucked out completely.

Particularly important is the complete removal of stepchildren in the bunch zone to provide inflorescences with maximum pollination. In the future, the elimination of stepchildren as they occur is carried out throughout the season.

An excessive number of ovaries that overload the vine and inhibit the full development of clusters have the same effect on productivity. Therefore, extra ovaries also have to be plucked.

You will be interested to read how to make wine from white grapes.

Disease prevention

As already noted, with resistance to oidium and mildew, Super Extra grapes are defenseless against phylloxera. Therefore, bushes must be sprayed with Bordeaux liquid as a preventative measure before flowering.

To prevent the invasion of dangerous phylloxera, it is best to use Aktellik or Fozalon insecticides that are not washed off by rains and safe for bees.

This variety is also not afraid of the invasion of ticks, but with excessive watering or in rainy summer berries bursting from excess moisture can be attacked by flies and wasps. Therefore, to prevent such attacks, it is necessary to cover the ripening clusters with a net.

The Super Extra grape variety justifies its name by its super-early ripening and extra-ability to give a high yield in various climatic conditions, for which it is highly appreciated by winegrowers both in summer cottages and agricultural plantations.