Chasing grapes - the path to juicy bunches and strong shoots

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Midsummer is the time of "change of fate" for grapes. Its irrigation limits and deprives of nitrogen fertilizers, replacing them with potash and phosphorus. For about a month, the grower is looking to see if he managed to reorient the bush so that berries and shoots ripen on it. If not, and the tops of the shoots have straightened, indicating a slowdown in growth, he plans a responsible operation for August, called "chasing grapes." Actually, if we are talking about the middle zone of Russia, it is held in the third or fourth week of August, and if it is about the Russian south - at the beginning of September.

When chasing, the upper part of the green shoots of grapes is removed, on which 5-8 underdeveloped leaves grow. At this point, the top of the plant turns into a real parasite, because it consumes more nutrients than it produces. After chasing, they are redirected by the plant to grape clusters and internodes - and the berries ripen better, and the shoots grow he althy. And it is the grape topsin August, they are often heavily affected by mildew, so chasing green shoots of grapes is also a he alth operation: fewer diseased leaves, worse conditions for the development of the disease. It should be noted that although in some cases grapes can bear fruit perfectly without chasing, in irrigated vineyards it is necessary to carry it out in order to achieve greater sugar content in berries and better ripening of annual shoots. Their resistance to cold and productivity also increase, since the development of fruit buds is completely completed, and the bush as a whole has the necessary supply of nutrients.

Coinage should be differentiated depending on the grape varieties and their regionalization. It is desirable for each grade to determine which leaf surface is best left after minting. Although this is not always the case and not everywhere. For example, in Bulgaria, famous for its vineyards, this operation is practiced on all varieties and in almost all viticultural regions. At the same time, less than 10-12 leaves should not remain above the bunch, otherwise it risks being left without sugar. For the same reason, chasing low- and medium-sized varieties should be abandoned in order to avoid a depressing effect on plants.

And certainly you should not mint a bush in the midst of its growth in the hope of throwing all your strength into ripening clusters early. Instead, powerful young stepchildren are driven up, as if it’s not July on the street, buthappy May days. The owner will be left with sour meat instead of a crop and may lose the vine altogether during wintering. The belated chasing of grape shoots is not much better, when the harvest has already been harvested from two-meter vines. It seems that there is no harm, but there is also zero benefit.

But if the variety is vigorous, it is worth trying such a method as repeated minting of grapes. The first time it is carried out before flowering, and on each shoot after it there should not be less than 13 leaves. As the stepsons of the two upper buds grow by 5-6 cm, a new chasing is carried out, but this time it should be 3-4 cm higher than the previous one. Thus, 3-4 chasings are collected during the growing season. Their result should be the same as with a single shot, and the yield is increased by 25-30%. Chasing grapes produces waste, which is a juicy green mass. This is a very valuable livestock feed that can be used for silage. One hectare of vineyards can produce several tons of green mass.