Growing grapes at home

Many people admire beautiful grapevines growing on someone’s balcony. But the plant has not only a decorative function, because grapes are also very useful and tasty. In addition, from the berries can be made natural wine or juice. About the benefits of such products can not talk! How to grow grapes at home, so that in the future to collect a good harvest read in the article.

Conditions for growing grapes

Growing a creeping bush will require a lot of effort from you in the observance of a number of rules on planting and care.

Lighting

Grapes adore good lighting and heat, so it can be placed on a window sill facing south or on the balcony, read more about this in the article growing grapes on the balcony.

Temperature

Grapes – a thermophilic plant, so it is necessary to monitor that there were no sharp changes.

During the ripening period of the fruit, the temperature should be quite high, 25 to 30 degrees.

Capacity

But the container with the earth is better protected from direct sunlight. Grapes need frequent abundant watering with water, because he is a lover of moisture. To plant the culture initially you will need a small pot, but every year the plant requires transplanting into a larger container. At the initial stage, plastic cups will be suitable for growing seedlings. When the seedlings grow, they are transplanted into a more voluminous container of 3-5 liters. Do not forget about the drainage layer and holes for the outflow of excess fluid.

Soil and its fertilization

To grow grapes, you will need fertile soil. It can be purchased in a special store or make your own from sand and humus. But during the first 2 years of life, the young “pet” does not interfere with the abundance of nutrients in the ground for better growth. To create such soil, take leaf humus, river sand, sod soil and compost in a ratio of 3:1:3:2. The resulting soil mixture is well permeable to air, so the grapes quickly develop a strong rhizome.

Every 20-25 days, the plant should be fertilized with nitrogen fertilizer, since nitrogen deficiency has a detrimental effect on growth. To grow strong cuttings, at the stage of fruiting, it is necessary to fertilize the soil mixture with a complex fertilizer once every two weeks.

Shaping the grape bush

The vine is tied to a support, the length of which does not exceed 1.5 meters (this is the best option for growing at home). During winter anabiosis choose the strongest shoot and shorten it by 3 buds, all the remaining vines are removed. Then the plant is placed in a dark room with a cool temperature, and at the end-middle of February the grapes are transplanted to a larger pot and moved to heat, it begins to be watered. After the new vine appears, the plant is moved to a window sill closer to the sun.

At the flowering stage, the fruiting shoot is usually pruned above 4-5 leaves from the flower. We need to leave one flower on each shoot. The strongest vine, often closer to the root system, we leave. The rest we remove. Such a procedure helps to grow a good harvest.

Propagation

This crop can be grown from cuttings or from a seed. Propagation through growth from a stone is interesting because such a plant can give a new variety, since the parental traits are not fully preserved. Only strong, healthy and frost-resistant seedpods are needed. Propagation from a stone is more time-consuming than propagation from cuttings.

Killing

Grapes usually root well in soil. But the shoots can develop faster than the rhizome, because of this the stems pull on themselves most of the nutrients and moisture, and from this the young plant can be lost. To prevent this from happening, keeling is done. This creates conditions where the temperature at pot level is much higher than at the top. Keeling helps the root system to develop faster, keeled cuttings have a much better chance of survival.

Growing grapes from a seed

Propagation of this type will require patience and increased care, but you will be able to boast of their “wine berry”, grown from a seed in home conditions. Pips are extracted from mature berries, then they should be washed under the tap. In the next step, the pips are placed in a food bag and placed in the refrigerator. Once every 7 days, the pips should be taken out, rinsed and returned to the refrigerator.

After about 30-60 days, the seed should crack, pips with a crack spread on moistened absorbent cotton on a dish. Then the pips are placed in a warm room for 3-4 days at a temperature of 15-17 degrees. After this time should form small roots, then everything is ready for planting in the ground.

Growing grapes from cuttings

Propagation by cuttings is an easier method than propagation by seed. For home cultivation, it is optimal to choose cuttings of a self-pollinating variety. Usually the formation of cuttings occurs in the autumn season. It is worth to stop on those cuttings, which have a couple or three internodes. After cutting the cuttings, they should be placed for a few minutes in a weakly pink solution of manganese. Then dry them on a soft cloth and roll in pine sawdust, wrap them in a cellophane bag so that about 2-3 cm of cuttings left outside the cellophane. Cover the film-covered part tightly wrapped in several areas.

Storage of cuttings takes place in the refrigerator until the end of winter. But watch the cuttings carefully, because the sawdust can turn black. In such a case, replace the sawdust, and wash the cuttings, disinfect them with a solution of manganese solution, dry them and return them to the cold.

At the end of winter, take out the bag and remove some of the bark from the cuttings, if there are green areas under it, then they are suitable for planting. The cuttings can be divided into 3 parts, but each must have several buds.

After cutting the cuttings, dip them in distilled water for two days, then dry them. Now the grapes can be planted in the ground.

Instructions for planting and care

1. Root the cuttings in water, this will help to avoid the procedure of pickling. Put gauze or absorbent cotton in a cup and pour some water. Add activated charcoal or manganese solution there as well, and move the scion into the container.
2. Cover the cuttings with a bag and place the container in the light for 2-3 days until roots form. When the root grows by 1 centimeter, then the scion can be planted in the prepared soil. At the bottom of the container you need to make a drainage layer of claydite or pebbles.
3. We dig a deepening of about 3-4 cm, move there the cuttings, water with comfortable water and bury.
4. Go to the standard care. We produce frequent regular watering, shade from direct sunlight and fertilize every 20-25 days with nitrogen fertilizers.
5. In winter, the plant is cut, leaving the strongest shoot. Then we place it in a cool dark room, so that the grapes “go into hibernation”.
6. In February, the plant should be planted in a larger container, but the soil should contain less humus. We put the pot in the warmth and water it with water. This is the period of “awakening”.
7. The culture at home begins to bear fruit in the 3rd-4th year of life. During flowering, the shoots are pruned. After the formation of fruits, usually in June, the grape again goes into anabiosis. It is necessary again to place the container with the vine in the cool. With proper care, another harvest can be harvested in late fall.

Varieties of grapes

Grapes – a useful and delicious berry, but there are a great many varieties of this plant. What kind to choose a species to successfully plant it at home? If you have chosen propagation from a seed, then take the seeds of hybrid varieties, because they are more resistant to various diseases.

Such species are more likely than others to live well and bear fruit on the windowsill. Also consider what you need the grapes for. If they are to be used to make wine and juice, sour grapes are a better option. For eating, it is better to grow sweet berries.

You can plant the following varieties: Victoria, Red delight, Northern, Nimrang, Laura, Talisman.

Growing grapes is not such an easy task. But your efforts, care and patience will eventually pay off, be sure!