Content
When the last bunches of grapes have already been cut, the plants need to be prepared for the coming winter and fruiting next year. It's no secret that an excellent harvest can only be obtained from healthy grape bushes. And over the summer the vineyard was depleted, fungal diseases and viruses could appear on it. Plantings suffer a lot from insect pests.
This is why processing grapes in autumn before sheltering for the winter is not a whim of gardeners, but a mandatory event that involves a range of work. You should not ignore or delay processing the plantation, as this will negatively affect the wintering and planting of the crop next summer. We will tell you about the processing rules and the necessary medications in the article.
Why are grapes processed?
The question of whether or not to process grapes in the fall is often asked by beginning gardeners. Many people consider this procedure a waste of time and effort. They motivate this by the fact that with the onset of cold weather, diseases and pests go into hibernation, and, therefore, will not bother the plants.
This is an erroneous opinion, since diseases and pests overwinter not only in the soil, but also on the plants themselves.Spores of diseases such as mildew, oidium, Alternaria, and gray rot are precisely what the grapevine chooses for wintering. And with the onset of warm spring days, the grapes will begin to attack. Therefore, autumn treatment is an effective means of combating parasitic insects.
Even if you have not observed disease damage to the vineyard in the summer, prevention is still worth carrying out.
Features of autumn processing
For beginning gardeners, processing raises many questions:
- what rules should be followed so as not to harm the plants;
- in what order are grapes processed in preparation for winter;
- what means can be used;
- how to protect grape bushes from freezing.
Let's look at the issues of autumn grapevine processing in more detail.
For autumn spraying of grapes It is best to use chemicals. They will not harm the harvest, since by the time of processing all the grapes have already been cut. In addition to destroying pests and diseases, plants also receive additional nutrition.
Why do you need to take chemicals when carrying out processing? The fact is that folk remedies do not destroy vineyard diseases and pests 100%. Some of them will always be able to find a secluded place and safely overwinter in the buds and stems. And chemicals, when sprayed thoroughly, give reliable results.
Preparations based on iron, copper and lime
What preparations can be used for autumn processing of grapes:
- iron and copper sulfate;
- Bordeaux mixture;
- slaked lime.
Although many experienced gardeners have ambivalent attitudes towards iron sulfate. They believe that treating grapevines in the fall with such a preparation leads to a decrease in the plants' resistance to cold and leads to freezing of the root system. They advise treating plantings with copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture.
Solutions are prepared before processing, since during storage they lose their killing power. Each bush needs to be sprayed from all sides, so when preparing the solution, assume that about two liters will be needed per plant.
Slaked lime destroys fungal diseases and mold well. You can prepare it yourself. Dry lumps are filled with water (1 kg of lime + 3 liters of water). The resulting “sour cream” is diluted with clean water to make a full bucket. Spray the resulting composition over the plants using a paint brush or broom.
Other preparations for treatment
Of course, copper sulfate or slaked lime alone is not enough for autumn disinfection of the vineyard. After all, they cannot destroy many diseases. Many grape plantings are affected by mildew and oidium and other viral and fungal diseases; they can only be gotten rid of with special means.
In the fall, when grapes are processed, attention is paid to each plant. Any damage to leaves and shoots should be alarming. If mildew spots are found on leaf blades, you can use the following for spraying:
- Amistar or Mikal;
- Delan or Strobi;
- Novozir, Acrobat and other special means.
To destroy oidium on shoots, it is better to use products containing sulfur for treatment.
Most often, gardeners purchase:
- Mikal or colloidal sulfur;
- Efal or Topaz;
- Saprol, Privent.
Often by autumn you can see the action of the cluster budworm on the leaves. If an infusion of tobacco or chamomile does not help, then it is best to use a chemical such as Rovikurt. To prevent brown spot, use Fundazol and Polychom for spraying.
Mites often live on grape bushes. They get rid of it during minting and pinching. By cutting off the affected upper part of the shoot, you can achieve almost 100 percent results. And treatment with chemicals rids the bushes of ticks before wintering.
Processing rules
As we have already noted, chemical treatment can only begin after the crop has been harvested. Don't wait until the leaves fall. After all, the purpose of spraying a grapevine is to destroy pests and disease spores on the leaves and soil.
A special device is used for spraying. It should have a good nozzle and a sealed pump.
Chemicals are diluted strictly according to instructions. Overdose is not allowed.
After we have treated the grape plantation for the first time, we let the plants rest for about a week. Then we repeat the work to consolidate the result.Plants freed from pests and diseases will get stronger during this time and go into winter full of strength and health.
Processing sequence
Spraying begins with early grape varieties. They are the ones who suffer the most from diseases and weaken faster. And this, in turn, reduces the immunity of plants and there is a risk of plant death in winter.
When spraying bushes in autumn, keep in mind that only those parts of the plant that have been exposed to a sufficient amount of the chemical will be protected. Don't forget to spray the undersides of leaves and trunks. If the drug gets on the ground, it’s not a big deal. This has its own benefits: disease spores and pests will be destroyed in the ground.
The spraying procedure begins in September. Varieties late-ripening grapes ripening is processed in early October. After processing, they prune, fertilize and cover the grapevine for the winter.
Before the last treatment of the grapevine, leaves are removed from under the plants, since they may contain insects that have prepared to spend the winter in them.
How to properly spray grapes before covering:
Conclusion
Gardeners who have been growing grapes for a long time understand the importance of autumn processing. Plants weakened by diseases and pests will somehow survive the winter, but in the spring they will begin to wither and die. Therefore, they purchase the necessary medications in advance.
Not a single plant is left unattended. Even if there were no outbreaks of diseases in the summer, preventive treatment is mandatory.The procedures, of course, take gardeners a lot of time in the fall. But it pays off with a bountiful harvest next season.
