The girlish grape belongs to the grape family.
This perennial shrub often resembles a tree liana.
In the summertime, the leaves of the maiden grapes are constantly green, and in the fall, almost before the onset of frost, they become bright purple with bright blue berries that grow on red stalks.
But not everyone knows how to propagate it correctly.
Annually girlish grapes grow by 3 meters. The length of the vine can reach 30 meters. He has the ability to climb, without any problems, on any flat surface, whether it is a rock or a house.
The maiden grape gives dense foliage. He does not need additional support, as the plant is attached to the wall thanks to its disc-shaped suction cups. This frost-resistant shrub easily tolerates frost up to -24 degrees.
There are several ways to propagate girlish grapes, but the simplest and easiest is reproduction by cuttings. In this case, seedlings take root almost always.
First you need to prepare the cuttings
For autumn planting, cuttings begin to be harvested and cut in spring or summer from branches, on which leaves are clearly visible. Also cuttings are harvested from shoots that are painted in the same color, they must be healthy.
Gardeners know a little secret, when bending, the cuttings should crackle a little. Thick cuttings are also not suitable. Cut the twig cleaned from the antennae and stepchildren. Cuts make 2 cm below the leaf.
The length of the cut cuttings should be about 20-30 cm and have at least 4 ripe buds.
Then twigs put in a glass of water before the onset of the roots. With the advent of the roots of the grapes can be planted in a prepared place.
It is also interesting to read about the treatment and prevention of diseases of the vine.
Selection of cuttings for planting
Cuttings for planting can be prepared by yourself, but you can buy one. When choosing a grape seedling, you need to pay attention to the presence or absence of mechanical damage, they should not be.
When choosing a grape variety, you should pay attention to the fact that some varieties with a female type of flower should be planted only near pollinatorsotherwise, there is no point in waiting for the harvest. Seedlings should be well developed.
Buy girlish grapes better in containers. You can not buy grapes with weak shoots and lumps of earth on the root system.
Preparing the soil for planting
The girlish grape, in fact, is considered not a very demanding plant to the soil. And it can grow almost anywhere, on either side of the hedge, as if north, south, east, or west. True, from the western and northern parts of the garden the leaves grow small in size and they do not change color until the first frosts appear.
But, still the best place to grow grapes is the sunny side.
Good grape growth requires careful soil preparation. It is necessary to begin in advance, so that the earth is slightly compacted and saturated with moisture. The earth is dug up to a depth of 60-80 cm, while you need move soil layers, i.e. the upper layer is interchanged with the lower layer.
After a deep digging begin to dig up the landing pits.
The girlish grape grows on any kind of soil. On heavy chernozems and clay soils, for good breathability, broken bricks and rubble fall to the bottom of the pit, and the upper layer is mixed with river sand. This type of soil is recommended. fertilize and phosphorus.
Sandy soils are poor in humus, and they are also endowed with fewer nutrients, including nitrogen. Stone materials do not contribute, since this type of soil is well breathable.
The most favorable soils for planting and growing girlish grapes are sandy soils, they are very well breathable, so to speak, endowed with aeration.
Sandy soils contain little humus, and before planting they need additional application of organic fertilizers: peat, compost or humus. In addition to organics, they also make mineral fertilizers, including superphosphate.
Go to landing
Planting girl grapes is recommended in the fall, as the autumn planting allows the grapes to increase the growing season, so that, in turn, comes the early development of plants, but subject to favorable temperature conditions.
Planting in the fall is also good because you don’t need to look for a place to store grapes. Autumn girlish grapes it is best to land in September or October, later not worth it, because the plant can not settle down.
Girlish grapes are not planted near the sewers, as falling leaves in the autumn period can clog the entire flow. It can be planted on the balcony, in dry weather, the grapes must be watered. Also, this variety needs to be protected from frost.
Too long grape saplings can be planted obliquely, but the planting depth must be maintained.
The girlish grapes are not planted on the plastered walls, as the plaster may fall away under the weight of the plant. The best place for landing will be concrete and brick walls, wooden fences, garages, sheds, gazebos. Under the leaves the wooden walls will not rot.
Care must be taken that the vine does not grow over a tiled or slate roof. Because, the roof covering under its weight can break through.
Girlish grapes are best planted in the lighted area, because he loves a lot of light, but at the same time, and quite shade-tolerant, can grow in partial shade. Drafts and cold winds are completely inappropriate.
Grapes better planted on cultivated soils. When planting it is not necessary to use any tricks or special agrotechnical techniques. But, the earth is necessarily digging up, and a few weeks before planting you need to prepare a hole.
The standard dimensions of the landing pit are 50 cm in width and in depth, but you should still pay attention to the size of the root system.
Drainage is made at the bottom of the pit, broken bricks, sand, crushed stone fall asleep. The sand layer should be about 20 cm.
A plant planted in a pit prepared in this way for the first two years does not need feeding.
Then the soil mix, which consists of leafy earth, compost and sand, is poured into it, and the whole hole is poured to the top. The root neck of the grapes must remain at ground level.
To find out the exact depth of planting grapes use a regular stick, on which you should make a mark of 40 cm, and lower into the pit. Grapes are planted on a small mound made in advance.
But, you need to take into account a small nuance. On the seedlings of the maiden grape buds are located on the left and right, it must be planted in the ground so that the buds are along the trellis in the same plane. This must be done so that over time they will be easy to tie up.
Planted grape cuttings are dripped and watered with 4 buckets of water. After all, for a quick interrelation of the root system with the soil, abundant watering is needed, and the plant will be quickly accepted.
Girlish grapes, to protect the root system from freezing, many gardeners recommend planting at a depth of more than 50 cm, and on sandy soils - more than 60 cm. Indeed, in actual fact, the bulk of the roots is located at a depth of 40 cm.
The soil is more fertile on the surface, it warms up well, and the roots of grapes grow best here. Watering takes less water, while fertilizing decreases the amount of mineral fertilizer.
Girlish grapes can be planted and not at great depths, only 40 cm.
Grapes are planted at a distance of 30 cm from the line of the row, so that the support does not interfere with his shelter. Form elongated sleeves. They provide an opportunity to create a reserve of perennial wood, you can avoid gaps. Long sleeves easily bend down to the ground. Saplings of girlish grapes are planted at a distance of 50 centimeters from each other.
Departure after landing
To care for girlish grapes is pretty easy. it infrequent watering in drought and trimming unnecessary weaving. But in order for the grapes to grow lush and be well-groomed handsome, it needs more careful care and requires the creation of comfortable growth conditions.
In the summer, weeds are removed, which appear from time to time, loosen the ground and, if exposed, strip the roots with it. Pristvolny circle mulch peat, compost or humus. Mulch in the autumn period immediately buried in the soil.
In the period of sleep, in spring, grapes should be cut off the frozen tips of the branches, remove dried, damaged shoots, as well as those that grew outside the border.
Saplings of girlish grapes after planting grow very slowly, because the plant spends all its strength on the formation of the root system. Since the age of three, grapes grow to almost 3 meters in one season. Shoots have antennae, because thanks to them it is held on any surface.
After landing, in the early years, form the skeleton of a grape bushso that it visually gets the shape we need. Garden shears cut off the main shoots at a meter height. And shoots that grow from the side, given the right direction by tying until lignification.
After the formation of the skeleton of the girl's grapes, they annually make sanitary pruning, i.e., weak and damaged shoots are cut. Remove those shoots that impede the qualitative growth of the crown.
Since the vine grows very fast, you cannot skip pruning. Otherwise, you can get a tight weave of the shoots, and bring them into a more natural look can only be using full trim.
Watered girlish grapes moderately, only three or four times. For each bush use one bucket of water (10 liters). In the summer heat watered more often. In June, the grapes need, in addition to watering, in top dressing. They make a nitroammofoska, and in the period of active growth - they make complex fertilizers.
