If you decide to expand your own vineyard, grow a planting stock for sale, or distribute it to your gardener friends, you need to know everything about harvesting for the winter and storing grape cuttings.
As is known, grapes multiply more often by means of cuttings . Such cuttings, or, as they are called, chibouks, grow over the summer. In autumn, for breeding, choose those that have matured well and look perfectly healthy: their color is uniform, and when they bend, they make a crackling sound. For the harvesting, the vine is not suitable for weak, thin, damaged pests and diseases. Very thick chibuki, or those that are sliced from barren bushes, are also not suitable for breeding grapes.
Harvesting grape cuttings
Cut branches of vines of those varieties of grapes, which you decided to multiply, must be cleaned of the antennae and stepchildren. Then they cut into chibouks of the same length from 30 to 40 cm. On one cut will be 3-8 kidneys. One feature: under the lower kidney should remain no more than 1 cm chibouk. And all because under the lower bud will be formed roots and the extra vine will only interfere with this.
Then the cuttings must be decontaminated by immersion for about half an hour in a dark red solution of potassium permanganate. After that, decompose them on paper and allow them to dry thoroughly. Cuttings cuttings are sorted by sorts and bundled. And for each bundle, do not forget to attach a note with the name of the variety. The cuttings prepared in this way are ready for laying for winter storage.
Storage of grapes chibouks
An inexperienced horticulturist, who decided to grow grapes, raises the question: how correctly and where to store cuttings of grapes in winter. There are several ways to store grape cuttings.
- The most acceptable way to store grape cuttings in winter is in the cellar. From above they should be sprinkled with wet sawdust or sand. With this method of storage, cuttings can become moldy, so sand or sawdust should only be slightly damp, but not wet. It is recommended to keep the temperature in the basement no more than + 6 ° C.
- Another way to house the cuttings of grapes is in the fridge. For this you need to take two plastic two-liter bottles and cut the bottom in them. If you insert them one into the other, you get a container for storing chibouks. In traffic jams, it is necessary to make holes and from time to time to air such a store so that the cuttings do not become moldy. The container is placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. You can save the chibouks of grapes in the refrigerator or in the cellar by wrapping them in wet moss and placing it all in a plastic bag. Thanks to the bactericidal and antifungal properties of sphagnum moss, the cuttings are perfectly preserved until the spring.
- For storage in the trench, you must choose a place in the garden where water does not stagnate and where direct sunlight does not reach. From the north side of the house we excavate a trench up to 80 cm wide and
depth 80-100 cm. We place the cuttings in the groove vertically and top with a layer of earth about 40 cm. Around the trench with cuttings, we need to dig a groove in order to divert the melted and rainwater. This method of storage can be selected if there is no possibility of storing grape cuttings at home.
Approximately once a month it is necessary to inspect the stored cuttings of grapes. If they become moldy, it is necessary to re-disinfect them with potassium permanganate. And in case of drying, you must soak them in water, dry them well and pack again.
In spring, if the grape cuttings are well preserved during the winter, they can be planted in the open ground.