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Whatever plants are grown by gardeners on their plots, they need timely feeding. They are carried out throughout the growing season. Grapes are no exception. But the most important top dressing for the vine must be done in the fall before sheltering the vine for the winter.
It is at this time that the wood ripens, the grapes accumulate nutrients for fruiting in the next season. And the soil was depleted by autumn, part of the nutrients went to the plant itself, part was washed out with precipitation. Therefore, you need to think about how to feed the grapes in the fall.
Nutrients needed by grapes
The grapes are fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. Moreover, this issue is decided by gardeners on an individual basis. The fact is that in recent years there has been a tendency to grow environmentally friendly products. And organic fertilizers contain many macronutrients that are found in chemical products for feeding.
Each of the macronutrients plays a role in the life of the grapes during the growing season and in preparation for winter:
- fertilizers containing nitrogen are necessary for the growth and strengthening of the shoots;
- you need to fertilize the grapes with superphosphate containing phosphorus. It is applied when the berries ripen on the plants. The ripening process is accelerated, the grape bushes have enough time to prepare for winter.
- potash dressings, carried out in the fall, contribute to the ripening of the shoots. Moreover, the grapes become less susceptible to cold snaps, winters better, the next year's harvest will be sweeter, since sugar formation improves;
- copper-containing dressings strengthen the immunity of the vine, accelerate the development of shoots.
Trace elements such as iron, magnesium, sulfur, boron are introduced for planting grapes in the autumn so that the plants can winter well.
Experienced gardening tips:
Fertilizers for autumn feeding
Fertilizers for grapes are divided into organic and mineral. Each of them must be added when carrying out autumn dressings. In addition to the main "work" - feeding the vine, they contribute to the formation of the future harvest and improve the taste of the finished product.
Let's start our excursion with organic matter.
Group of organic fertilizers
These include:
- manure and bird droppings;
- humus and compote;
- peat and wood ash.
Fertilizing the vineyard with manure and chicken droppings, gardeners not only enrich the soil with essential nutrients, but also improve its structure. Looseness, air permeability appears in it, therefore, the root system receives enough oxygen.
As for peat, humus, compost or ash, they cannot be called an independent fertilizer. Despite the fact that they contain various trace elements, they work more to improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil.
Mineral fertilizers
Top dressing of grapes in autumn is carried out with both single-component and multi-component mineral fertilizers.
Among the dressings, one-component mineral fertilizers are often used:
- superphosphate granules;
- potassium salt, sulfate or potassium chloride, potassium magnesium;
- urea;
- ammonium nitrate.
Ammofosku and nitrophosku, as a variant of mineral fertilizers with many components, also need to be applied during the autumn feeding of grapes. These are potassium and phosphorus-containing fertilizers.
Autumn feeding plan
You need to feed the grapes carefully. The fact is that excess nutrients can do more harm than deficiency. To fertilize grapes, it is advisable to draw up a rough plan. Why exemplary? Just before feeding, you need to pay attention to the condition of the plants. The choice of fertilizers applied in autumn for grapes depends on the composition of the soil.
Any top dressing is carried out on well-shed soil. It would be nice to loosen it up so that the fertilizer gets to its destination as soon as possible. At the first stage, the plants need to be fertilized with organic matter. Dry substances are added under the plants: chicken droppings, compost, manure (choose one of the fertilizers) and ash. Such dressing is necessary to enrich the soil with trace elements and nutrients. Indeed, during the period of fruiting, the soil and grapes were depleted. Such feeding is carried out in early September.
At the second stage, it is better to use mineral fertilizers for autumn feeding. As a rule, it is carried out 10-14 days after the introduction of organic matter. And here you need to pay attention to soil acidity... If it is normal, then there will be enough potash and phosphorus fertilizers. You can use ammophoska or nitrophoska.
You don't have to enter them separately. It is best to prepare an effective fertilizer by combining superphosphate (20 grams) and potassium salt (10 grams). They are added to 10 liters of water and the grape bushes are spilled.
With good soil condition, ash and peat can be dispensed with. Both of these components are mixed in equal proportions and poured under the root, mixing with the soil.
In addition to root feeding, it is necessary to spray the grapes over the leaves with the same fertilizers. With foliar spraying, nutrients are absorbed better.
How to determine the acidity of the soil
The increased acidity of the soil is harmful to many plants, including grapes. Not every gardener can afford to do a professional soil analysis. But it is not necessary to contact specialists. You can use the leaves of garden plants for this. Currant and cherry leaves work better than litmus paper.
Boiling water is poured into a liter jar with leaves. After the water has cooled down, a little earth is poured:
- if the water turns red, the soil is acidic;
- blue water signals weak acidity;
- if the color turns blue, the soil is neutral.
Mulching
Fertilized vineyard is well spilled. This is a mandatory procedure before wintering plants. To preserve water and added top dressing, the trunks are mulched before the onset of frost.
For this operation, you can use needles, cut grass, humus. This covering of the surface also additionally fertilizes the grapes. Moreover, the intake of nutrients occurs gradually.
Fertilizing an Autumn Vineyard:
Useful Tips
In the fall, the vineyard is fertilized without fail.
Mineral fertilizers can be applied in different ways: dry or with water. Liquid dressing works more efficiently. If dry granules of mineral fertilizers are poured under the grapes, then they cannot be poured under the trunk of the plant. It is best to dig a groove around the grapes, add top dressing and mix it with the soil.
Organic matter is also applied at a distance. They retreat from the trunk by 0.5-0.8 m and dig a hole.You need to deepen the fertilizer by half a meter.
