Some gardeners are wary of growing grapes due to lack of knowledge or experience. In fact, this is a very grateful culture. Compliance with agrotechnical requirements guarantees a high-quality harvest. One of the most valuable varieties for novice winegrowers is the Atos grape.
Bred by Ukrainian breeders in the early 2000s, crossing two varieties "Talisman" and "Kodryanka". Gardeners love the variety for its excellent taste and super early harvest. So that the cultivation of Atos grapes does not cause problems, let us turn to a detailed description of the variety, a photo of the plant, reviews and video of winegrowers about it.
Main characteristics
The most attractive characteristics of the grape variety "Atos" are called amazing unpretentiousness, disease resistance and super-early ripening. Those who do not like to wait can immediately choose a variety for planting. The berries ripen in 100 days, and at the end of July they are ready to eat. Variety "Athos" is very good fresh, for making juices and preserves, is used by winemakers to get young red wine. Gives the drinks a rich taste and color.
Description of the grape variety "Athos" will continue with the external characteristics of the bush.
The plant is vigorous. This must be taken into account when choosing a landing site.
The bunches are dense, conical; there are no peas. The weight of one can reach one and a half kilograms.
The berries are large, dark blue.
The shape is very beautiful - elongated with a pointed end. The mass of one grape reaches 12 g. The taste of the Atos grapes is sweet with a slight sourness. The skin of the fruit is dense, but almost invisible in the process of eating. According to gardeners, ripe grapes "Athos" can be on the bushes for a month. During this time, they do not crack or crumble, increase their sugar content and become much tastier. At this time, you should not be afraid of wasps, they do not attack the variety, but birds bring a lot of grief to gardeners. The sweet taste of the berries attracts birds, so you have to take measures to scare birds away from the vineyard. Grapes have a good "raisin" ability. If you leave the bunches on the bush, then the grapes turn into high-quality raisins by September.
The flowers are bisexual, which eliminates the need to plant pollinating varieties.
The vines of the Atos grapes are strong, colored brown. Leaves with weak pubescence of the lower plate, medium in size, dark green in color.
The Atos variety demonstrates good frost resistance. Up to -23 ° C grapes winters without shelter.
In the description of the grapes "Athos" it is indicated that the yield indicator of the variety is average. The growers' reviews state that the harvest is 130 kg / ha, subject to agrotechnical requirements.
It tolerates a small delay in watering, and also has excellent transportability. Combined with an attractive berry shape, the grape hybrid has a high commercial quality.
Another important property of the Atos variety is disease resistance. He is almost not affected by powdery mildew, powdery mildew and mildew. But the variety is not capable of resisting gray rot enough. Therefore, attention should be paid to the prevention of this ailment.
An early harvest and undemandingness to protective measures allowed the grapes to take a leading place in the line of popular varieties.
Gardeners willingly share their feedback and shoot a video about the Atos grape:
Despite the huge list of advantages, it must be remembered that the result depends on the gardener's first actions.
Soil preparation and planting
The requirements of Athos for the seat do not differ from the preferences of other varieties. The hybrid loves sunny places without close proximity of groundwater. If the water is closer than two meters to the surface, it will damage the root system of the grapes and the plant may die. In this case, a drainage system is organized, drain grooves are laid.
According to the description of the variety, Atos grapes are planted in autumn and spring using the same technology (see photo).
In the spring, you should wait until the ground warms up well, and in the fall you need to finish with planting by mid-October. In both cases, they dig holes 0.7 m in size at a distance of 2 m from each other. For a vigorous "Athos", it is better not to reduce these parameters.
A layer of crushed stone or gravel is laid at the bottom of the pit.
For spring planting, all work is carried out in the fall so that the earth subsides and the pit takes on real dimensions.
Nutrients are added to the finished pit. Mix equal parts of black soil and manure, then fill the pit with the mixture, leave until spring.
For autumn planting, they begin to prepare the pits in 1.5 months. It is important to consider here that you only need to make ready-made humus or compost.
Gardeners need to be very careful when choosing the seedlings of "Athos". An initial visual inspection is required.
Seedlings are chosen by:
- no mechanical damage;
- without spots and marks on the leaves or stem;
- with at least three roots;
- a height of not less than 0.5 m.
For beginners in viticulture, it is better to purchase ready-made seedlings, and experienced gardeners themselves cut the Atos variety. The purchased seedling must be placed in a separate pot.
Before planting, the roots must be cut if their length is more than 10 cm. Dead and dried parts are also removed, then the roots are soaked in warm water for 24 hours.
A grape seedling is placed in a pit, covered with soil, leaving 2 buds on the surface. At the same time, a tube is installed in the pit, which helps to make watering of high quality.
More about spring planting:
Bush care
If you look at the photo of adult grape bushes "Athos", you can see what a vigorous variety it is.
Given the large mass, the feeding area of one plant should be 4-6 square meters. m. Cultivation of the variety "Atos" does not cause much trouble for gardeners.
Grapes require:
Sufficient watering. "Athos" maintains normal development even with small interruptions in water. This characteristic is very suitable for winegrowers who have problems with water delivery. But you need to try to water the early ripening variety once a week.
Top dressing. Additional nutrition is necessary for the variety in standard doses and according to the classic scheme:
- Before bud break, a bucket of nutrient mixture is prepared for each bush and watered. 5 g of any potassium salt, 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of superphosphate are added to a bucket of water.
- Before flowering, fertilizing is repeated in the same dose and with the same composition.
- In the phase of the beginning of fruit ripening, ammonium nitrate is excluded, the remaining components are left and again fed to the grapes.
- In autumn, the Atos variety needs potassium. A fertilizer containing at least 40% potassium is suitable.
- The variety reacts well to organic feeding. Manure is applied once every three years with simultaneous digging of the vineyard soil.
Another important point of care for the Atos variety is pruning. Vigorous grapes develop poorly and bear fruit without pruning.
When pruning, the load of the bush is normalized:
- eyes 30-35 pcs.;
- shoots 20-24 pcs.
6-8 eyes are left on fruiting shoots.
In the fall of the first year after planting, the two strongest vines are cut for 2-3 buds.
In the second year, the inflorescences that have appeared on the shoots from these buds are removed.
Pinch the tops of "Athos" at the end of August.
In the fall, fan pruning is done for the first time.
In the third year, in the spring, the kidneys are removed, except for the top 3.
In the fall, full pruning of the vine.
In the future, the formation of the variety is repeated.
For beginner growers, fan pruning:
Although the "Athos" grape belongs to the resistant varieties against diseases, but some troubles can arise during cultivation.
The variety is affected by gray mold. In order to prevent the development of the disease, preventive treatments are done. If the plant gets sick, then the berries will be impossible to store and transport. The danger is that the course of the disease lasts 2-3 years. Spraying with fungicides helps prevent this. Benleit, Penoknazol, Topsin work well for the Atos variety.
Handle with care so as not to burn the plants. Use a 1% solution in a volume of 3.5 liters per 1 sq. m area.
Of the pests, leaf rollers are dangerous for "Athos". For the fight use insecticides - "Chlorofos", "Karbofos", "Gardona".
The second enemy of the variety is birds. Gardeners struggle with them with rigid nets that cover the vines.
Testimonials
In addition to a description of the variety and a photo of Atos grapes, reviews of experienced winegrowers are very useful for novice gardeners.
