Black grapes are the namesake of the Spanish queen - Isabella, a variety that is great for a harsh climate. Also as the Beauty of the North and Super Extra it is different highly resistant to frost even without a special shelter.
Not prone to most grape diseases and slightly affected by pests.
The undoubted advantage of the variety is high yield comparable to the yield of the Anniversary of Kherson Summer Resident and absolute unpretentiousness. Even a beginner grower can easily grow such grapes on his plot. You just need to follow a few simple rules and recommendations for planting and care.
How to plant grapes Isabella?
First you need to choose the right sapling and decide on a place to plant. It should be noted that in cold areas, this variety can safely winter at t to -30 C and does not require shelter.
Isabella is a late and tall variety and for full maturation in cold climates need a warm, sunny place with a large area of support. Fully with the description of the variety you can find in this article.
The ideal place to land in this case would be the placement near the wall of the house or household. the buildings. At the same time, grapes should be planted at a distance of about 1 m from the supporting wall.
Importantso that nearby there are no tall trees and shrubs that shade grapes and impoverish the soil. In no case can not be placed near corn and sunflower.
Buy and plant grape bushes best fall. You can plant in the spring, but survival rate, in this case, will be worse. For planting, it is better to choose annual saplings with a strong root system.
Before landing be sure to prepare the soil. If the soil is acidic, then two weeks before planting should be liming. Isabella is not demanding on the composition of the earth, but will not grow in saline soils with high groundwater levels. For clay, good drainage is needed, for peat bog — sand; for sandy soil, good drainage.
Important properly prepare the seedling for planting. If the roots are dry or planting is not planned immediately after purchase, then it is better to drop the seedling for a day in warm water. Before planting, pruning of shoots and roots is carried out. The main roots are pruned to 5-10 cm, escape - 3-5 eyes.
Pit for planting prepared in advance. It should be a depth of 50-90 cm (depending on the composition of the soil) and a diameter of 80 cm. At the bottom it is desirable lay a good drainage layer.
For this fit any small pebbles or gravel. From above pour a small layer of the dug-out soil and establish a basic peg.
Then fertilize: manure, potash salt, ashes and superphosphate, fill a little more land and carefully plant a bush.
Its roots are dipped in a clay gruel, instilled in and loosely tied up the seedling to a peg.
The land around tightly tamped and plentifully watered. After watering, be sure to well isolate the hole with peat.
When landing on an open area, not near walls, must maintain a certain distance between the plants: Between the rows - not less than 2 m, and between the seedlings inside the rows - about 1.5 m. With such a planting scheme, it is necessary to install a special metal support for the vine.
What sort of care is required?
How to care for grapes Isabella? First of all, Isabella needs good watering during the period of active growth, before the appearance of berries. The frequency of irrigation depends on the composition of the soil: on heavy soils it is necessary to water less frequently, on light soils - more often. Regularly loosening, weeding and fertilizer.
Mineral fertilizers can be used no more than 3 times a year. It is good, during the period of grape growing, to feed with fresh manure diluted in water with the addition of superphosphate. Do not forget about thorough soil mulching after each watering.
In the first year after planting, pruning of the superficial roots (cropping) is carried out. In the spring, they remove the damaged and frost-bitten shoots, carry out the sticks and pinch the tops of the shoots shortly before flowering. As the shoots grow back, they must be tied to a support, giving the correct direction of growth.
Everything about the vintage Isabella, as well as whether this variety is suitable for the production of wine, you will find here.
Remember that the organization of proper care for the vines will allow you to avoid diseases such as mildew, oidium, anthracnose, a variety of rot, rubella. Observing the rules of planting, pruning, spilling and taking other adequate measures, you can protect your plants from such misfortunes as bacterial cancer, chlorosis, and bacteriosis.
A photo
Visually familiar with the grapes "Isabella" can be in the photo below:
Pruning in the fall: detailed instructions
Spend Autumn pruning should be 2-3 weeks after the leaves fall. In the first place remove weak and lean shoots. In young shrubs leave from 3 to 8 healthy shoots growing at an angle to the ground. Green stepchildren are removed completely, and those who are stiff are removed by 2/3. Cut them at a right angle, as far as possible from the fruiting shoots.
Young shoots are pruned slightly above the location of the lower peephole. Isabella is doing a so-called long pruning: 5-6 eyes are left on the one-year sprout. On a long-term shoot, about 1.1 eyes should be left for each mm of diameter.
It is important to follow a few trim rules:
- ensure that the cuts are on the inside of the shoot;
- after removing annual shoots, no stumps should remain;
- cuts should be absolutely smooth;
- annual vine is cut 1 cm above the peephole;
- sprouts grown from roots are removed at a depth of 10-15 cm under the ground.
With proper and regular pruning of the bush, you can ensure a good harvest for a long time and increase the vineyard by reproducing cuttings.
Reproduction by cuttings
How to seat? During the autumn pruning, you can prepare cuttings for planting. To do this, cut off part of the fruitful annual escape, about 7-10 mm in diameter and 1.5-2 m long.
There are 2 ways to stock:
- Cut the vine cut into small pieces of 20-40 cm. Moreover, the upper section of the cut should be 2-3 cm above the eye.
Then cuttings 1-2 hours soaked in a solution of ferrous sulfate and determine the storage until spring in a cold place.
For better preservation, they are wrapped in a wet cloth and tightly tied in plastic bags.
In early February, the cuttings reach out and place the substrate of wet conifer sawdust.
Substrate constantly moisturize, not allowing it to dry out. After the appearance of small roots, the cuttings are planted in the prepared soil of sand, compost and earth until rooting.
- Leaves are removed from the prepared vine, rolled into a ring and, without additional treatment, are stored in a dark, cool place. Cut cuttings in the spring, leaving 5-6 eyes on each. After that their 2-3 weeks placed in water and put on a sunny warm place before the formation of roots. Further cuttings rooted in a special soil with the use of mineral fertilizers.
Such cuttings can be planted in a permanent place in early May.
Formation of the Old Vine: Subtlety and Wisdom
To avoid problems in the future, shaping grape bush need start in the first year after landing. If this is not done, then the old vine begins to hurt with time, the crop becomes smaller and the care of such grapes becomes complicated.
The first step is to choose the right way to garter. When the grapes are on the wall, they are supported under an inclination, with free placement - vertical trellis. It is important to stretch the vine over the entire area of the trellis to ensure free access of the sun and air to all parts of the vine.
Isabella variety is not covered for the winter, so it is fine for him a high thoracic bush.
For the formation of such a bush, it is necessary to remove all the stepchildren who are above the third step of the tapestry, below — 2-3 stepsons are left and the pinnacle of the shoot is pinned.
Isabella is perfect for creating arches, arbors and pergolas. Also an excellent decoration of your buildings can serve as a girl's grapes with a complete description of which you can find on our website.
The main requirement in the formation is to prevent the bush from thickening. A rejuvenating pruning is carried out annually at the old vine: they remove the entire arrow with the vines last year, and the matured annual shoots are cut by 2-4 eyes and left, with all the processes growing on it, to form a new fruit unit.
Very important start the formation of the bush as soon as possible, not allowing the uncontrolled growth of shoots.
If you follow all these simple rules of planting and caring for Isabella grapes, you can grow it at the dacha even without special knowledge. Isabella is a wonderful grape, easy to care for, to form and reproduce.
Visually see how to properly form a bush can be on the video below:
