What year after planting does grapes bear fruit: when does it begin to produce the first harvest

Establishing a prosperous vineyard on your site requires a gardener a certain amount of knowledge on this topic. It is important to study not only the main agrotechnical measures, but also information about the year after planting grapes are able to bear fruit. This will avoid many mistakes in the desire to get an early harvest and try the first juicy berries already in the 2nd-3rd year.

Start fruiting time

When growing non-irrigated grapes on an industrial scale, the bushes are not allowed to bear fruit until the age of four.It is believed that only by this time the plant is able to produce a crop without compromising its he alth and the quality of the berries. The bush must have time to build up a sufficient amount of root mass before entering into fruiting. After pruning, the plant takes on a shape suitable for given climatic and soil conditions.

The first four years of proper formation of bushes allow you to subsequently spend a minimum amount of time caring for the vineyard. This is especially important for non-irrigated plantings of large farms. When the grapes begin to bear fruit, the bushes already have powerful roots up to 2-3 meters deep and a developed aerial part of the bush.

On your site, the first bunches can be obtained 1-2 years earlier. Regular watering and fertilizing remove most of the load on the extraction of moisture and nutrients from the plant. The main task for the gardener after planting is to have time to grow a strong mature vine during the season. It will depend on what year the grapes will be ready to give the first inflorescences and fruits.

Using some agricultural practices, you can stimulate the growth and development of the bush.

Factors affecting fruiting

With proper care, already in the 2-3rd year after planting, you can taste the first grapes. But sometimes the gardener cannot achieve a harvest even for the 5-6th year. The ability of bushes to bear fruit depends on many conditions.

Time

Vegetating cuttings with a bare dried root, planted in late spring, will be sick for a long time, the vine, most likely, will not have time to mature and will not survive the winter. From such grapes, even with perfect care, one should not expect fruiting in the coming years.

Purchased seedlings should be taken with a closed root. If this is an autumn planting, then it is recommended to pay attention to the condition of the vine, the growth of this summer should be ripe (not green), at least 6-7 mm thick.Such a seedling, qualitatively sheltered from the cold, will endure the winter well and is able to bloom the next season.

Spring grapes are planted in several ways:

sleeping cuttings in early spring before sap flow begins;
already awakened vegetative cuttings (seedlings) in late May - early June;
2-3 year old seedlings before sap flow.

When planted in the first way, the plant takes root easier, gets sick less, but, most likely, will not have time to give a sufficient increase for fruiting the next year.

The second method involves planting cuttings at the end of February in warm plastic bottles. By the beginning of May, the cuttings will grow up to 50 cm. When planting, they carefully transship without disturbing the earthen coma. Such a seedling, with good care, will most likely produce the first inflorescences next year. In this case, you can leave one small inflorescence on the strongest shoot and try the first berries.

2-3-year-old cuttings do not always take root well, but with proper care they bear fruit the next year. In the year of planting, the inflorescences must be removed so as not to weaken the plant.

Location

Grapes are very picky about sunlight, do not tolerate cool lowlands and foothills. In a shaded, damp place, the grapes will quickly grow green mass, the vine will not mature until the end of the season, it will be fragile and thin, and in winter it will most likely freeze. Such a vineyard may not bear fruit even in the 5-6th year. A place open on the south side, protected on the north side by buildings or trees, will do.

Cutting

When forming young bushes, it should be borne in mind that inflorescences are formed from the average buds of last year's growth. Pruning too short can prevent the grapes from fruiting in the early years.But the lack of pruning can delay fruiting indefinitely. The plant spends too much energy on "unpromising" weak shoots.

Feeding

The maturation of the vine largely depends on the amount of nutrients supplied during the growing season. Excess nitrogen stimulates large growth, but the vine "fattens", becomes fragile and green, flower buds are formed weakly.

Lack of potassium stops the development of shoots, the plant lags behind in growth, the inflorescences crumble. The lack of organic components in the soil directly affects the taste and quality of the future crop. On poor soils without the introduction of humus and compost, grape bushes grow root mass for a long time and may not bear fruit for up to 5-6 years.

Rules of care

Before planting grapes, you need to prepare the soil to a depth of 100 cm. The entire layer is removed, a large amount of humus and compost is added, mixed and loosened.Heavy clay soils are additionally diluted with sand. Each bush is allocated in a row of at least 2 m. When choosing a place, it should be borne in mind that it is undesirable to plant grapes next to large trees. They actively absorb moisture and nutrients around them. Along the perimeter of the vineyard at a distance of 4-5 m, you can plant a perennial shrub (currant, gooseberry), it will protect the plants from the wind and hold back the snow.

Young bushes before fruiting are watered 4-5 times a season, helping plants survive the driest time. By the end of summer, abundant watering can stimulate the active growth of shoots that will not have time to mature before the end of the season. It is necessary to ensure that the soil layer is soaked at least 1 meter. Surface moisture stimulates the development of roots in the top layer of soil, which dries out first, the plant becomes dependent on frequent watering.

To keep the vineyard soil from drying out and cracking, it is mulched with a thick layer of dry grass or straw.

In late autumn or early spring, humus is introduced in large quantities for digging. In the first half of summer, instead of mineral fertilizers, you can water the grapes with a solution of mullein. In the second half - it is better to switch to feeding with bird droppings. Foliar fertilizing with potash fertilizers is useful according to the instructions. It is undesirable to completely replace organic fertilizers with mineral fertilizers, the taste and quality of berries is very dependent on the “humus” component of the soil.

Pruning of young bushes in order to accelerate fruiting is minimal. Remove excess and weak shoots so that the plant does not waste strength on them. One of the largest shoots is slightly pruned, leaving the middle part of the vine with the buds of inflorescences. The second shoot is cut off "on the sleeve." Under favorable conditions, such grapes can bloom in the second year after planting.

In the first fruiting season, only one small inflorescence is left to sample the berries.If you do not remove the extra ovary, the plant will spend all its strength on the ripening of fruits, the vine of this year will not ripen, and the bush will freeze in winter. In autumn, the bushes are carefully covered, the first and second winters after planting are the most responsible. Young vines often freeze to death, which can delay fruiting for at least one season.

Early harvest methods

Planting three-year-old seedlings with proper care will allow you to get an early harvest next year. Growing seedlings in a bottle from February accelerates the formation and maturation of a full-fledged vine that can bear fruit in the second year.

Unlike growing grapes on an industrial scale on your site, you can not expose young plants to very short pruning and let them bloom in the 2-3rd year. Regular watering and fertilizing stimulate the accelerated growth of the root system and maturation of the vine, in contrast to non-irrigated vineyards of large farms.This allows you to get a crop 1-2 years earlier.