A grate for grapes or what is the best way to tie up the vine?

Work with grape bushes begins in early spring. It is important not to miss the beginning of sap flow, when the vines become very plastic and bend well, and try to finish the garter before the buds begin to bloom, which can be inadvertently broken off at the beginning of growth.

Garter grapes dry and green - what's the difference?

Grape grate or a vertical trellis is a faithful assistant to a gardener who strives to get an excellent harvest from his vineyard from year to year. By carefully tying up fruit vines, you can not only significantly improve the fruiting of the bushes and the quality of the berries, but also protect the shoots from possible breakage, reduce the risk of damage to plants by powdery mildew and mildew, facilitate the care of the grapes, and also give the bushes a certain direction for growth.

Photo of grapes

First, pruning of old and damaged shoots is carried out, then a "dry" garter of fruiting shoots and replacement knots is carried out. The branches are carefully, trying not to break, bend the trellis horizontally to the lower wire. Knots growing next to the wire are tied to the supports. The remaining twigs will later sprout, which will then need to be tied up too. Thanks to this treatment of the bushes, all blooming buds will be in equal conditions, green shoots will grow better, and the harvest will become more abundant.

Video about ways to tie grapes

When young stems grow up to 30 cm, it is carried out Green garter... It is necessary, first of all, so that long stems of grapes do not break in strong winds and receive uniform illumination. The shoots are tied to the trellis vertically or at an angle.

It is important that the vines are not crowded, since the inflorescences will be poorly pollinated, and less berries will ripen. Once the stems reach the next wire, a second garter is made, and so on. Over the summer, this procedure is repeated three to four times, although additional tying of the stems may be required after a strong wind.

How to tie up grapes in the most optimal way?

Lignified fruiting vines can be placed on the trellis in different ways, however, the peculiarities of each option should be taken into account.

So, placing shoots vertically upwards should be used in extreme cases, since the lower eyes develop very poorly, which makes the bases of the fruit-bearing vines bare, and the perennial part of the grape bush becomes too long.

In such conditions, it is inconvenient to carry out a "dry" garter, as well as inconvenient to cut and cover grapes for the winter. If the vines are run vertically or tilted downward, the shoots at their base begin to develop more strongly, many fruit arrows break, and the most productive middle part is practically not used. This option is suitable for high-stem and long-sleeved bush formations.

Photo garter grapes

When the shoots are inclined upwards, the stems at the base of the vine begin to grow a little faster, while the growth of the upper shoots is weakened. Although the annual growth is more evenly distributed, the same disadvantages are still present as when the shoots are placed vertically upwards.

The horizontal distribution of shoots is considered the most optimal, since the shoots and eyes are provided with the same nutrition on fruiting vines, the clusters in the middle part of the vine are aligned, the growth is evenly distributed, confers and ventilates from all sides.

Less often, the vines are tied up with an arc and a ring, because the one-year growth in these cases develops unevenly, and the yield is somewhat worse than with the horizontal method.

In the photo, tied up grapes

Tips from experienced winegrowers

It is important not only to understand the methods of garters, but also to take into account some of the subtleties that can have a noticeable effect on the result:

• To prevent the vines from rubbing against the trellis wire in windy weather, it is recommended to tie them with a "figure eight", passing the garter material between the stem and the wire.
• Rope and fishing line cannot be used as a garter material: a washcloth well soaked in water is best suited. In addition, scraps of fabric, plastic tapes, threads, corn wraps, willow shoots, twine, kenaf and sida fibers are used.
• The use of loop-knitting scissors and a special garter rope made of steel wire wrapped in paper greatly speeds up the work and greatly facilitates the work.
• Try not to bend the branches at a steep angle, achieve smooth bends, otherwise the conductive system of the plant will fail, and power will cease to flow to the eyes located above.
• Green shoots should not be tied to the growing upper internodes.

Photo of a garter of grapes on a trellis

Do-it-yourself trellis or grape grates

Simple pegs are enough for young plants, but for two or three summer grapes, a strong structure is already needed, to which it will be possible to tie the vines. You can set up trellises or trellises yourself rather quickly, as for cucumbers.

For the trellis, you will need to dig two pillars about 15 cm thick into the ground half a meter, so that their height above the ground is up to 2 meters. A distance of three meters is usually made between the supports, but more is allowed. It is best to use hardwood posts (ash, oak, mulberry, acacia, chestnut). For decorative purposes, you can clean the bark from the pillars, pitch it and wrap it with roofing material. Reinforced concrete posts or small-diameter metal pipes are also suitable - you will have to drill holes in them for the wire, while in wooden posts it can be attached with iron staples.

Video about do-it-yourself trellis for grapes

Galvanized wire is stretched between two posts in several rows: the lower tier is located at a height of 40 cm above the ground, all subsequent tiers are at the same distance from each other. For grapes, three rows of wire will be enough.

To tie the grapes obliquely, set two-plane trellis, which consists of two vertical trellises installed parallel to both sides of the bush. Another option is to nail the slats at a height of 20 cm from the ground to the two posts of the trellis so that they form an isosceles triangle with the top down. Parallel rows of wire are pulled along the sides of the triangle, thereby forming two planes.