Grapes became almost the first plant that humans cultivated. But in the post-Soviet space, perhaps only in the Caucasus there are long-standing traditions of viticulture and experienced winegrowers. In regions with long winters and frosts, berries have been grown relatively recently. This article will consider the question of what to do if grapes are picked up by spring frosts.

Why is there a danger of freezing

Most amateur winegrowers choose frost-resistant varieties for their backyards that do not suffer even in severe frosts, so the question of how to protect grapes from spring frosts is not relevant for them.

Important! A plant that can easily withstand low temperatures for a long period of time is called frost-resistant.

But many grow thermophilic varieties, for which even a mild May frost can be a rather heavy blow. To avoid such situations, the grapes should be protected by hiding not only the vine, but also the root from low temperatures under a covering layer.

The vineyard is frozen

Temperature

The grapes can withstand quite low temperatures, the old vine can tolerate up to -26 degrees Celsius without consequences. Young - up to -15. The kidneys survive even after the temperature drops to -18 degrees. In this case, the weakest part is the root, which can freeze even at -7 degrees.

Important! Moisture remains in the roots, which, when frozen, completely destroys the entire root system. It is impossible to revive such a plant, so you need to reliably cover it, protecting it from frost.

It is also worth remembering that several aspects can increase its sensitivity to frost:

  • grapes that did not have time to ripen tolerate low temperatures more painfully;
  • if during the growing season the grapes did not receive fertilizing and moisture in the required amount, it will be significantly weakened before wintering;
  • bushes that have recovered in the summer need to be covered more carefully.

Ground is the best cover for weakened plant roots, but everything must be done in such a way as to prevent steaming.

Grape varieties

Making the right choice of a variety for planting is half the battle to protect it from low temperatures. Today there are several groups:

  • Niagara, Canadies, Alpha and Russian Condor can tolerate temperatures up to -28 degrees without damage - these are winter-hardy varieties.
  • Such varieties as Talisman, Delight and December are relatively winter-hardy. For them, the minimum allowable is -24 degrees.
  • Arcadia, Nadezhda and Flora are classified as moderately hardy and capable of surviving when the temperature drops to -20 degrees.
  • Most of the cultivated varieties are Asian or European and are poorly adapted to low temperatures, but they are not afraid of frost down to -16 degrees.
  • Tropical varieties are not adapted for latitudes with low temperatures, but they can withstand mild frost.

Frost protection starts with planting grapes

The importance of opening grapes on time

The question of when to open grapes is really very important. Early opening can damage young buds. Late frosts are hard on the vine.For shoots, a temperature of -1 degrees is fatal, and the buds die at -2 degrees below zero. This will not lead to the death of the plant due to the property of regeneration, but the shoots will be sterile.

Also, a frost-affected plant lags behind in development, getting out of the graph of the growing season, which will lead to a strong delay in the harvest from the affected buds. The taste of the grapes will be much lower.

But it is also impossible to pull with the opening of the vine. When using the film as a shelter, you need to beware of the greenhouse effect and dissonance of air and soil temperatures, which warms up much more slowly. Such a stressful situation will lead to the violent development of greenery, which, after a belated disclosure, will die or break off.

Attention! The high temperature and humidity under the film is an excellent environment for the development of fungus, rot and other infectious diseases that cause great harm to grapes.

Procedure period

The grapes are frozen, what should I do? It is impossible to name the exact dates when the cover layer should be removed. It depends entirely on the climatic conditions of the region. In one area in March there is no longer frost and warm weather sets in, and by May the leaf is already fully formed, and for others the last month of spring is a period of frost retreat. Therefore, it is impossible to give precise advice here, but there are some universal aspects, which will be discussed below.

Regardless of the region, snow must be removed from the vineyard in March. Next, you need to act strictly according to the weather. It is best to wait for the swelling of the buds on the trees and the establishment of an average daily temperature of 10 degrees above zero. The soil should dry well by this time.

Important! In warm regions, grapes begin to open at the beginning of April, and in the northern regions, favorable weather is established only at the end of May. Until this moment, there is a high probability of return frosts.

Withering of grapes and frosts in spring are really dangerous, but a situation of freezing of young bushes under cover is possible. In this case, you need to make sure that the root is alive, and wait a few more weeks, feeding with growth stimulants and biological preparations: perhaps the root system will give new shoots, and the plant can be restored.

Trellis for grapes

How to protect grapes from late spring frosts

Even after the protective cover is removed, but before the transition to the growth stage, the kidneys are able to withstand a short-term drop in temperature down to -4 degrees. But if growth has begun, then even 1 degree of frost can become fatal, especially if it is accompanied by a cold wind.

Because of these features of the plant, many inexperienced growers are puzzled over the question of what to do, how to save grapes from spring frosts. Experienced people know that spring is a period when you need to be extremely careful.

It is best to make special arches or other structure that is installed above the vine. And agrotex or spunbond will serve as a blanket. This design will protect the vine from unexpected frosts, but will maintain ventilation, which is very important.

Spring frosts are not terrible for grapes with plastic wrap. But its use is highly discouraged due to the high risk of the formation of fungi and other diseases.

The use of non-woven materials allows you to protect the grapes from freezing the soil even with frosts down to -3 degrees. If colder temperatures are expected, additional shelter should be used. In the daytime, moderate watering of the soil should be carried out.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to protect the vine from frost, or it began to freeze due to the inexperience of the gardener. In any case, if the grapes are frozen over in the spring, you need to know what to do to save it.

Digging in grape vines for the winter

Rescue of frozen vine bushes

It is almost impossible to determine the degree of damage to the grapes and, in general, whether the low temperatures managed to freeze the vine before the buds bloom. If damage does occur, the extent of the damage should be determined prior to initiating rescue action:

  1. With the complete preservation of wood and annual vines, but freezing of most of the eyes (but less than 70%), we can talk about weak damage. The plant will recover - angular and freezing buds will blossom.
  2. The death of more than 70% of the eyes, damage to shoots and wood indicates medium damage. In this case, one can hope that the vine more than two years old will bud.
  3. The death of the ground part of the plant is severe damage. But in the case of freezing of the vine, there is a chance of survival of the bush, provided a strong root system, from which young shoots will begin to grow.
  4. With the death of the ground part of the plant and the root more than half a meter deep, a very strong damage to the grape bush is recorded. In this case, it is almost impossible to reanimate the frozen grapes and help the vine.

These four types of damage are the most severe, in all other cases the life of the bushes is not in danger - they can recover in a couple of years.

Important! Winter hardiness is a similar concept to frost resistance, but more voluminous, and denotes the ability of a plant to withstand all the negative factors of winter conditions.

Digging in grape vines for the winter

What can be done if the bushes are damaged

After reading about why grape bushes can freeze, you can move on to the next important information. So, the grapes are frozen, what should I do?

  1. If the damage is minor or moderate, it is enough to wait for the remaining buds to bloom and prune the damaged annual vine and wood. Only green shoots are left. Rejuvenation is carried out in the fall.
  2. If a young one year old vine is damaged, it must be removed completely. A new one is formed from coppice shoots on the head of the bush, shoulders and sleeves. You will have to re-form the restored bush by replacing damaged vines with new ones.
  3. A tough, but not the worst option can be to preserve only the root system when the vine is completely frozen. To save the plant, you need to dig out the root by 30 centimeters and cut the ground stem from the surviving part. The root is not completely buried. New shoots should form from it, which will become the basis for a new bush. You need to leave six shoots. Two of them will form part of the boles. In the fall, the saved reserve is cut off.
  4. If the grapes are completely frozen, it doesn't matter what to do, since the root system is dead. It remains only to remove him from the site and make a new landing, taking into account the sad experience gained.

The grapes froze in the spring, what to do to save it? It doesn't matter what the degree of damage. It is imperative to feed the plant. Particular attention is paid to potassium root feeding. More abundant watering is required, but the water should be warm.

Tips from experienced winegrowers

Better to prevent trouble than to correct mistakes. Warming with a covering material, good care in the warm season, including top dressing, is an important stage in preparing for winter, but there is one more step to the safety of vines - it is to increase winter hardiness.

This property, in contrast to frost resistance, can be increased in any plant, including vines. To do this, you need to do the following five steps:

  1. First of all, you need to carefully regulate the load of the bunches on the vine - if the harvest is too large, it is likely that the bush will not be able to gain strength for wintering and will meet the cold significantly weakened.
  2. The bush should be healthy and grow in an area open to sunlight. That is, winter hardiness depends entirely on timely treatment with protective agents against pests and infections. If the leaf has nevertheless been damaged by insects or, for example, hail, additional feeding should be done.
  3. An important factor in the ripening of shoots is the timely harvesting.Thus, the bush gives all its strength to the shoots, and not to the berries.
  4. Bushes can be fertilized with nitrogen only at the beginning of the growing season. In the second half, potassium and phosphorus are fed.
  5. Of course, you need to carefully protect the plants from freezing. It is best to cover them carefully for this.

Observing these simple rules, even a novice gardener can not only cure a damaged plant, but also properly prepare it for wintering without fear of frost. In gratitude for the care, the plant will endow it with delicious juicy bunches of grapes.