No matter how varied all the abundance of grape varieties that can be grown in the conditions of our country, anyway, each of us has our pets.
If you are a fan of rich grape flavor, prefer the varieties of pink grapes and want to grow large clusters, feel free to choose the Victoria grapes.
Of course, many amateur winegrowers often speak out negatively about this variety, because it actually has some drawbacks.
We will try to consider in detail both the positive and negative features of this variety and share tips on how to deal with the problems of "Victoria".
What is it, grape "Victoria": a detailed description of the variety
This table grape, the fruits of which have just the perfect presentation, is the result of the selection of Russian scientists. To obtain it, a rather complicated combination of different varieties was used. In particular, the Save Vilar 12-304 grape was used as a frost resistance donor.
It was crossed with a hybrid mixture of such Euro-Amur varieties as "Vitis Winifers" and "Vitis Amurenzis". In addition to excellent stability, the new variety turned out to be skoroplodny: the first crops are the Victoria grape bush that gives for 2-3 years after planting or vaccination.
Features of a bunch of grapes "Victoria": distinctive characteristics
The grape variety described is of particular value not only because it has very tasty fruits, but also because of its large and elegant clusters. Average, the mass of one grape bunch of this variety is 0.5-0.7 kilograms. With good farming and rationing of the crop, the size of the grapes increases significantly. The shape of the clusters is usually found conical, with moderately compacted berries placed on it.
One should not forget to note about the size of the grape berries of this variety: having an ovoid shape, the average size of a single berry is 2.7 x2.2 centimeters. Wherein, the average mass of berries is about 6-7.5 grams. Although in the middle of the vine crop this indicator is far from being the maximum, it nevertheless deserves attention and respect. To distinguish the grape variety "Victoria" can be on the red-raspberry color of the skin of the berries.
The taste of these berries is very pleasant and harmonious, a significant role in which plays a fleshy and juicy flesh. With the full ripening of the grapes, the berries also acquire the unique flavor of nutmeg. It should be noted that the sugar content of berries on average is 18% of the acidity level of 5-6 g / l.
Features of fruiting and yield varieties "Victoria"
The bush of this grape variety has a weak or medium growth power. At the same time, among all the shoots that form on it during the growth period, about 70-90% are fruitful. Thus, a single bush can produce very high yields, which is why the bush is often overloaded.
The coefficient of fruitfulness, that is, the number of clusters that fall on 1 shoot of the variety "Victoria", is 1.4-1.8. A small part of the harvest can be formed on the stepsons, although the clusters on them are a little smaller than on the main fruitful shoots. In any case, the optimal load for one grape bush is 25-30 eyes.
Regarding the timing of ripening of the grape harvest, the variety "Victoria" rightfully refers to the early varieties. The growing season of the grape bush of this variety is about 115-120 days. Thus, already in the third decade of August, it will be possible to enjoy the first ripened clusters. Harvesting the entire harvest can be carried out at the end of the month.
It is also interesting to read about the best technical grapes
Answers to the question, what are the advantages of the grape variety "Victoria"?
This variety is undoubtedly very good for growing on a home plot. When planting a single bush, the harvest will be enough for you to enjoy yourself and treat you with fresh berries of all your relatives and neighbors. When growing grapes "Victoria" on a larger scale, it is possible to sell the crop for sale. But, apart from high and high-quality yields, the variety "Victoria" also has the following advantages:
• Grapevine shoots mature very well, with most of them fruitful.
• Excellent adaptability of the variety and rooting cuttings.
• Resistance to the most common diseases that can affect vineyards, the variety "Victoria" is high enough to cost preventive sprays of the bush.
• The variety is suitable for a wide zoning and planting, even in the Moscow region. Damage to the vine is not observed even when the frost is -26ºС. However, with the probability of lowering the winter temperatures even lower, it is necessary to cover the bush.
• With proper and regular care, fruiting and crop quality are improved.
The disadvantages of grapes "Victoria" and how to deal with them
The first disadvantage of the variety, which you definitely need to know, is the presence of only a female flower in the grape bush. Thus, when flowering, the bush is very poorly pollinated, there is a harvest of peck. On this, next to the bush "Victoria" be sure to plant another grape variety, the flowering of which coincides with it. Secondly, big harvests very much overload the bush, after which the berries and grapes grow smaller.
As a consequence, there is another need - the rationing of the crop. In particular, both inflorescences and clusters during the formation of berries are subject to rationing. You can completely remove the stepson crop.
Another disadvantage of sweet grapes "Victoria" is that their wasp. So that they do not cause very strong damage to the crop, you can set special traps against them or burn wasp nests. The traps may be as follows:
• Near the vineyard you can put the banks filled with a very sweet sugar or honey solution, containing 0.5% chlorophos.
• In the same jars, you can spread over-ripe fruits, also treated with insecticides.
What you need to grow on the site a good bush of grapes "Victoria": the rules of planting varieties
It is impossible to call the process of planting grapes intricate, although its special nuances are enough here. It is necessary and correctly choose the planting material, and select the appropriate time and place for planting and, finally, properly prepare the pit. It is with all of this that we will introduce you below.
How and how to propagate grapes "Victoria": features of planting seedlings and grafting cuttings
The grapes are very well propagated in many ways, among which the most effective is planting a shrub on its own roots with the help of a seedling and grafting a cutting on a stock of an old shrub of another grape variety. It is impossible to say unequivocally which of these methods is more or less effective. However, if on your site there is no stock from the old bush - in fact, you don’t have to choose.
Planting grapes "Victoria" with the help of a sapling will help grow a pure varietywhich in no case will be transmitted diseases and pests of its predecessor. However, planting this variety on a tall stock can grow a much stronger bush that can produce more abundant crops. Also, grafting on the stock speeds up the process of growing a new bush, as it will already have a very well-developed root system of the old vineyard.
When to start planting varieties "Victoria": we select the correct dates
The awesomeness of this culture is that it can be planted both in spring and in autumn. At the same time, it is unambiguous to answer what time is best suited. If the spring seedling has the opportunity to root well in the fall by the winter, then the autumn one will show its endurance already in the first winter and will enter growth much faster in the autumn. Thus, you only need to know the following:
• The dates of spring planting of grapes "Victoria" are very stretched.. Such robots can be carried out starting from the last days of March and ending with the beginning of June. If you are going to plant a grape cutting, then you can choose the earliest, but for a seedling with green shoots, it is better to choose a warmer time. It is also important that during the adaptation period only a grape bush planted is very important to shelter. To do this, you can use an elementary box with a hole for the tip of the cutting or seedling. With the advent of heat and the first signs of rooting it can be removed.
• Autumn dates for planting grapes are more specific and determined by weather conditions. After all, the sapling should be planted at a later time, when it no longer has time to enter growth (which is highly undesirable), but it still does not have time to descend on the first frost, which can damage it. In this way, the most appropriate period is mid-October. Although, more need to take into account the weather conditions of your particular climate region and a particular year.
In what place is it most preferable to plant a grape bush?
Grapes are better known as the southern culture, which likes the warm sun and gentle sea winds. With such a climate, a grapevine can grow anywhere and in any way, while delivering unprecedented harvests. But in conditions that are colder and more unfavorable for planting grapes, you need to carefully select a place on your plot:
• It should be well lit, in any case not obscured by other garden plants or buildings.
• Grapes are very afraid of drafts, which can especially harm the crop, which is still in the form of inflorescences.
• Despite the good adaptability and unpretentiousness of the variety, it requires good fertile soil. with good agricultural practices, the yield of the grape bush increases significantly.
In this way, it is best to plant this crop on the south side of your site, and preferably in places protected by the buildings or the terrain from the wind. In the event that the soil in the area is very poor, its fertility can be improved independently: 1-2 years before planting the bush, large amounts of organic and mineral fertilizers must be applied; to mix the poor type of soil with its prototype, which will help to get the golden mean.
Planting grapes "Victoria" using varietal seedlings: what are the features of the process?
Planting of grapes begins with the choice of a grape variety, purchase or independent cultivation of a sapling and preparation of a hole for it. It is best to buy a seedling in the fall, when special nurseries put up for sale a huge number of them. Thus, you will select the desired variety and excellent seedling, the quality criteria of which are the white color of the roots and the green color of the cut.
You can grow a seedling yourself from a cutting stored in sand in February at an air temperature of 12 ° C and planted in a moist soil.
The pit is also prepared several days or even a month before planting the seedling. The depth and width of it should be at least 0.8 meters, which allows to put at the bottom of the pit the necessary amount of fertilizer for the future bush. At the bottom lay:
• A layer of rubble, about 5 centimeters thick.
• A layer of fertile soil, which is the top layer of earth, removed when digging a hole. The thickness of the layer is about 10 centimeters.
• Layer of 2 humus buckets.
• Another layer of fertile soil.
All these "ingredients" (except rubble) are thoroughly mixed, making fertile food for seedlings. Over it we fall asleep one more layer of the simple non-fertilized soil and leave it all to settle.
The direct planting of grapes is quite simple: we lower a seedling into the pit to the level of its root collar and carefully bury it. To do this better, in the middle of the instillation process you can pour a bucket of water into the pit, which will compact the first layer of buried soil.
After planting, the sapling is watered with 2-3 more buckets of water. Near it is very important to dig a solid support. The soil around the seedling is mulched.
Correct grafting grape "Victoria" on the stock of another variety
For grapes "Victoria", which has a weak growth of the bush, this option is very acceptable. After all, having grafted a stalk of this variety to a strong-growing rootstock, we will get a stronger bush with more abundant crops.
The cutting should consist of 2-3 eyes. The lower part of it is necessarily trimmed, which will allow to connect it more tightly with the stock. The shape of the slice should be wedge-shaped. The upper part of it is waxed, which is a way to preserve moisture in the handle until it takes root and can not draw nutrients and moisture from the stock.
The stock is stump, which remained after the removal of the old grape bush. The cut point must be very carefully cleaned to perfect smoothness and make a neat split in the middle of the stock. It is precisely in the split that the stalk is placed and firmly clamped due to the sticking of the stock with the help of a rope or strong fabric.
The inoculation is necessarily lubricated with wet clay, the stock is watered and mulched.
What care requires grapes "Victoria": briefly about the main works in the vineyard
Grape bush regularly need to be watered and fed. It is especially important to do this in the springtime, when he gradually moves away from hibernation losing most of his strength during this time. Fertilizers, both organic and mineral, are best applied to the soil for digging. After fertilization, the soil should be well moistened. This is done at least 3 times per season: 2 times before the flowering shrub and once at the completion of this process.
During the years of severe droughts, the artificial moistening of the soil of the vineyard will be very beneficial to both the bush and the harvest. After watering, the soil is covered with a layer of sawdust or moss, which serve as mulch.
Also, care for the vineyard includes regular pruning of the bush and its treatment from possible infection with various diseases. The first procedure is carried out mainly in the autumn, in the period of calm bush. Pruned bush 2-3 eyes. Shape bush for grapes "Victoria" more preferred fan. But spraying grapes held in spring, while both the bush and the pathogens are waking up.
Processing of grapes can be carried out at the same time as irrigation. Used for this herbicide preparations that are best purchased at specialized points of sale.
