Fans of viticulture each year discover for themselves new varieties that can surprise both with the appearance of appetizing berries and taste. One of the best new varieties is the Great grape. In addition, it can create a shady corner on your site, where it is good to hide from the summer heat. When the berries begin to ripen, in this place you can perfectly relax and replenish your vitamins. Further details about the description.
Table of contents
Description of grapes Velika
Velika was selected in Bulgaria closer to the beginning of the 1990s. Ivan Todorov brought him by crossing two varieties:
- Bulgarians;
- Alphonse Lavalle.
The best taste was transferred from the parent varieties. Great - medium early grapes, the fruits of which begin to ripen by the end of August. If you take the average, then the berries begin to ripen after 150 days from the moment the buds appear on the plant. In our region, maturation may be late (starts around mid-September).
st, very often used retaining stocks. The leaves are rounded, dissected. By the fall, they become a bright red color. The flowers are bisexual. Due to this, it is not necessary to plant a pollinator variety nearby.
The yield is very good, one bush can give up to 10 kg of ripe berries. The replacement buds also form a brush, but their size is much smaller. Suitable for industrial cultivation.
Characteristics of berries
Velika is an excellent table grape. The berries are large enough, weighing up to 14 grams, elongated. In maturity have a blue color, a burgundy tinge is slightly noticeable.
Tastes of this variety are just great. Sweet and very juicy berries will not leave anyone indifferent. Some compare the taste of Velika with the taste of ripe sweet cherry fruit. The berries are covered with a dense skin, inside it has a juicy flesh and only one bone.
Even in rainy weather Great does not crack. In addition, this variety has no predisposition to pee. The sugar content in berries is 19 grams per 100 cubic centimeters, and the acidity is up to 6 grams per liter. Mature fruits are not affected by wasps, tolerate transportation over long distances and are well kept in a cool place for a long time.
The advantages and disadvantages of the variety
At first glance, Velika has only advantages. However, is this really the case? Of course, the berries are very large, well-tolerated transportation and suitable for long-term storage in fresh form attract attention. In addition, they are resistant to cracking. You can sell the harvest in winter. What else can dream grower?
Shrub Veliki grows very strongly and requires constant molding, pruning. This quality can rather be attributed to the disadvantages. In addition, this class has an average resistance to the most common diseases and pests. It should also be noted that the plant is not frost-resistant and needs shelter for the winter.
Planting seedlings
Saplings for planting need to dig in the autumn. With this you should try to keep the root system. Good can be considered that sapling, whose shoots give a gain of more than 30 centimeters. In addition, the plant must have 3 roots.
In the middle lane, planting of seedlings is carried out mainly in spring. Until that time, they need to be saved, tied in bunches and sent to the wintering place. If possible, it is better to choose annual plants for planting. They are better accustomed and the least sick in a new place.
In order to plant the Great variety of grapes, in no case should you choose areas with closely located groundwater.. If there is no choice, then you first need to fill the comb, providing a distance of at least 1.5 meters to the water. Clay or peat soil is categorically not suitable for the cultivation of vineyards. It is best to plant them on the gravel ground or on the sand.
Preparation of the site for the future of the vineyard begin no less than a couple of months before the immediate landing. This is due to the fact that after planting the soil tends to subside and the roots of the plant are in the voids. When settling the soil in a natural way, this trouble will no longer be terrible.
Great prefers from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. It should be planted when the threat of spring frosts is over and a stable positive temperature is established. Dig a hole in the size of 60 * 60, and make a depth of 1 meter. The distance between seedlings should not be less than 2 meters. Otherwise, plantings will be thickened, which is fraught with not only poor ripening of fruits, but also the development of fungal diseases.
Before planting, the bottom of the pit is covered with pebbles or crushed stone. Then fill the remaining space with a mixture of pebbles, sand and fertile soil. From above the layer of humus is poured. If desired, you can immediately make mineral fertilizers.
Care for a young and mature vine
Already a few months after landing, Great needs molding. Initially, only one sprout is left from one seedling, from which a shrub will later be formed. Preference should be given only to the strongest and, if possible, located closer to the ground.
When watering, you need to consider the amount of precipitation that falls in your area. Grapes love moisture, but its overabundance can lead to the death of the root system. It is better to irrigate in the morning, when the sun has not yet risen high and the evaporation of moisture is minimal.
As for fertilizers, young saplings most need nitrogen, potassium and carbon. You can use and organic fertilizer for vineyards.
Breeding methods
Great grapes can be propagated in a variety of ways.All you need is to choose the most affordable and suitable. You can buy ready-made seedlings, use unrooted cuttings, cuttings or elongated cuttings.
A beginner grower is best to buy ready-made seedlings. In addition, in this way the planted bush will develop faster and better, and also will soon begin to bear fruit. Just do not always have the opportunity to purchase ready-made material of the desired grade. In this case, in practice, reproduction is most often used by branches or chubuk. It is enough to find a person who is engaged in the cultivation of Velik grapes, and ask him to make a withdrawal or at the right time to cut off several cuttings for rooting.
It also applies the method of vaccination to strong varieties. In the period of activation of sap flow, it is necessary to make a graft at a distance of about 0.5 meters from the ground and produce a strong binding. In this case, the quality of the future crop will directly depend on the quality of the operation.
Diseases and pests
It has a high resistance to diseases and pests, and therefore needs prophylactic treatment.. It is necessary to use fungicide solutions that help prevent the occurrence of fungal diseases. Processing is carried out in several stages. It is desirable to produce alternation of drugs (for example, “Switch”, “Horus”, etc.).
To combat this or that disease of grapes, individual preparations have been developed and are effectively used. As soon as the plant showed the first signs of a lesion, it is necessary to immediately treat it with the desired solution.
Grapes Velika has already won great popularity among winegrowers. It is grown not only in private property, but also on an industrial scale. Tasty and juicy berries are consumed mostly fresh, but can also be used for processing. The taste qualities of this variety make you forget even that when growing a plant delivers some trouble.