In the old days, many were engaged in viticulture in order to produce from the resulting harvest strong homemade wine.
Especially for this, technical varieties were planted on the plots, which give a lot of juice needed for future alcohol.
Today, many strive to find grape varieties with good taste and presentation, to enjoy plenty of tasty berries and decorate the dining table with beautiful clusters.
It is the table grapes that we want to introduce you in the article to have good table qualities.
This is a hybrid form of grapes, which is called "Baikonur".
What is special lies behind such a loud name: varietal characteristics of grapes "Baikonur"
This grape variety is very valuable because it has many useful properties and fruits very well.
Baikonur is the result of amateur breeding, and its author is a famous man among wine growers, EG Pavlovsky. For a new variety, this amateur used the materials of such grape varieties as "Talisman" and "Pretty Woman" (the latter is also the result of Pavlovsky selection).
The first grade used has become a resistance donor for Baikonur, while the second has become a form and color of berries. Due to its good stability and adaptability, the variety is zoned in many regions, it is grown even in the Moscow region (but as a covering culture).
The described grape variety is intended for fresh consumption, aided by its excellent taste.
Beautiful and elegant clusters - just a business card of this variety, and all the offspring of Pavlovsky authorship.
Cylindroconic, less often just conic, clusters have rather large sizes. The berries are not placed on them tightly, which makes the structure of the cluster medium loose. On average, their weight is 0.4-0.7 kilograms, although with regular pruning of the shoots and feeding of the vine, for the most part very large clusters are formed, weighing up to 1 kilogram and even more.
But of course, that the most important role in the beauty of the clusters is played by berries, and in particular - their color. At grapes "Baikonur" berries are very large in size. This is evidenced by their average weight, which is equal to 12-16 grams.
Speaking of berries, one should draw on their very remarkable and, at the same time, distinctive feature: they have a very elongated, elongated and nipple-shaped shape. Thus, the length of a single berry can even be 4 centimeters. Seeing them once, confused with other varieties will not work.
As for the color, most often the skin is distinguished by a dark cherry, dark purple or even purple-red color, which is evenly distributed over the berry (and not like in "Beauty"). But besides this, the berries also have a layer of pruine (a layer of wax, which very often covers the skin of grapes), painted in dark purple or almost black.
The taste of this variety is worth mentioning separately. Berries have very dense flesh, when eaten which feels like a crunch. Due to this, the taste of the berries turns out very interesting and harmonious. The peculiarity of this variety is its characteristic light taste, which has fruit notes.
Also, despite the rather dense skin of these berries, it is easily eaten without leaving any unpleasant taste sensations, as sometimes happens. A big plus of this variety is its excellent sugar accumulationwhose percentage is not less than 19-20%.
Good fruiting is another plus of this grape variety. Due to the strong-growing bush and excellent maturity of the shoots (throughout the growth), the yields of the grapes "Baikonur" are very high. Even more, so many clusters are formed on a bush, that without rationing, it is simply not able to endure all of them - either the shoots can break, or the clusters can be very small.
As for the deadlines for full ripening of the “Baikonur” grape harvest, they begin 110 days after the bush enters the growing season. Thus, the variety should be attributed to the very early ones, because the harvest of its harvest can be started from the first decade of August.
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that it is possible not to hurry with this, since the fruits can be stored on the bush for a long time. At the same time, they do not lose the qualities of either the appearance or their wonderful taste.
Briefly about what can be called the main merits grape "Baikonur"
- Excellent presentation, size and taste of the fruit.
- Early ripening of the crop.
- Suitability for long-term storage and transportation, in which the berries are not damaged and not showered with a bunch.
- The bush has a flower of both sexes. This fact provides not only 100% pollination of all flowers, but also the absence of pea on the clusters.
- Due to the dense skin, even with very striking changes in soil moisture and air, the berries do not crack.
- Damage to the wasps during the entire cultivation of this form was not observed.
- It has excellent resistance to fungal diseases of vineyards, including powdery mildew, oidium and gray mold.
- High enough resistance to low temperatures: wood without damage tolerates frosts down to -23ºС. Despite this, the bushes are still worth covering for the winter.
- According to experts, Baikonur is one of the best modern hybrid forms, quite suitable for obtaining market status.
Like many young varieties and forms of grapes, "Baikonur" has one major drawback: he is little studied. The data that we have presented above certainly says a lot about this grape, but does not guarantee that in one of the years it can manifest itself in a completely different way. Also, for the time being it is impossible to draw conclusions about in what forms the bush can bear fruit and develop best.
For many, the disadvantage is nalice bones in grape berries. In this variety they can be from 1 to 3. They have small sizes, so they are practically not felt when eaten.
It is also interesting to read about the autumn grape inoculation.
How to plant grapes in the garden: difficulties and important aspects
Many people wish not only to plant their land, but also to get a good harvest from plants. For this reason, grape bushes are often planted as the decor of the courtyard, arbors, arches and houses directly.
If you are also going to plant grapes bushes near your home, this should be done competently and at the right time. Otherwise, you can lose both the bush and be left without its beautiful harvests.
Grapes can be propagated in many ways, the effectiveness of which is generally the same, but the presence of some nuances should be taken into account:
- Planting grapes with seedlings. This method is the simplest and the only possible in case if your site has never grown grapes. Thanks to the planting of grape varietal seedlings, the bush will have absolutely all the advantages and disadvantages of its variety, its growth will be gradual and moderate, fruiting will begin by 3-4 years.
- Inoculation varietal cuttings to the rootstocks, after removing the old bush. This method is used only if you decide to replace the old grape variety with a completely new one. The big advantage of this method is that the young bush from the first days has a large supply of perennial wood and a well-developed root system. This allows him to grow much faster and enter into fruiting. But, on the other hand, varieties of cuttings and rootstocks may not always be compatible, or the varietal qualities of the old may appear on a new bush.
- Reproduction of grape bushes by the method of withdrawals. In this case, it is also necessary to have a grape bush + it must be Baikonur varieties. Of course, what about the reproduction of another bush, you can ask your friends who already have this variety. They only have to dig in the soil one long and strong escape. After some time, it will take root and begin to develop as a separate plant. Then it can be separated from the main bush and transplanted to its own site. Doing can be almost the entire year.
Grapes are best developed in places where there is plenty of sunshineand there is no through cold winds or stagnation of cold air. No wonder because the grapes are considered southern plants.
For this reason, the best option for planting on the plot will be the south side of the house: firstly, the bush will not be shaded, and secondly - the house will serve as protection from the wind. But, you should pay attention to the features of the topography of your site, because it is important that the grapes grow on elevations or low mounds.
To the soil, this culture is not particularly whimsical. The only important thing is that the groundwater lies at a depth of at least 2-2.5 meters, and the soil is able to absorb moisture well. However, clay-like soils also do not work, as they can overwhelm a bush with water. It is better to choose light soils.such as black earth.
The scheme of planting vines is also an important issue. After all, with very dense plantings, the bushes will not only shade each other, but also “steal” nutrients from each other (the root system of grapes is quite well developed). Therefore, the distance between the bushes "Baikonur" in one row should be at least 3 meters, and between rows - about 4.
In fact, it is almost impossible to predict very much with the landing dates, since they are very stretched. In particular, in the spring it is possible to plant vines starting from the end of March to the very summer.
The only caveat - for each period of time will fit your way of landing. The earliest spring planted those seedlings that have been stored since autumn. Also, in the middle of spring, you can make bends. But with the onset of stable heat already green seedlings are planted.
Autumn planting of grapes is carried out at a time when the plants begin to pass into a state of rest. It is then that you can proceed to the harvesting of planting materials, and their direct landing. But you shouldn't overreact too, as they can be cold and damage fresh plantings (if you don’t manage to cover them).
Too early planting of grapes in the fall is not desirable, since it can cause the growth of a seedling, and its subsequent frostbite in winter.
Planting of a grape bush is carried out in several stages:
- Preparation of the landing pit. Cooking pit should be 2-3 weeks before planting grapes. The depth should be as large as possible to put a lot of fertilizer in the hole. Optimally - 80 centimeters. A mixture of humus and fertile soil is poured at the bottom. This mixture should sift well before planting the seedling, so that it does not fall below the ground. Another layer of soil should be poured over the fertilizer.
- Selection and preparation of the seedling. It is best to purchase a seedling, but if you have access to the cuttings of Baikonur grapes, you can grow a seedling on your own by simply planting the cutting in a pot as an indoor plant. If you choose a sapling, then pay attention to the root system - it must be healthy, as evidenced by the white color of the roots. Also, the cut-off point of the top of the seedling should be green. Before planting, the roots of a seedling must be lowered into the water for 1-2 days.
- Direct landing. A sapling falls into a hole only to the level of its root collar, which can even be slightly raised above the ground. It is necessary to fill a hole gradually, without leaving pillows with air (from them roots will dry up).
- Care of the seedling. After planting, the seedling should be watered with plenty of water - about 3 buckets. After that, the soil is necessarily covered with moss or sawdust, which will allow moisture to stay longer in the ground.
Grafting cuttings is a very simple method of propagating grapes, unless of course there is an old vine bush on your site. For this:
- It should prepare the cuttings in advance. The lower part of the cutting must be cut on both sides. This will create a more intimate contact between him and the stock. As well as the seedling, before grafting the cuttings are lowered into the water. Also, it is very good to wax it, so that until it can take root, the cutting does not have time to dry.
- The stock can be prepared immediately before grafting. The old bush is removed almost completely - only 10 centimeters are needed. The cut surface should be smooth, it should be specially cleaned to smoothness and remove all dirt. Further, on the stock, the middle is determined and a split is made exactly along it. It should not be deep, otherwise you can harm the stock.
- The cutting is lowered into the split only by the part that was cut before. The vaccination site should be tightened very tightly, minimizing clearances as much as possible. After that, the graft is smeared with wet clay. The stock should be watered and the soil around it should also be covered with moss.
If you want a good harvest - provide the grape with the right care!
- It is necessary to water a bush regularly in the spring before it starts to blossom. Also, moisture is useful to the grapes during the formation of the fruit, and especially - during droughts.
- Each watering is accompanied by mulching of the soil around the trunk. For mulch, use moss or thickened sawdust.
- Top dressing of the fructifying bush - regularly every year. Use humus, potassium phosphate fertilizers and nitrogen.
- Pruning this variety is recommended long. It is better to spend it in the fall (then you can immediately prepare the cuttings).
- For the winter, this variety must be covered. For large bushes you can build film corridors.
- For prevention, the grapes are sprayed every year, preferably before the flowering bush.
