What are the key technical points for growing grapes in northern regions?

Grapes are a common fruit, and many people grow some grapes in their yards. Grapes are rather delicate, and if they are not managed well, they can easily freeze to death in the cold weather of the north. Let us take a look below at grape-growing techniques for northern regions.

1. Light

Grapes are light-loving plants with relatively high light requirements. The length of sunshine hours has a great influence on grape growth and development, yield and quality. When light is insufficient, new shoots grow thin and weak, leaves are thin, leaf color is pale, clusters are small, there is a lot of flower and fruit drop, yield is low, quality is poor, and winter bud differentiation is poor. Therefore, when planting grapes, choose a place with good light and pay attention to improving the wind and light conditions on the trellis surface.

2. Soil

Grapes have strong adaptability to soil. Apart from marshland and heavily saline-alkaline land, which are unsuitable for growth, all other types of soil can be used for cultivation, with fertile sandy loam being the most suitable. Different soils have different effects on grape growth and development and quality. In unsuitable areas, soil improvement and planting can be carried out through agricultural engineering and cultivation techniques.

3. Water

During early spring sprouting, new shoot growth and young fruit swelling, a sufficient water supply is required. Generally, irrigate once every 7-10 days so that the soil moisture content reaches about 70%. Around the berry ripening stage, a soil moisture content of about 60% is better. However, if rainfall is excessive, pay attention to timely drainage, so that excessive humidity does not affect berry quality and easily causes disease. If rainfall is too little, irrigate once about every 10 days; otherwise, a long drought followed by rain can easily cause fruit cracking and cause economic losses.

4. Temperature

The various grape groups have different temperature requirements at each growth stage, so the temperature should be adjusted in a timely manner according to local actual conditions and the growth cycle. Varieties with different ripening periods all require effective accumulated temperature. For example, the early-ripening variety Pearl of Csaba requires an effective accumulated temperature of 2100°C, the mid-ripening variety Queen of the Vineyards requires 2500°C, and the late-ripening variety Longan requires 3300°C to fully mature.

5. Other Management

Attention must also be paid to avoiding and protecting against disastrous weather, such as long droughts, floods, severe frosts, as well as strong winds and hail. These can all cause major losses to grape production. Also prune branches and leaves in a timely manner, and prevent diseases and pests such as white rot, downy mildew, two-spotted leafhopper, grape clearwing moth, and grape red spider mite.

When planting grapes in the north, special attention should be paid to temperature, and freezing damage should be avoided so as not to affect the normal growth of grapes. When harvesting grapes, attention should also be paid to storage, so as to avoid unnecessary damage to the grapes.