How to prevent and control grape berry cracking? A detailed guide to the latest prevention and control methods
Grape berry cracking is a really headache-inducing problem. It often affects the commercial value of grapes and also makes them prone to pest and disease attacks. Often, just a few cracked berries cause an entire bunch to become infected with disease, resulting in huge losses. So how should grape berry cracking be prevented and controlled? Here we bring you the detailed content of prevention and control methods for grape berry cracking. Let's take a look.
1. Variety selection
A large part of the reason for grape berry cracking is caused by the variety. Different varieties have different degrees of flesh softness, different thicknesses of skin, and different tightness between skin and flesh. These are all causes of berry cracking. When selecting varieties, choose according to the local climate and soil conditions. It is best to choose varieties that are not prone to cracking, such as Jingya and Jufeng.
2. Field management
Sandy loam soil that is loose, fertile, well-drained and well-aerated is most suitable. During the grape growing period, strengthen water and fertilizer management, and keep the soil moisture stable. It should not be dry for a long time or waterlogged for a long time, and it is also not suitable to irrigate heavily after drought. These will all affect the grape's water regulation function. Apply fertilizer reasonably to provide the nutrients needed for plant growth. When fertilizing, the principle is to give priority to base fertilizer and supplement with topdressing. Base fertilizer should mainly be organic fertilizer, combined with an appropriate amount of compound fertilizer. Topdressing should mainly use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers plus trace elements such as calcium and boron. Especially in the later stage, topdress boron and calcium to reduce the occurrence of berry cracking.
3. Reasonable pruning
Prune reasonably and pay attention to the ratio of fruit to leaves to prevent excessive pruning, which leads to too few leaves being retained, reducing the plant's nutrient synthesis and water regulation capacity, and causing berry cracking in the later stage. Generally, 1-2 leaves should be retained for each fruit cluster, while shoots produced by growth should retain more than 25 leaves to enhance the plant's water regulation capacity. In addition, proper thinning of clusters and berries can make grapes grow robustly, avoiding berry cracking caused by insufficient nutrient supply to the plant due to too much fruit, or by crowded fruit growth causing compression and cracking.
4. Rain-shelter cultivation
When planting, it is best to cultivate under a shed. This not only gives the vines a support point for growth, but also provides rain shelter, preventing berry cracking caused by pests and diseases during the rainy season. For example, building a small shed over the grape trellis or laying plastic film on the ground has an excellent effect on preventing berry cracking.
5. Scientific use of chemicals
Most growers use various chemicals during cultivation to prevent and control pests and diseases, accelerate expansion, and promote early ripening. These chemicals can stimulate grapes and make them prone to cracking in the later stage. Therefore, chemicals should be used scientifically and reasonably. When preventing and controlling pests and diseases, try to focus on prevention to reduce the possibility of their occurrence. When using expansion agents, use fruit-expanding agents produced by legitimate manufacturers and follow the instructions. For ripening, ethephon is generally used. Pay attention to the concentration: low concentration gives no obvious effect, while high concentration can cause side effects such as berry cracking and leaf and fruit drop
. In response to this situation, rare earth elements can be sprayed during the grape expansion and coloring stages to prevent berry cracking and fruit drop.
The above is the full content of prevention and control methods for grape berry cracking. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about grape cultivation knowledge, please stay tuned to us.