Lack of flowering and fruit in grapes
For the experienced gardener, growing a vine is not a difficult task. The longevity of this plant allows you to do the right thing to get a bountiful harvest. But there are times when the grapes do not bloom. Then you should identify the cause and adjust the care.
Lack of flowering and fruit in grapes
Grape growing rules
To get the desired result, the gardener must follow several rules for growing vines. It is important to select the appropriate seedlings for the region. They acquire healthy and technically undamaged plants that have at least 3 root shoots and a half-meter shoot. If there are no strange specks or mechanical damage on the vine, it will take root.
Planting material is added dropwise when bud growth is suspended: in early spring or late autumn. If you plan to plant several bushes, they are placed at a distance of 1.5 m from each other.
During planting, all stages are observed, starting with choosing a location, digging and fertilizing a hole, and ending with the construction of a drip irrigation system and the installation of supports. Throughout the entire period of growth and development, the watering regime is observed, unnecessary branches are necessarily cut off, the vine is treated with fungicides from pests and in the cold season they provide protection from frost.
Lack of flowering
If all the recommendations for caring for the grapes are followed, pay attention to how many bushes ignore the flowering period. Next, they look at the possible causes of the disease:
- Excess water in the soil layer leads to the formation of specific peas on the ovary during flowering, thinned formation of clusters, shedding of flowers and an already formed ovary. Moisture does not allow enough air to pass into the upper layers of the soil, which leads to gradual chlorization of the leaves, which cease to produce the substances necessary for the growth of the vines, and then to the death of the roots.
- High air humidity also negatively affects the quality and quantity of ovaries. Heavy, frequent rains during the flowering period of grapes become an obstacle to pollination, especially for functionally female varieties.
- Under the influence of winter cold or spring frost, the first fruitful shoots die. The grape has replacement buds that bloom if the central ones die. But these second shoots bloom at times weaker or release only leaves, which also leads to the absence or a significant reduction in the yield.
- Improper pruning can lead to a lack of flowers on the bushes. The grapes produce special fruiting shoots only on annual vines, they differ from the rest in their color shade. If you cut these shoots too short or get rid of them altogether, the plant will release only leaves from the still dormant secondary buds, so you should limit yourself to reducing the shoots to 8-10 buds.
The most common mistake gardeners make is overfeeding the bush.It is believed that you should not use too much mineral fertilizers when feeding, but a large amount of organic matter placed closer to the roots also affects the bushes in a bad way.
The grapes begin to fatten: all useful elements are used to build up leaf mass and thicken branches, and this leads to freezing of the plant in winter, while it does not bear fruit. To ensure sufficient feeding of the vine and induce it to bloom, organic matter is mixed with mineral fertilizers. It is better to bring such a cocktail of humus and superphosphate to digging in early spring and early summer, in late summer and early autumn, it is better to focus on potash fertilizers, which will increase the taste of berries and prepare the grapes for wintering.
Weak fruiting
Lack of flowering can excuse improper care
If the flowering of the grapes was lush, but the amount of harvest did not correspond to the number of shoots, other nuances are analyzed. Possible reasons are improper care of the grapes or peculiarities of the variety.
As a consequence of low productivity, low productivity of shoots is separately distinguished. In this case, it is better to replace the variety with another one. To do this, re-grafting of more fertile grapes onto a ready-made stump is used or a seedling is placed in a place where an unsuitable vine was completely uprooted 2-5 years ago.
The alternation of new bushes with old ones leads to the oppression of their growth by the latter. Only varieties that are compatible with each other should be re-grafted so that there are more bunches.
Insufficient light and heat in the place where the vine grows also leads to the appearance of a rare ovary. The soil should warm up to 28-32 ° C heat. To ensure such conditions, the bushes are placed on ground formations, reflective screens are placed on the north side, aimed at the plants, they are completely or partially covered with plastic wrap. Nitrogen fertilizers for such a vine are reduced.
A large amount of moisture in the soil leads to weakness of inflorescences in the buds and to poor ripening of berries in the future, to their low quality: wateriness, low sugar level, late ripening. Excessive aeration kills the entire vine.
Flowering with infertility that follows after it is also caused by the following features of the varieties:
- A non-fruiting bush has a female-type flowering, pollination of which is impossible without a pollinator variety. To test this version, pollen from a fruiting bush is transferred manually to a non-fruiting one. Tied and ripe bunches will confirm that the vine can be left by planting a pollinator nearby.
- The non-yielding plant has a male pollination pattern. In this case, artificial pollination will not give the expected results, but such a bush has a chance to become a good stock for grafting.
- Sometimes a vine with a female flowering type is adjacent to a pollinator, but the yield remains low. In this case, the flowering time is monitored: often these periods in plants do not coincide.
If the gardener is unable to remember which grape variety does not yield a harvest, it is necessary to plant a universal pollinator, which is any kind of raisins.
Conclusion
A high yield is the main criterion in the choice of a vine by gardeners. To ensure good quality berries and a large number of bunches, it is important to follow the rules for planting and caring for bushes. Their violation or ignorance of the peculiarities of the placement of seedlings in the garden will lead to the absence of flowering grapes and a decrease in the number of ovaries. After the introduction of some changes, the plant bears excellent fruit.