How to fertilize grapes with manure: advantages and procedure

Proper preparation and timely application of the most popular organic fertilizer contributes to the normal full development of the sun berry. It is introduced already when planting grapes, and the reserves of nutrients are enough for the first 3-4 years of the vine's life.

In the future, due to the gradual depletion of the soil, the need for basic nutrients only increases. Most of them are provided by the most natural biomaterial among fertilizers.

What are the fertilizers for grapes?

Grapes are fairly unpretentious agricultural plants. It can easily grow where many other fruit and berry crops do not live in principle. It develops normally in the mountains and on ordinary gravel. At the same time, it can grow in one place for more than a dozen years, if the appropriate level of soil fertility allows.

So that the soil on which the grape bush grows does not lose its nutritional value, farmers are forced to periodically fertilize it. This event is very useful and usually gives good results, since grapes respond quite positively to a variety of fertilizers.

Mineral dressings, for example, have a beneficial effect on the formation and development of kidneys, contribute to the accumulation of sugar in berries, and reduce the ripening time of fruits. However, without the use of organic matter, the process of restoring the nutrient balance of the soil will be incomplete. The fact is that, in addition to restoring the original chemical composition, which is facilitated by mineral preparations, the soil also needs to improve its microflora and reconstruct its original structure.

One of the most common organic fertilizers is manure obtained from various farm animals. It is used both by itself and as a component of a more complex compound - compost.

In fact, manure is a pure fertilizer that does not need any additional mineral or organic elements to effectively influence the plant. The manure contains all the nutrients necessary for grapes.

Important! With proper cultivation of grape varieties on chernozem soils, organic matter should be applied every 3-4 years. On poorer sandy soils, this should be done more often - once every 2-3 years.

Benefits of manure as fertilizer

The quality of organic fertilizer and, above all, the content of all necessary nutrient chemical components in it largely depends on the storage conditions of the preparation. In particular, it is impossible to allow manure to be washed out by melt water, rains or other atmospheric precipitation, since after such an impact in the total mass of manure, the share of chemical elements necessary for plant nutrition (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and other substances) decreases.

At the same time, with proper storage, stubborn manure shows the following useful qualities of effective fertilization:

• promotes the active development of some microorganisms in the upper layers of the soil, which are necessary for the roots of grapes to better absorb useful microelements;
• noticeably improves the chemical and physical properties of the soil at the grape planting site;
• makes the soil much more permeable to water, which is necessary for the normal growth and fruiting of the vine;
• significantly increases the content of useful humus in the ground;
• provides normal aeration of the soil by effectively loosening it.

Important! Surface application of fertilizers (without penetration into the deep layers of the soil) leads to the fact that lighter chemical elements evaporate rather quickly, and low-mobile substances poorly penetrate to the main root system of grapes.

How and when should manure be applied?

It is possible to apply manure under a grape bush only in a rotted form (in a state of humus).Care must be taken not to use fresh slurry as organic fertilizer. In this state, manure can cause an imbalance in the nitrogen content of the soil.

In order to get the maximum benefit from this process, fertilization from manure should be carried out in the fall. If this is done in parallel with autumn plowing, then during the winter the humus will turn into a form that is best absorbed by the plant. The spring fertilization of the soil with organic matter has very little effect on the development of the bush and its ability to bear fruit.

To properly fertilize with manure, a trench is dug on one side of the grape bush, the depth of which is 50 cm and the width is 70-80 cm.Then about 4-5 buckets of well-stubborn manure are poured into it so that humus fills the trench at least half. After that, the entire contents of the pit are thoroughly mixed, tamped and completely covered with soil.

Such a dressing will be quite sufficient for high-quality fertilizing grapes within 3-5 years. After the expiration of the specified period, exactly the same trench is dug on the other side of the grape bush and the whole process of applying manure in the same sequence and in the same quantities is repeated.

Important! Often, along with manure, it is recommended to apply mineral fertilizers (per 1 m2: manure - 5 kg, superphosphate - 100 g, ammonium sulfate - 50 g, ash - 100 g).

Instead of a conclusion

Fertilization of the soil with manure, accurate according to the recipe and the timing of application, contributes to the constant and deep soil fertility under the grapes.

Without such a state, high yields of sun berries are practically impossible. All this must be taken into account when carrying out regular fertilizing of the soil with organic fertilizers.