Grapes are a lover of warm climate. Nevertheless, breeders are developing more and more varieties adapted to the harsh Russian climate. One of these is the Monarch hybrid grape, which is distinguished by its truly royal berry size and excellent taste.
The story of growing the Monarch hybrid
Monarch grapes appeared thanks to the work of amateur breeder E.G. Pavlovsky. He developed a new variety by crossing the Cardinal and Talisman grape varieties. After checking the results, the new variety got its name and quickly gained popularity among gardeners. Nevertheless, the Monarch has not yet received official recognition - it is not listed in the state register.
Description of Monarch grapes
A table hybrid of Monarch grapes has a mid-early ripening period - the growing season is 120-140 days. Plants are characterized by rapid growth. The vine ripens approximately 1/3 of the initial size.
Monarch flowers are bisexual, self-pollinating. On the bushes clusters of medium and large size (0.5 - 1 kg), cylinder-conical shape, medium density are formed. Berries are very large (15-20 g, maximum up to 30 g).
Monarch berries are very large, greenish in color.
The shape of the berries is ovoid, the skin is dense, yellowish-green (with full ripeness of amber with a reddish tan) color. The seeds are small, in each berry they contain only 1-2 pieces, sometimes up to 3, with food they are almost invisible. The pulp is very juicy, fleshy, unusually pleasant due to its high sugar content. A distinctive feature of the variety is the delicate nutmeg aroma of the pulp.
Monarch grapes on video
Grade characteristics
The popularity of Monarch grapes is due to several advantages:
- early (August 20-25) and plentiful (up to 20 kg from 1 bush) crop;
- good rooting of cuttings;
- high level of frost resistance (up to -25 aboutFROM);
- increased resistance to certain diseases;
- presentation of brushes and berries;
- berries left on the bush do not crumble for a long time;
- good taste qualities of berries that do not change with changing weather conditions;
- resistance to transportation thanks to a dense skin.
Not a single variety can do without flaws; the Monarch is not without them:
- with untimely dressing, watering and pruning, the bush can shed ovary;
- poor resistance to powdery mildew.
Features of planting and growing
The success of growing grapes largely depends on the correct planting and care.
The secrets of planting grapes
One of the main issues when planting grapes is the right choice of planting material. You can harvest the cuttings yourself or purchase seedlings with roots. If you get a stalk, make sure that its sections are green and have at least 3 buds on it.
When buying a finished seedling, pay attention to the root system - it should be developed with lateral processes of white color.
For planting, choose seedlings with a developed root system
Cuttings can be grafted onto an adult stock or planted on your own roots.
For vaccination, the cuttings must be carefully trimmed, soaked for 14-16 hours in water. Water temperature should be 15 aboutC - at this temperature, awakening of cuttings is best. After soaking, a cut of the cut is immersed in a solution of a growth stimulator (sodium humate, heteroauxin, Epina). You can use a honey solution (0.5 tablespoon per 5 liters of water) as a growth promoter. The prepared cuttings are tightly inserted into the split stock of the stock and tightly tie the grafting site with a strip of fabric.
Vaccination of grapes in shtamb - video
If you want to grow a seedling from a stalk, you need to soak the chubuck in water and in a growth stimulator just like for vaccination. After soaking in water, the chubuk is checked for suitability by clicking on the cut with a knife: when pressed, drops of water appear on a high-quality shank (too much moisture or its complete absence indicates the unsuitability of the shank). Prepared Chubuk put in water or in a container with moist soil. Usually they do this in the middle of winter so that the seedlings are ready for spring planting.
Chubuki grapes will give roots if placed in containers with moist soil
For growing seedlings, gardeners recommend the following method. You can take a cropped plastic bottle, pour a 2-centimeter layer of earth into it. A plastic cup with a bottom cut out is installed above, the gap between the walls of the bottle and the cup is densely filled with moist earth. Wet clean sand of medium size, pre-treated with boiling water, is poured into a cup. After this, the cup is carefully pulled out.
In the middle of the sand layer, a depression is made (5-6 cm) and a stalk is set there, sand is poured around it. Then, sprinkle the entire surface of the container with a small layer of dry sand and cover the handle with a glass jar or a cut plastic bottle. Sand needs to be moistened periodically.
Growing grape seedlings from Chubuk - video
When the Chubuki give their own roots, they can be planted in open ground. You need to do this when the soil warms up to + 12 ... +15 aboutC and there will be no danger of repeated frosts.
Usually green vegetative seedlings are planted in the second half of May, and lignified 2-year-olds are planted in late April - early May.
Before planting, seedlings need to be hardened - taken out every day for several hours in the open air.
For the proper development of grapes you need to provide him with a warm place and good soil warming
The place for planting grapes should be chosen as the warmest - on the south side of the site, sheltered from the wind. The distance to the fruit trees should be 3-5 m.
The planting pit should have a diameter and depth of about 0.8 m. If the soil is oversaturated with moisture, make the pit 10-15 cm deeper and beaten brick is poured onto the bottom, on which trimmed planks are placed (they hold the soil layer). The pit is filled with a nutrient mixture of 8-10 buckets of humus mixed with soil and mineral fertilizers (0.3 kg each of superphosphate and potassium sulfate and a three-liter ash container). A fertile soil layer (5-6 cm) is laid on top of the nutrient pillow, so that the depth of the pit becomes 45-50 cm. You can install trimming pipes for irrigating the plant under the root with warm water in the pit.
Grapes are carefully placed in the pit, trying not to break off the roots, sprinkled with soil, compacted and watered (2-3 buckets of water).
Planting grapes in spring - video
In cold regions, additional heating of the soil can be achieved by digging a row of dark glass bottles around the planting pit (placed upside down, at an angle). The surface of the soil after planting can be covered with a film.
Grape bush care
For the first time after planting, the most important part of care is watering. Water the young plant every 14-16 days with settling water, and as the top soil layer dries up, loosen it to a depth of 5-10 cm. You can mulch the soil with peat or sawdust.
Adult plants are watered 2-3 times per season (in very dry weather - more often). The first watering is carried out at the end of flowering.
Bush formation
Monarch grapes are recommended to be formed in 4 shoots. Vines must be tied to trellises.
Strong pruning is not recommended - the Monarch can drop the ovary. The optimal load on the bush is provided by leaving 25-35 eyes. It is usually recommended that the grapes be trimmed only during dormancy, but the experience of winegrowers growing this variety suggests a different way.
For the proper development of the bushes, it is necessary to tie them to the trellises
The monarch is best left untouched until the berries are formed (reaching pea sizes). At the beginning of the season, the vines are trimmed a little, carefully pulled with twine to the trellis and left in this position. During flowering, you can remove some of the shading leaves. After the brushes are formed, you can remove the extra ovaries, cut the fattening shoots and tie the vines to the supports.
Top dressing
Grapes respond well to fertilizers, but untimely feeding may lead to lower yields.
Fertilizers need to be applied only after flowering, otherwise all the nutrients will go to the growth of shoots.
When choosing mineral fertilizers, remember that grapes do not tolerate chlorine compounds. The best results in the vineyards are provided by complex fertilizers: ammophos, nitrophoska, Mortar, Kemira, Novofert. Trace elements are very useful for grapes - boron, zinc, copper.
Top dressing is carried out 2-3 times per season: after flowering, 2-3 weeks before harvest and in the fall. In the autumn period, organic fertilizers are necessarily introduced - horse or cow manure (rotted) or a solution of mullein.
Fertilizers need to be laid in trenches 0.2-0.5 m deep, dug in the near-stem circle of grapes.
Feeding grapes - video
Protection against diseases and pests
The monarch is highly resistant to disease. Problems can arise only with powdery mildew, which not only affects the appearance and quality of the berries, but can also lead to the drying of the vines. For the prevention of this disease, a good effect is given by spraying with 1% Bordeaux fluid, which is carried out 2-3 times per season.
Of the pests, one must be wary of wasps who like to feast on grape berries and can leave only bare branches from brushes. It is very difficult to scare away insects and insecticides help a little here (and you should not treat grape brushes with pesticides). To protect the crop, you can tie each brush into a bag of lightweight fabric. This method, of course, is time-consuming, but it guarantees salvation from both wasps and birds.
Shelter of grapes for the winter
The winter hardiness of the Monarch hybrid is quite high, but it's better to take care of protecting the plant for the winter. To do this, after the autumn pruning, the vines are detached from the trellis, tied in bunches and laid on the ground. Some winegrowers recommend covering the vines with a layer of earth, but you can tie them with hay or straw, or cover with a film.
To protect the grapes from frost, the vines that are lowered to the ground are tied with straw or hay
Harvesting, storage and use of crops
Harvest Monarch can be harvested in the last decade of August. The brushes are cut with a pruner and placed in buckets or (more preferably) in wooden boxes. Part of the crop can be left on the bushes - it hangs for a long time without crumbling.
Thanks to the dense skin, the Monarch tolerates transportation well. You can store the harvest in the refrigerator. It is only necessary to periodically choose perishable berries. If the crop is very large, it is best to store it in a cool room, hanging the brushes on the twine. To increase the shelf life, you can put small potatoes on the sections of branches.
The monarch belongs to the table varieties, but it can be used not only fresh. The berries are very juicy, so this grape is ideal for making juice and wine.
Grape juice is not only delicious, but also one of the most healthy drinks.
Gardeners reviews
GF Monarch, breeding E. Pavlovsky It seems to me that this is the most worthy berry, which corresponds to its name: truly royal! The average weight of berries is 20 g. , I met a lot and for 30 gr. , while additional conditions for top dressing the bushes were not used. The taste is exquisite: dense melting flesh with a delicate aroma of nutmeg.
Fursa Irina Ivanovna, Krasnodar Territory//vinforum.ru/index.php?topic=63.0
A monarch seedling (Pavlovsky E) grafted on a cober was purchased from the author in the spring of 2007. In 2008, when fan-shaped, it gave a signal crop of 5 clusters of about a kilogram each. Very large berry, amber color, without peeling, unlike SUPER EXTRA, the pulp is dense, with a light nutmeg. Ripened on August 20. Two clusters reached the middle of October and were eaten. The vine matured well. GF vigorous, resistant to mildew, oidium, gray rot. Unstable to anthracnose.
Salchanin, Rostov Region//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=795
I just can’t get reciprocity from the vaccinated Monarch for how many years. The bushes are powerful, the crop is scarce at all - and all the clusters are unformed, the pollination is bad, half the peas of berries are in the cluster, the clusters themselves are as large as my palm, maximum 20 berries. Due to the constant underload (not my side, but the physiological one), the shoots become fattened, then they winter very poorly in uncultured culture, and "it’s getting wet for cola, start all over again." And so every year on all 15 bushes. I’m not particularly noticed in diseases, I have never met anthracnose, but I can’t get a crop. The stocks are different - both Riparia, and 101-14, and Kober - the result is the same. Tops are alone. I pinch, pinch, so that stepchildren give and do not fatten, but there is no special effect, and there is no crop in stepchildren either
Krasokhina, Novocherkassk//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=795
I read and "calmed down" that not only did the Monarch sprinkle with me. From brushes there were only skeletons. There are no berries. And last year there was the first fruiting and everything was pollinated normally. It's a shame. I’ll see how it will be next year and I will rerun.
natal//forum.vinograd.info/archive/index.php?t-795-p-4.html
The monarch I have only one bush-hold for cuttings. The agricultural microphone as for all the others. The berry has never crumbled, large, but I will not propagate it on the plot. In our south it does not reach the market, there are other forms with which It is difficult for a monarch to compete.
Victor Boyko//forum.vinograd.info/archive/index.php?t-795-p-4.html
Grapes Monarch is worthy of a place in any vineyard. It requires an individual approach to itself in relation to pruning, top dressing and watering, but if all the necessary requirements are met, it will yield a large crop of very large and tasty berries.
