Among the many grape varieties, those that ripen at a record early date and are intended for fresh consumption are in high demand. And although in recent years the number of such varieties has been growing steadily, many popular varieties, known for a long time, do not go out of fashion and are trusted. One of them is the Bulgarian grape Pleven.
Content
Breeding history, description and characteristics of the Pleven grape variety
The variety is named after the Bulgarian city of Pleven, where it was born through hybridization. The varieties Italia and Yantar took part in the process of its birth, which passed on to the descendant all their best qualities. The variety turned out to be fruitful and very early ripening, quickly gained popularity. But the breeders did not stop there, and Pleven himself took part in the development of several varieties on his own basis, which ultimately introduces some confusion in the terminology.
Trying to obtain new varieties with higher resistance to low temperatures, Bulgarian scientists developed new forms on the basis of Pleven. They got names:
- Pleven Stable;
- Pleven Muscat;
- Pleven European.
The most famous of them is Pleven Stable, this grape bears another name - Augustine. It received the name Resistant for its good resistance to frost, ease of cultivation, resistance to diseases and pests. Pleven European (Eurostandard) is distinguished by large bunches, and Pleven Muscat - high yield and improved taste. All forms have bisexual flowers, all of them are perfectly pollinated without the presence of bushes of another variety.
All three forms derived from Pleven grapes are similar in appearance to each other in size and color of berries.
But back to the original grade - Pleven itself. It is a very early ripening table grape. In the south of our country, as well as at home, its harvest is ready to be harvested in early August. Depending on the climatic conditions, the berries ripen in different regions 90–120 days after the first buds bloom, the yield of this variety is quite high, and up to 14 tons per hectare are harvested in industrial vineyards.
The bushes are tall, the vine grows back quickly and ripens well. It reproduces in all possible ways. The most popular is the rooting of woody cuttings, but grafting into bushes of other varieties is also often used. Both of these operations are more than 90% successful. It is not capricious to the nature of the stock, in most cases the affinity is high.
When choosing a variety for a summer cottage, one must be prepared for frequent treatments against diseases: the variety is relatively resistant only in relation to gray rot, it is often affected by fungal diseases.
Phyloxera affects him so much that in areas with the spread of this pest, it is better to refuse Pleven.
Frost resistance at the moment can be considered average: resistance limit -23 aboutC is typical for most modern table varieties.
An excessive number of inflorescences is formed on the bushes, and in order to obtain the normal quality of the berries and the safety of the bush, the harvest must be normalized. But even after removing part of the bunches, the variety shows high yields. The flowers are bisexual, pollinated perfectly. The bunches are well transported and keep well in the refrigerator for up to two months. Ripe berries do not require urgent collection, remaining on the bushes for up to 20 days.
Bunches are medium in size, conical, medium density berry packing. The mass of a bunch is within 200-300 g, which rarely reaches half a kilogram. All berries are about the same size, there is no obvious "pea". Wasps are not damaged.
The classic Pleven grapes have a bunch of almost regular conical shape, the berries are not very densely arranged
Berries by modern standards are slightly above average, weighing about 5 g, oblong. The main color is yellow-green, with a slight brownish tan on the sunny side. The skin is thick, covered with a wax coating. The pulp is dense, juicy, crunchy, with an ordinary harmonious taste: the total sugar content is about 16%, the acidity of the juice is 5–6 g / l. At full maturity, nutmeg notes are barely noticeable.
The purpose of grapes is universal: most often it is used fresh, but it is also suitable for any kind of processing.
Video: description of Pleven grapes
Features of planting and cultivation of Pleven grape varieties
The grapes of the considered variety in agricultural technology are relatively simple, except for the need to carry out regular preventive spraying: its disease resistance is low. Otherwise, it differs little from most table grape varieties. Perhaps a little more than others needs watering, and it cannot do without careful pruning and rationing of the amount of harvest.
Landing
Planting of this grape is recommended on a small hill: although it is picky about moisture, it does not tolerate the close occurrence of groundwater and stagnant water after rains and irrigation. Since the variety requires a large area of nutrition, before preparing the planting pit, it is necessary to dig up the entire area with a minimum area of 3 x 3 m with the introduction of the usual doses of fertilizers. When planting two or more bushes, the distance between them should be at least two meters.
The pit for planting is prepared without any peculiarities: sizes from 80 x 80 x 80 cm, with a good drainage layer at the bottom. In regions with heavy soils, an irrigation pipe is needed, led to the location of the roots of the future seedling. Further, the lower part of the pit is filled with well-fertilized soil, the upper - with fertile soil without fertilizers. All this is done in the fall, and the grapes are planted in the spring, in April. Planting is usual: the seedling is buried deep, but so that the roots do not come into contact with fertilizers, the soil is well watered and mulched.
Since Pleven grapes are often grafted into a stem or a vine of mature bushes of another variety, it is worthwhile to research the literature beforehand: inquire about which varieties it has good compatibility with. Although there are most of these varieties, a mistake "out of the blue" is undesirable. Grafting does not present any particular difficulties, maybe, depending on the option, it can be carried out almost at any time, but it is better for an inexperienced grower to first learn from unnecessary cuttings.
Grafting grapes is not very difficult, it is done in much the same way as in the case of fruit trees.
Care
In the first two years, the grapes are often watered, but feeding is not needed: there is enough fertilizer introduced in advance. Then a number of watering is combined with top dressing, for this variety there are even schemes for such events. One of them looks like this.
- The first feeding is carried out immediately after the spring garter of vines opened after hibernation. Use ammonium nitrate, if necessary, pre-watering the bushes. Every two years at this time, 1-2 buckets of humus are buried in small holes along the periphery of the bush.
- A week after the "cosmetic" spring pruning watered grapes, after sprinkling around the bush 2-3 liters of wood ash.
- Water well in the phase when new shoots reach a length of 25-30 cm.
- Before flowering, the bushes are sprayed with diluted solutions of complex mineral fertilizers.
There are many convenient recipes for feeding grapes.
- The grapes are abundantly watered a few days after the end of flowering, at the same time foliar dressing is repeated by spraying.
- After harvesting, add up to 60 g of superphosphate to the wells and watered well.
- The last time in the season, watering is carried out before the bushes are sheltered for the winter, especially if the autumn was dry. If convenient, humus can also be added at this time, instead of the future early spring stage.
The rest of the time the grapes are watered in case of prolonged drought, but watering is stopped 2-3 weeks before the harvest.
Since Pleven is not resistant to diseases, at least three sprays with relatively harmless preparations are recommended. The first time - on a sleeping vine, with a solution of iron sulfate. The second - at the moment of swelling of the kidneys and the appearance of a green cone, bordeaux liquid. The third - after the blooming of several leaves, one of the modern fungicides (for example, Horus or Ridomil gold).
In the spring, only dried and obviously superfluous shoots are removed; this must be done long before sap flow. Throughout the growing season, stepchildren and young shoots break out, growing not where the owner would like. After the end of flowering, remove excess inflorescences, leaving no more than two on each shoot. The main pruning is carried out after leaf fall. 5-6 of the most powerful shoots are left on the bush, shortening them to 6-8 eyes. The maximum load on a plant is no more than 45 eyes.
Pruning is the most skilled job in the vineyard
For the winter, grapes are necessarily covered, except for the southernmost regions. The vines are removed from the trellises, laid out on the ground and covered with any heat-saving materials, except for film. In most areas, a good layer of spruce or pine spruce branches is sufficient, somewhere it is possible to cover with nonwoven materials such as spunbond. When sheltering bushes, you should take care of their safety by spreading the poison for mice.
Video: Pleven grape harvest in Ukraine
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety in comparison with similar
Pleven is already a relatively old variety, and it is difficult to compare it with new varieties of a similar purpose: most of them are created with an emphasis on increased disease resistance, which this grape does not have. Such very early domestic varieties, such as Libya or Sensation, undoubtedly, in many respects are higher than Pleven. Apparently, sensing the existing shortcomings, the creators of the variety at one time and brought out at least three of its improved modifications. What are the positive aspects of this grape, which satisfy specialists to this day?
It:
- adaptability to changeable weather conditions;
- rapid regrowth of the vine and its almost complete ripening;
- ease of reproduction by any possible means;
- high transportability and safety of the crop both on bushes and in harvested form;
- excellent pollination of flowers and associated high yields;
- low degree of damage by wasps;
- good taste of rather large and beautiful berries.
Growers note a lot of disadvantages, these are:
- poor resistance to most diseases;
- the presence of large seeds in berries;
- cracking of berries in case of prolonged rains;
- "Baking" berries on the bushes in case of very hot weather.
The combination of the advantages and disadvantages of the variety does not lead to the fact that it disappears from the range of winegrowers. Moreover, at home, it remains one of the varieties for industrial use. However, modern summer residents who are just starting to equip a site can choose many other grape varieties, in general, more suitable for planting as a table variety of early ripening.
Reviews
Pleven is always pollinated and bears fruit regardless of the experience of the owner.
Pleven is not in demand here. The taste is simple, too simple. For the northern regions, of course, it is quite suitable. As a stock it is quite a decent grape. All re-grabbed.
Pleven is an old table variety, but also one of my favorites, all because of the same problem-free, although it is written in the annotations that it is unstable, but for me, it does not cause any trouble around it, I do not need to flutter and dance with a "tambourine" ... the flower is bisexual , very weakly affected by mildew, just sitting next to whims from which they can grab a little, a bunch of 600-700 grams, the taste is simple, harmonious, I cut it into 8-10 eyes, load two brushes per arrow.
Pleven is the most grateful and unpretentious variety on my site and, it seems to me, is undeservedly forgotten! Plus, the taste is far from simple as they write about it. but is approaching harmonious !!! Wasps almost never attack, high marketability, frost-resistant, minimum care - what is not an ideal variety for most lovers? On a five-point mark I put a bold four !!!!!!!!
Video: grower about the Pleven variety
The Pleven grape belongs to the group of good, but not ideal early ripening varieties. This is a table grape that in the south brings stable yields at an early date, as a result of which the gardeners who once planted Pleven are in no hurry to get rid of it. It cannot be said that the variety has good prospects in the future, but so far it serves faithfully to the vineyards who sheltered it on their plots.
