Natura Classica

1. When to plant?

In our climate the vine should be planted during the winter dormancy, most often in spring or autumn. It’s best to do it in March, as soon as the ground dries and warms up.

2. Where to plant?

Before planting, you should know that the area where there was a vineyard in the past five years is unsuitable. The reasons are various, diseases that could catch on the new vines. There is also the danger of infection with rot fungi (Rosalina necatrix) especially if the ground is moist. In case that you are planing of planting a large numbers of vines, a soil analysis should be conducted first. Vines are most often planted on gentle slopes, somewhat like chairs in a cinema, so that each plant gets the same conditions. When it comes to the soil itself, even if we can’t change the fact that it’s tough or infertile, we can always make it better, at least where it matters – around the roots.

3. How to prepare the coils and the holes for the planting?

From the time of the purchase to the time of planting it’s important to protect the coils from frost, drying out, mold and vermin, so they have to be kept in an appropriate warehouse. The preparation of coils has to be done in a place where they will be protected from the sun and wind, and they have to be kept moist. Once prepared, the coils have to be plated within 2-3 days. The depth of planting depends on the climate and terrain. The vine should be planted so that the connecting spot on the coil is on level with the ground or slightly higher. In higher places the coil should be put 3-4cm under, and in lower places 3-4cm above the surface. The depth of planting is 35-40cm and the depth of the hole should be 5-10cm more than the length of the roots. The width of the hole should be about 40cm.

4. How to plant?

At the bottom of the hole there should be a 5-6 cm layer of fertile and mildly moist of soil. After that the coil is placed in the hole and the roots should be arranged in a radial layout so they take up the entire hole. The connecting spot on the coil should be 2-3 cm above ground and leaning on the marker that marks planting spot. The soil should be put back in the hole in reversed order. After the coil is in place the roots are covered with a 15-20 cm layer of the same soil that was put underneath. The next layer should be a mixture consisting of 4-5 kg of burned-out manure and fine soil. After that, the soil is gently pressed down and watered with 3-5 liters of water per hole.

5. How to prune?

Yield and quality of grapes depends on a number of jobs and agro-technical measures conducted in the vineyard during the year. One of the most important jobs in a vineyard is mature pruning, and it’s done during the winter dormancy, from the falling of the leafs in fall until the blossoming flowers in spring. It’s important because it keeps the balance between the vegetative and generative potential of the vines. Depending on the biological characteristics of the species, the farming form and level of load of the vine tree, there are 3 types of pruning: the short, the long and mixed pruning. When pruning it’s important to keep in mind the regeneration of the vine tree and that’s why deformed and inactive parts of it should be removed. The pruning can be done right only manually with mechanical, pneumatic or electric clippers. Older parts of the tree are cut using a saw while taking care not to do damage to the tree itself. Cutting of the shoots is don from a distance of about 1cm above the peak of the mesh that is left on th ever or arches. The intersection should have a slight slope, as opposed to the mesh, the juices that are extracted from the shoots in form of tears stream opposite of the mash, down the wines or arches. The older thick parts of the vine tree are cut with a saw, taking int account not to harm the skeleton of the vine, so not to make to much wounds. After the pruning, maintenance of support, tensioning of the wires,tying of the vine and, and shallow processing should be done before the starting of the growing season, before the buds start activating.