Experienced growers advise beginners who want to find a good seedling of grapes, one thing: you need to look for it from someone who grows this culture from his own vine and professionally engaged in this for many years. The lucky one is the one who had the opportunity to see how the grapes grow in such a collector, to taste different berries, to learn firsthand about all the advantages and disadvantages of a particular variety and, finally, to choose seedlings for your garden.
But not everyone has this opportunity. How to choose reliable plants and not fall for the tricks of dishonest sellers?
About grading and dealers
The main and integral property of the market is re – grading. More than half of sellers of seedlings of grapes (as well as all other “green” goods in the market) – professional market businessmen, that is dealers. And most often they sell seedlings, as they say, from the car, calling themselves some nursery or state farm. They have plaques, labels, photographs or fruit harvested for display.
But they do not have the main thing-a good name, which should be protected. The seedlings are still strangers. In case what can be said: I took have such a something – to him and claims! Mind you, I don’t blame these people. They do their work, and their work is not easy. But the trees for them – only the product. And the meaning of the goods is one: sale.
In addition, a bad seedling almost never returns to such a seller: you will find the defect only after a few years (if at all!), the seller had already forget how it was then called, and in General I will say that the “must grow properly”. Therefore, to decompose a large pile of “goods” into several small ones and hang indiscriminately different labels is a common business. Such confusion occurred in pre-revolutionary, diligent and cultural Europe: the seller is afraid to make a mistake, but the loss is worse.
We have it now. And in large trade institutions (nurseries, institutes), perhaps, not much less than in the market. There is a lot of goods there, there is also imported, there are not enough hands, during acceptance there is always a hurry. Therefore, do not rely on honesty. Of course, you may be lucky – with a probability of about 30-50%. But you just need to know: if you take overbought seedlings – there is no guarantee of quality.
Identify cheaters
And so, knowing this, you still came to the market. How to act? For a start, you can immediately weed out obvious deceivers. Pay attention to the price of seedlings. There are rules. The price of these seedlings of the most common, running varieties is never lower than the price of 1 kg of their berries. This is the norm for the price. But if the seedlings of another variety are more expensive, it does not mean that it is better! This means that demand is higher than supply.
Seedlings of less common varieties can cost twice as much. Seedlings of scarce novelties can cost 3-4 times more expensive. And seedlings of the newest, just announced collection forms will be more expensive in 5 or more times! This is natural: the demand is huge, and cuttings are still few. So, seeing “fashionable” and at the same time cheap deficit, do not pay attention to advertising brushes-go to yourself quietly further!
Ask specific questions
But for the normal price you can buy anything. To insure against obvious punctures, you can easily find out the level of the seller. Silently and confidently picking up any seedling, carefully (but always skeptically) inspect the roots and vines, cut a sharp knife root and a piece of bark and appreciate the freshness of the cuts.
Then ask knowledgeably, what kind of variety is it? What is the maturity? What color and taste? What is disease resistance in points? On what rootstock is it grafted? How does this variety behave in our area? And finally, where (and better – from whom) is taken the vine, who produced the seedlings and where you can see the collection?
If you talk to a collector and connoisseur, he will answer all questions clearly without embarrassment and give you a business card so that you can come to the viewing. If the seller reacts to your interrogation in some other way-wags, holds back, is indignant, presses on conscience – you can be sure that you will buy reliable “it is not known that”from him.
So, you can easily figure out the level of the seller… if you are a connoisseur of varieties. But often buyers don’t know what to ask, or too shy to offend the seller with a grain of salt. In other words, they don’t know what they’re buying.
So when you think you’ve been deceived, you’re obviously being deceitful. You have deceived yourself. Not knowing all about the product, gave the money and were satisfied. The seller satisfied your desire-sold you “no matter what”. And he’s happy, too. The deal was made by mutual consent. Therefore, three years later, still finding that the grade is not that, murmur not, and remember your mistake. Yes, and the substitution is often appears only because of the five different of your presentation seedlings have grown one and the same. Did you really need “good” varieties if you didn’t understand them?
Where do you really buy the right variety?
Only winegrowers engaged in cultivation of this culture for many years. It is much better if they grow seedlings only from their own vines: when working with someone else, the probability of re-sorting increases by an order of magnitude.
And it is desirable to know the growers personally. As a rule, they are all sociable people, happy to show and tell everything. Their goal is to please people, to Express themselves, to make sure that you recommend them to all your friends. They value and cherish their good name. This is a completely different, more sensible approach to the market. Fair exchange with abundance: in addition to seedlings, you will get some knowledge, answers to your questions. So the chances of growing a good Bush will increase.
A good seedling is the beginning of everything
Despite everything to buy seedlings in the markets will always be. So let’s at least not going to pay for the dead seedlings! We must learn to distinguish them from the living. To do this, at the time of purchase will have to become a picky expert. You, as a buyer, have every right to do so.
What not to do
1. Take autumn, lignified seedlings with green leaves.
A competent seller always cuts the leaves immediately after digging – through them the seedling quickly loses moisture. If you praise leafy seedlings with open roots, you can be sure: you want to cheat.
In General, you should not buy seedlings before the mass season of sale. Maturation of the flower can be accelerated artificially, and dealers try to take the seedlings early and sell first. But the early seedlings are Mature only on the outside! They are stored much worse. From the masters of the South is “Guild law” – not digging the new before 1 Oct.
2. Take vegetating seedlings, the roots of which are not visible through the transparent walls of the pots.
If the seller insists that his seedlings in opaque pots are good, quietly remove each from the container and make sure that it is not a recently stuck shoot there. The resourcefulness of market “sellers” is sometimes astounding, you know.
3. Take dead and dried lignified seedlings.
They successfully disguise themselves as alive, and therefore have to bravely conduct an examination on the spot. To do this, you need a small sharp knife. Defiantly take it out and take the seedling in your hands. Here everything will be clarified. If the trader protests-silently turn your back and quietly go to look further. If he reacts calmly, then he is confident in his product. And now for the cause:
- cut a few seedlings of wood over the upper eye – it should be juicy-greenish;
- will scrape the bark from a living plant it is green, raw;
- shorten the spine-the cut should be white, moist. If the slices are brown or dry, then … do not abuse the seller loudly, perhaps it is a simple realizer who has no idea what he is selling.
We assess the condition of a living seedling
If the seedlings are alive, you need to be able to assess their development, at least in order not to offend an honest seller.
A normal lignified seedling looks like this: at least 35-40 cm from the top of the cut vine to the heel with roots; a young Mature vine (growth) with a thickness of a pencil or slightly thinner has 3-4 living buds; roots (at least 3-5 pieces) are not shorter than 15 cm. the Roots of the grafted seedling are usually twice as large.
The vegetating seedling at the time of sale should have all the signs of growth – at least one green shoot, and preferably a pair, 30-40 cm long. Through the transparent container in which it grows, white roots are clearly visible. This is the standard for good seedlings.
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