Many gardeners cannot understand why they grow small grapes. Meanwhile, peas and their causes are too important to dismiss this problem. Be sure to figure out what to do if the grapes are peas.
What is pea?
It is usually said that the grapes began to pea, if berries appear on one brush, which differ sharply in size. Their taste usually does not change, but the smallest grapes – the one that is peas – look inferior. Its visual resemblance to peas gave its name to this phenomenon. In one case, smaller fruits are clearly visible between large berries.
In a more advanced situation, only a few normal-sized grapes appear; there is no need to talk about the commercial quality of such a crop.
Possible reasons
There is no one, main reason why grapes are peas. Most often, such a problem is encountered with poor pollination. This is especially true for bisexual varieties of shrubs. More specifically, this situation is called:
insufficient attractiveness of bushes for bees;
drying pollen at high air temperature (it becomes lighter, easily carried away by the wind);
the predominance of those inflorescences that require pollination, with a shortage of pollinating inflorescences;
wrong landing site (fences and other obstacles interfere with wind pollination);
heavy rainfall, when the pollen is simply washed away.
With insufficient pollination, most problematic inflorescences crumble. This is the evolutionarily justified reaction of the plant: to concentrate maximum resources on those inflorescences that can give ovaries, and then fruits. But the reasons may be not only in this. So, overloading the leaves and ovaries of a particular vine makes it spend a lot of energy – and as a result, you can’t count on a large harvest.
It is worth considering that on a young bush, pea for this reason is quite natural, and only if it persists in adulthood, you need to sound the alarm.
Difficulties can also be associated with a lack of important substances. Grapes, in order to survive, reduce the size of the berries when water is scarce. The same thing happens if mineral fertilizers are not enough. And even if their number is normal, but top dressing is done in relatively cold weather, their absorption and effectiveness drops sharply. Finally, even active, but irregular and unsystematic watering is often the cause of problems.
However, you should not constantly blame yourself for all the difficulties. Sometimes grapes pea even with very diligent care – and this is due to the characteristics of specific varieties. To avoid such a nuisance, it is necessary to carefully study the description of the planting material. It is advisable to prefer those varieties of culture that are the least whimsical. But even they can become smaller if the vineyard is planted in poorly lit places with poor ventilation.
Methods for dealing with the problem
But simply answering the question about the causes of pea is not enough. We still need to figure out what to do with it. And in each case, the approach should be slightly different. So, if there was a failure during pollination, it is necessary to achieve better air circulation in the area. To dismantle problematic barrier structures, or to move the grapes to another place – it is necessary to decide according to the situation.
Sometimes it is worth buying planting material with different genders next season in order to maintain an optimal balance. Planting honey plants helps attract bees. Among them, preference should be given to those that are more beneficial in practical and decorative terms. A simpler and faster option is to install bee baits based on a solution of sugar and honey; this solution is poured into plates and covered with an odor-accessible material.
If the weather is not conducive to pollination anyway, then you need to deal with it artificially. One way is to pluck some of the inflorescences in the early morning hours in the absence of precipitation. They carefully pollinate female stigmas. Another approach involves the use of a special panicle. Rabbit hair is attached to the wooden holding part. This wool will allow you to transfer pollen without picking the flowers themselves.
Processing is carried out early in the morning, after the dew has dried. It is important that no rain is expected. Such pollination is carried out every 2-3 days from the formation of flowers until the end of flowering. In hot periods, the plants are additionally treated with water from a spray bottle so that the pollen does not dry out and stays firmly in place.
With the formation of a large number of leaves and shoots, careful shaping of the crown and fruiting vines is necessary.
Weakened and damaged branches are removed. The same applies to thickening branches. The tops of young shoots are pinched a few days before flowering. With sufficient pollination, excess brushes are cut off. Having found an underdeveloped bunch, you should immediately get rid of it, not hoping that the situation will improve over time.
And also important:
regular watering (more frequent during hot periods);
loosening the top layer of the earth;
nutrition at the root with microelements, primarily zinc and boron.
