Excavation, sorting, storage and marketing of grafted grape nursery plants

Digging and Sorting of Grafted Nursery Plants

Grafted nursery plants of grapevine are dug out in autumn before the first autumn frosts, usually in late October or early November, after the natural leaf fall or their removal with defoliants. Digging is carried out mechanically, just as for own-rooted nursery plants. Then, the nursery plants are sorted manually. To prevent the dug nursery plants from freezing or drying out, they are immediately covered with tarpaulin and transported to the storage site as quickly as possible, sorted in accordance with OST 46 80, and placed into storage.

According to the adopted industry standard, grafted nursery plants must meet the following requirements:

The quality of component fusion is checked by gently bending the nursery plants at the graft union. Shoots must be matured, free from damage by fungal diseases, necrotic spots, and mechanical injuries, with three to four well-formed buds.

Nursery plants with a circular strong graft union, a smaller number of roots, and a matured shoot length of at least 18 cm are classified as second-grade. First-grade grafted nursery plants are mainly used for establishing commercial true-to-type grapevine plantations. Second-grade nursery plants are planted in a nursery for further growing for one more year. Sorted nursery plants are tied by cultivar into bundles of 25 pieces. A label is attached to each bundle indicating the farm name, scion and rootstock cultivars, and the number of nursery plants in the bundle. In this form, the nursery plants are sent for winter storage at their own farm or sold to other farms.

Production Indicators and Storage of Nursery Plants

By applying advanced technology for the production of grafted planting material, leading grapevine nursery farms, such as "Krasny Mayak", "Vinrassadnik" in the Kherson region, "Yantarny" in the Crimea region, the Suvorov farm in the Odessa region, and many others, annually produce several million grafted cuttings and obtain more than 60% of first-grade grafted nursery plants from the total number of grafted cuttings.

Grapevine grafted nursery plants are stored, just like own-rooted ones, in special storage facilities and basements in stacks 1.2–1.5 m high. The stacking process includes the following operations:

• Bundles of nursery plants are placed in a horizontal position with roots facing each other on the floor of the storage facility, covered with a layer of moistened sand.
• The root system and half of the rootstock of each bundle are layered with moist sand.
• Nursery plants of each cultivar are laid separately or the stacks of nursery plants are separated by partitions and signs.
• A 20 cm layer of sand is poured over the top of the stack, or the stack is completely covered with plastic film.

In the storage facilities, the temperature is maintained at 2–3°C, and periodic ventilation is carried out to protect the nursery plants from mold and desiccation.

In Moldova, it has become widespread to store nursery plants prepared for planting in autumn. For this purpose, immediately after sorting, the growth of the dug nursery plants is shortened, leaving no more than three to four buds on each shoot. All developed lateral roots are completely removed from the trunk, and the heel roots are shortened to 8–10 cm. Then, the nursery plants are treated with quinosol and waxed. If the nursery plants contain a sufficient amount of moisture and reliable regulation of temperature and air humidity is possible during storage, the nursery plants are waxed completely, including the root system, in technical paraffin melted to 70–75°C. If such conditions are unavailable, only the top 2/3 of the nursery plants are waxed. After waxing, the nursery plants are tied into bundles of 50 pieces and placed in stacks for storage. In the case of full waxing, the stacks are covered with plastic film on top; in the case of partial waxing, the root system of the nursery plants is layered with moist sawdust. In spring, the nursery plants are planted in their permanent location without additional preparation.

Nursery plants intended for sale can be transported by all types of vehicles at an air temperature not lower than –3°C. For short distances, they are transported in a truck bed. The floor of the truck bed is lined with moist sawdust or straw, on which bundles of nursery plants are placed with roots inward. On top and from the sides, the nursery plants are covered with mats, straw, or tarpaulin. When transporting over long distances, the nursery plants are packed in bales of 20 bundles, with roots covered with moist sawdust. The bales are covered on top with plastic film, tied tightly with twine or soft wire, and covered with burlap. A label is attached to each bale of nursery plants, indicating the addresses of the recipient and sender, the names of the rootstock and scion cultivars, the number of nursery plants in the bale, and the serial number of the bale recorded in the sender's logbook.

For the nursery plants sold, the viticulture nursery issues a cultivar certificate. It specifies the date, the number of the quality certificate, and the certificate of authorization for the transport of nursery stock to other farms, issued by the State Plant Quarantine Service.