In our offer there are around 150 vine varieties. However there are many people who want to just plant several vines, which will give savoury fruit.

There are so many varieties to choose. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand this.  So which vines You should choose? What do you should take into account? In this article we will describe how to choose vine variety.

In our vineyard we grow about 200 vine varieties, but this number is constantly changing. Constantly we test new ones for suitability to our climatic conditions. Our vineyard is located in the northern part of Beskid Sądecki at an altitude of 400 metres above sea level. In comparison to most area of Poland here the climate is quite severe so tested vines will successfully grow in almost all territory of Poland. We are introducing varieties that are grown in our vineyard for at least two years, and we can decide that the species is useful in our climate. If we consider that the species is not suitable for cultivation in Poland we remove it from our plantation.

The varieties are withdrawn due to:

too late fruit ripening

too low resistance to frost

high susceptibility to disease

We also remove variants which grow well and are resistant but are unsuitable due to the low taste.

To choose the right variety, you must answer for several questions:

First, we need to think about for what you need the vines?

Due to the use the varieties are divided into:

dessert vines

Those who soot vines because they care about the tasty and attractive fruits, which will be eaten with family and friends must first and foremost search the vines among dessert varieties. Vines of this group are characterized by their very attractive and mostly delicious sweet fruits. They have far more pulp than juice. They are not the best if you want to produce wine or juice.

The most popular dessert varieties are: Piesnia , Timur , Iza Zaliwska , Regina ,

J.H.D. 217-40-3-1 , Wiktoria 5 , Agat Doński , Nero , Muscat Blue i Festive.

A special group of dessert grape are seedless varieties. They have no seeds or they are so small that You will not be able to notice them. They are suitable for direct consumption or for the production of raisins. These varieties are the tastiest. Usually they have muscatel, delicate flavour. Typically, these varieties do not have big fruits, although there are exceptions like Kiszmisz Biełyj Ustojcziwyj or Baliet. Most seedless varieties include Eiset Sedless, Himrod, Lakemont, Realiance and Venus.

Vines for processing

Varieties suitable for processing are used for the production of good quality wines and juices. They are recommended for people who want to enjoy with good wine of their own production in a backyard winery. Usually suitable for processing are planted in large professional wineries founded by people who want to produce a large quantity of wine or juice. It is a good idea to plant varieties suitable for processing in the vineyard, if this was made for investment purposes. You can thus get big profits from the production of wine, fruit juice or from resale for further production. The most popular varieties for white wine in Poland include: Solaris, Seyval Blanc, Muscat Odeski and Bianca. In contrast, most commonly grown varieties for red wines are: Regent, Rondo, Foch Marscheal and Leon Milot. It is also worth noting that there is a variety that is not known in Poland, but it is great in planting – Salome.

Vines for general use

If you do not want to choose between dessert varieties and varieties for processing, because we want to eat fresh fruit and produce wine from them, the great idea is to plant vines for general use. Those vines are characterized by the fact that they are very easy to grow. In general, they are very resistant to disease and frost. They usually have a medium-sized fruit. The most popular varieties in this group include:

Buffalo, N.Y.M. Aurora and Schulyer.

Decorative vines

Sometimes vines are used for decorative purposes. For people who want to fix their terraces, summerhouse pergole or wall by homes they are the most suitable varieties from this group. Decorative vines are characterised by a strong and rapid growth and large ornamental leaves. Do not pose any problems in the cultivation and they are completely resistant to the disease and frost. Fruits are not too large but tasty. The most recommended in this group are:  Isabella, Konkord R. , Fredonia or Swenson Red and Ontario.

Secondly, where we want to plant our vines?

Vine varieties do not have too much soil requirement, so You don’t have to worry too much about this. Vines prefer fertile, slightly permeable soil. However, even the standard soil will not be a problem. Even if the soil is acidic, a small amount of lime should solve the problem.

Much more important issue is: location, sunlight, shielding from the wind.

Poland is quite diverse in terms of climate. The most important climatic factors in the cultivation of the vine are the temperature and the length of the growing season.

In warmer parts of the country without any problem can be grown varieties considered as the most attractive ones but somewhat less resistant as Arkadia, Regina, Laura, Nadezhda Azos or Orion.

In parts of Poland where there are lower temperatures the varieties with less frost resistance should be protected from frost in winter. In the coldest parts of the country such as Suwalki and Podhale it is recommended to cultivate varieties with high resistance to frost e.g. Fredonia, Konkord Rosyjski, Isabella, Swenson Red, Eiset Sedless, Ontario or Foch Marschal. In addition to location, also important is the exposure area. The best are places that are sunny and well sheltered from the wind. In these conditions you can try less resistant. varieties. However, if the vine is exposed to high winds or the place is so called mainstay of frost (e.g. in the valley of the river) it is worth to choose more resistant varieties.

Thirdly, if the vine will be in sunny place? How long will last the growing season?

Here, the most important criterion is the time of fruit ripening.

Due to the time of fruit ripening the varieties are divided into:

• Very early
• Ripened even at the end of July and in August
• Early

Ripened at the end of August and the beginning of September

• Medium-early

Ripened in the second half of September

• Average

Ripened at the beginning of October. From this group we have only a single variety due to its exceptional attractiveness of fruit.

• Late

Ripened in the second half of October. We don’t have such varieties in our vineyard because they are not useful in our conditions.

In the vast majority season in Poland lasts for more than 215 days a year so you can successfully cultivate almost all offered vine variety. From the very early ones to these medium early ones. In such cases it is recommended to choice the varieties with different ripening time to be able to enjoy the fruits by long time.

In areas with the longest vegetation period over 220 days (Western Poland, Western-Southern Poland to Lublin Upland) you can enjoy the variety with medium ripening period as Lancelot, Talisman.

However, on so-called Polish cold pole i.e. Suwałki it is recommended to grow only varieties of very early and early ripening period.

An important factor is also the level of sunlight. The grapevine is a thermophilic plant, the more sunlight will be in the cultivation are, the earlier grapes will gain the right amount of sugar.

It means that in places that are more shaded should be planted early ripening varieties.

Summary

For people, who want to enjoy the fresh fruit in their garden, we recommend the choice of a few varieties with different characteristics. It is recommended to select varieties from the earliest period of ripening for possible late ones – thank to this it will be possible to eat fresh fruit for long time. It is also good to choose varieties of different colours and flavours of fruit. Greater diversity will make the garden will be more abundant. An example of a set of attractive dessert varieties suitable for cultivation in most of the country is:

• Piesnia
• Timur
• Iza Zaliwska
• Fanny
• TP-25
• Podarok Zaporoża
• Jubilej Hersonkiego Dacznika
• 217-40-3-1
• Weronika
• Liux
• Wiktoria 5
• Agat Doński
• Donaria
• Festive
• Muscat Blue
• Nero

For people who plant vines in the warmer parts of the country, or who want to protect them for the winter in the colder areas of Poland we can recommend extremely attractive grapes as:

• Arkadia
• Wiagra(Orchidea)
• Regina
• Talizman
• Uliana
• Andriusza
• Laura
• Faina
• Kodrianka
• Konsuł
• Kozaciok

If the grapes will be grown in cool regions of Poland, in windy and in so called mainstay of frost where they will not be protected in any way, you can also find a variety of very tasty but slightly smaller fruits like:

• Kristaly
• Sputnik Siewiernookałkaski
• Fredonia
• Swenson Red
• V68-021
• Konkord R.
• Lutti
• Isabella
• New York Musact
• Eiset Sedless
• Realiance
• Venus

The best varieties in Poland for high-quality white wine are:

• Solaris
• Muscat Odeski
• Bianca

or red wine:

• Salome
• Regent
• Rondo

In colder regions it is recommended to crop more resistant ones:

• Foch Marscheal
• Leon Milot

We encourage you to  find out more in our offer: SPRING 2018 OFFER

If you still have doubts about the choice of varieties please contact us. We will be happy to answer any questions about the vine.

Prepare soil before planting. Clean the place where you want to plant the seedlings from pollutants (concrete, stone, metal waste, etc.). In the season before planting the crop it is recommend to cultivate e.g. beans, peas, lupine and vetch, which should be digged in full flower period, before the joinder of the seeds.

Natural organic fertilizers are conducive to the good development of the vine. You can fertilize with manure in a dose of 5-7kg/m2. The manure is spread uniformly on the surface of the soil and digs in to a depth of 30cm. In the gardens where the manure is not possible, it can be replaced with compost. Compost is used in a dose of approx. 10 kg/m2.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polish.

Seedlings should be planted in rows along the north-south axis, what provides uniform lighting of shrubs. The distance between rows should be 1.5-2m. The distance between the bushes in a row is 0, 8-1,2m. Seedlings at the walls of the buildings are planted about 60cm from them. This prevents from the dampening of walls by allowing for proper ventilation of shrubs. For planting in the garden, the most suitable are plants rooted in containers. Their advantage is that they can be planted at any time and it easy to take plants with the whole root balls. In a prepared soil, dig a hole with a diameter of 25cm and a depth of approx. 30cm. At the bottom of the hole put arable land or peat and water. If the soil is not sufficiently prepared dig the hole deeper by several centimetres and on the bottom give the digested manure mixed with soil and cover it with soil, so as to isolate it from direct contact with the roots.

Part that is over the ground should be backfilled with approx. 30cm of soil (mound) in order to protect the seedling against large frosts. In the spring, after frosts, the mound should be spread to expose part that is over the ground. Cut the seedling over the third eye in the aboveground part.

Grafted seedlings are planted at selected primers as in the description above, but the place of grafting must be 3cm above the ground.

Purchase of the appropriate planting grapes is a prerequisite for success in cultivation. If you have already decided which variant you want to buy, we need to ensure that this seedling has high quality. This plant should be obtained with a thick and long osier, and be at least 50cm in length, it must also have a well-developed root system with the greatest number of capillary roots. Seedlings grafted distinguished by the fact that they are more resistant to diseases, have a stronger growth, better fruiting and improved fruit quality.

Before planting the vine plants you should choose planting site and location of shrubs. When you are planting several varieties in different places of the garden, you should select the localisation, taking into account the time of ripening and frost resistance. The best locations in the garden, e.g. the walls of buildings, are the best for varieties less resistant to frost, of late fruit ripening period. Early and medium-early vines may be planted in slightly worse location. Pay attention if the vines are in sunny for all day. The vine is a thermophilic shrub and if you want to get a tasty fruit or wine of good quality you should choose the location very carefully. The best places are hillsides with a slight southern or south-west slope. Any shading is allowed only in the morning or in the late afternoon.