The grape of Athos

The ancient culture of grape cultivation has given rise over several millennia to more than 20,000 varieties, among which there are dining, technical, and universal varieties. Some are consumed fresh as a dessert, others are processed to produce juices, jams, and wine. Universal ones are used both fresh and for canning. The Athos grape belongs to the table varieties.

Athos is the result of VK Bondarchuk's breeding work on crossing the varieties Talisman and Kodryanka. The year of birth of the hybrid grape Atos is 2009, and the creator was pleased with the first harvest in 2012. It happened in the Luhansk region, after which the variety was recognized by gardeners in Ukraine and the southern part of Russia. After a short time, Athos appeared in other regions of our country.

The early ripe table Athos, despite his youth, has already managed to take root in the garden and summer cottages of the Central European part of Russia, in the North Caucasus region. Even if not everywhere, but he has already appeared in Altai, in Kazakhstan, has shown himself excellently in the Primorsky Territory. This is possible due to early ripening and good frost resistance.

The rapid expansion of the habitat of the vigorous hybrid Atos is facilitated by its unpretentiousness, high adaptability, disease resistance and other characteristics. The vine of Athos is powerful, colored in brown tones with medium-sized dark green foliage, slightly pubescent underneath. The variety will need a lot of space, so you should calculate in advance how many bushes can comfortably grow on the site.

The variety is good for fresh consumption, suitable for making young red wine, especially when adding grapes of wine varieties. It produces excellent juices of a rich palette, as well as jams and preserves. And also the berries left on the vine turn into raisins of excellent taste by autumn.

The hybrid belongs to the ultra-early varieties - the ripening period is 95-100 days. In the southern regions, the berry can be eaten at the end of July.

The bunches of Athos are conical, of medium density, weighing from 500 to 700 grams, not prone to peas.

Elongated, ovoid, large dark blue berries are covered with a skin of medium density, almost invisible in the process of eating. The pulp of the fruit is fleshy, juicy, crispy. Weight 10-11 grams.

The grapes have an amazing harmonious taste - sweet, with a slight sourness.

The variety shows a high yield - with good agricultural technology, up to 130 centners per hectare are harvested.

The planting requirements for the variety are no different from the general standards.It needs sunny areas and lack of proximity to groundwater.

Saplings are planted in early spring or late autumn, when there is no sap flow. The depth of the hole is 70 cm, the distance between the holes is at least 2 meters. The bottom of the pit is covered with a drainage layer of 25 cm, then 25 cm of soil is laid with a mixture of humus, compost, superphosphate and ash.

The vine blooms with bisexual flowers, so it does not need additional pollination.

This process is mandatory for the Athos variety, since its vigorous growth provokes the appearance of a large number of eyes, which inevitably leads to an overload of the bush. The norm is 20-24 shoots, 30-35 eyes on the bush, 6-8 on the shoot.

Strong bushes need moderate weekly watering, but Athos tolerates temporary interruptions in water supply to the root system well.

A powerful vine needs feeding. In early spring, before budding begins, the bush is fed with a bucket of nutrient mixture:

• water - 10 l;

• superphosphate - 20 g;

• potassium salt - 5 g;

• ammonium nitrate - 10 g.

In the fall, potash fertilizers are applied, once every 3 years they are fertilized with manure when digging the earth.

Athos is quite frost-hardy - it tolerates frosts down to -23 degrees, but in regions with negative winter temperatures it needs additional shelter for the winter. The vine is laid on the ground, sprinkled with an insulating material - soil, fallen leaves, and covered with a covering agrotechnical on top.

Despite its resistance to diseases and high resistance, Athos can be affected by fungal diseases. These are anthracnose, mildew, oidium, gray rot, black spot. As a preventive measure, in the fall, it is necessary to clear the ground from fallen leaves and branches, followed by mandatory burning.

The entire range of fungicides used in certain cases can replace copper sulfate. Spraying is carried out in calm weather in spring and autumn. Dangerous pests are leaf rollers. They use insecticides against them: "Karbofos", "Chlorofos". Sweet berries are a delicacy for birds; they are fought with capron nets.

Atos grapes have a high marketability, are not prone to cracking, therefore they are well stored in cool rooms and have high transportability. This indicator allows you to realize the harvest in areas far from the place of growth.

In the responses of plant breeders, there is an emphasis on high demand at the points of sale, and the love of buyers for it is noted. Many people write about the endurance of the variety - it is able to pull out a large overload. Anyone who has left the brushes on the vine to obtain raisins speaks of its excellent taste, softness and sweetness. Early ripening allows growers to start selling long before other varieties ripen.