Anyone grow Muscadines?

:+1::+1::+1:

2 Likes

4 Likes

Update. I started missing some fruit this season (2019) and I covered with bird netting. I don’t know if birds or raccoons were the guilty party.

1 Like

Deer will also eat muscadines

Did anyone ever answer this?

I am trying muscadines in NoVA 7A here. I just got 2 varieties from Ison Nursery: Ison (early season) & Black Beauty (mid season), for extended harvesting. Due to the short season here, any varieties later than mid season should not be considered. I have 2 questions:

  1. Any good varieties earlier than Ison worth growing here?
    By reading the posts here, seems Triumph is a good choice here as well. But it seems Triumph is early-mid season based on the info from Ison’s Nursery, so does Ison really fruit earlier than Triumph?
  2. Do these different varieties bloom at the same time or very close?
    It seems regardless the harvesting seasons, the self-fertile ones can always be used to pollinate the females.

Thanks!

1 Like

@NoVA I like Lane an early ripening self fertile variety. All my muscadines bloom at about the same time or at least with an overlap.

1 Like

Thank you Bill!
I will check Lane out as well.
It’s good to know they all bloom at the same time. Thanks!

2 Likes

I thought something did not sound right re the description of Ison. Ison’s nursery shows it as early/mid season while UGA shows it as late season. It is definitely early season for me here in North Alabama.

https://muscadines.caes.uga.edu/cultivars/fresh-market-cultivars.html

I posted the above link in October 2018 so it is a repeat.

I would suggest Summit and Tara as pink/bronze varieties for zone 7A. Triumph and Lane as noted above should also be considered. Paulk is probably a bit too late maturing.

2 Likes

Thanks for confirming Ison is indeed early season!
I will look into Summit and Tara as well.
To add a third plant, there are 2 options - 1. if Ison finishes just before Black Beauty, I would consider adding another variety before Ison. Probably a super early type to extend the period to enjoy the fruit; or 2. if there is a BIG gap between Ison and Black Beauty, I can add a early-mid season such as Triumph to fill the gap.
I have limited sunny spots, so have to plan carefully. :slight_smile:

I found the answer here:

So a good combination should be:
2 plants: Lane & Black Beauty
3 plants: Lane, Supreme, Black Beauty.
Also Lane is more cold hardy than other varieties. That’s a big plus for here Zone 7A.

I’ve got Ison & Black Beauty, so I will just add a Lane later. For some reason, I could not find Lane on Ison’s Nursery website. That’s very odd.

1 Like

Just wondering what a great seedless variety of muscadines is out there for Zone 6b?

I have seen Fry Seedless and it looks great but what are some more varieties? Also I was reading on some hybrid muscadines…? Also what is the difference in a scuppernong to a muscadine?

Just FYI, I haven’t read anything great about Fry Seedless. Oh My is one offered by Gurney’s for what most would consider a ridiculous price. Oh My! Seedless Grape | Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.

Scuppernong is a bronze muscadine.

1 Like

Scuppernong is a named variety of the Vitis Rotundifolia species, aka muscadine. The Scuppernong became so popular over 100 years ago that many people thought it was a different species.

IMO Fry Seedless is a poor quality muscadine. I don’t have experience with Oh My though I want to try it sometime soon.

1 Like

Thanks for the replies chad and Fusion :+1: I had thought that Scuppernong was a muscadine but I had seen it for sale as separate on some websites and wasn’t exactly sure. Oh My has a price that makes me so oh my :fearful: :rofl:

What exactly is Razmatazz? I was seeing it is a hybrid muscadine. Is it a hybrid with a table grape or wine grape or 2 different varieties of muscadine?

I have never tasted Fry Seedless but I often wonder why it is not more popular. I’m hoping Oh My will be an improvement. The seeds aren’t a huge issue for me for fresh eating but I think seedless would be more acceptable to the public.

2 Likes

I am thinking to use the existing structure to support my muscadines because I don’t want to build a separate trellis (if possible). Two options:

  1. Above the windows (pic1)
    This side is facing south. It’s the hottest spot on the property. With the heat reflected from the wall, the temperature can compare to TX. I think muscadines love that. Green lines show where I plan to install the wires.
  2. West side of a fence (pic2)
    I can only use the west side of the fence because the east side is facing the road. It will get about 6 hours sunlight. I can just tie the cordons to the fence.

Will the above 2 options work? Any issues?
The only issue that I could see is insects. I am afraid muscadines may attract a lot of wasps and mosquito. They might get inside the house. Is my concern valid?
Did anyone try to grow muscadines this way? Thanks!

Wall01

Fence01

1 Like

This is what ONE 4 year old vine looks like. It is also about 4-5 foot wide and it’s on a single wire 5.5 feet from the ground. Muscadines don’t hang in clusters generally, that is they don’t ripen in clusters. They are picked individually. Picking them is not a job for the slight of heart and might be hard to do from a ladder—spiders, bees, wasps, snakes, and birds all love To hang about in them. I wouldn’t want them hanging over my window. I had no idea what a massive plant they became.

3 Likes

I have been thinking about growing on the fence exactly like the one you have in your second photo. The problem I see happening is the vine will get extremely intertwined with the lattice and then 1) rip it apart from growth 2) rot it with the added humidity 3) make harvesting a pain when it starts to grow through the other side

However, there might be an option of using something like outdoor rated shelf bracket and then running a 1/8" wire cable across it. The hardest part will be figuring out how to anchor the ends of the wire rope, because the shelf brackets wont provide much lateral (side to side) strength. The way I would do it use use two shelf brackets per post and then anchor into a solid part of the fence with a beefy eye hook.

This is also another option, however you will need a ladder to harvest:

3 Likes

I am growing them along side my other grapes and just used what was already there. A 2 wire system and they are only 8 feet apart. I know muscadines are suppose to have way more room but we shall see how it goes! I planted these from seed and I think they are about 6 years old from the time they came up. I only have pics of 2 of them out of the 3 I have.

I pruned them back very heavy this year. I want to really train them the way I want them now. I had let them pretty much grow as they wanted until I was for sure they were going to make it. I think that they should grow well now. I got muscadines the last couple years but this past year was enough that I could sit and enjoy them more

1 Like