I don’t have Hall or Sweet Jenny or Sugargate so I can’t speak for any of those. I do have Lane and Triumph. Lane is good but I don’t think it would give you much variety from Ison’s and Black Beauty. Lane ripens very early but that’s about the only reason for you getting it.
I love Triumph— it’s my favorite bronze. A close second would be Late Fry but it is really late ripening. Triumph to me it has its own unique flavor…kind of a “wine-y”, maybe “musky” type flavor. It has been vigorous and productive in my zone 8a. It’s a mid bearing for me.
I really like Supreme but my Supremes don’t ripen fast. They are dark and good in a mid range but I like to let them get VERY ripe and it seems to take them a long time to do that. They are fantastic and huge though! I have heard enough good about Sugargate to make me want to try it.
Darlene is good and she gives big grapes but she is very very fruit stingy. If you get a Darlene plant it right beside a male and then you might get better production. She puts a lot more into growing her vines than in producing fruit. Like I said I really know nothing about Sweet Jenny.
PS Paulk is supposed to be good but I’ve had nothing but problems with my vine that doesn’t want to grow and gets diseases!! No fruit yet to taste.
Thank you Katy for sharing your experiences! Very helpful!
Then I think I am settled for the following 2:
[3] Triumph
Lane is very much like Ison, so I will pass because I have Ison already. Then Triumph is definitely better in this group. Plus a bronze self-fertile can help increase the diversity.
[5] Sugargate
Supreme may taste better and grow bigger, but it already takes longer time in your zone. I am afraid it won’t ripen in time here. So Sugargate is a better choice for me.
Need to decide on [4] Darlene or Sweet Jenny. I read both are inconsistent with fruiting. I will probably go with Sweet Jenny this time.
When your Triumph starts ripening let them go until they start turning pinkish… much better flavor. I think a lot of people pick before the fruit is really ripe. I did at first partly out of impatience but also out of inexperience. That’s why I let my supremes hang. They are all good early but so much better when truly ripened.
@NoVA
I don’t think I could add any more information that would help on your variety selections. Your choices look good to me. Hope you do well growing them and keep us posted as to how they are developing.
@zendog
Thank you Zen! I did not know. I will place the order in a few days, definitely before thanksgiving! Still have a few other items in my shopping cart and I am still debating. Most of my trees are in place, I am adding berries along with muscadines.
I see. Thank you Darrel! I may consider to get both Darlene and Summit then, one for flavor the other for productivity. But I have limited space, so can only keep 1 for the long term. If both are good, I may consider graft one on the other.
I ended up buying a Hall instead of a Triumph because Triumph was sold out on Ison’s website ALREADY! I was able to add it last week. Obviously COVID-19 created a “garden rush”. A lot of people working from home (garden) nowadays.
My neighbor would like to try muscadines too, so I included Lane and Summit for him. It’s a Thanksgiving gift. So here is the final order placed:
For me:
Sweet Jenny
Hall
Sugargate
Supreme
For my neighbor:
Lane
Summit
I just wanted to give Sweet Jenny / Sugargate / Supreme a try in my yard and see how well they will perform. At least I should try. In the long run I will probably only keep total 3 muscadines.
Today I also watched the Youtube videos by @Sunny_Orchard. Very helpful and informative. Thanks! Muscadines are very promising in Northern VA. Really look forward to the next 3 years.
I am glad my videos helped you. Know that I don’t have all the varieties. So what I said only applied to what I had. If you were growing for personal consumptions. 2 vines are enough. More than that you’ll be up to your neck with muscadines. So high yield is not as important for a family of 4. What you pick out is very good. If you got Hall. You don’t need Triumph, Tara or Summit. I feel like they are more of the same. Hall is a little sweeter than Triumph but possibly because of the light load. It was also more ripe. To me at the same stage of ripeness they are the same. My Sugargate and Summit didn’t make it due to neglect (out of space). My first year of Supreme ripen a little earlier than Black Beauty. It could be because it has a very light load. So I’ll have more data as time pass. It’s is very good. I would say toe to toe with Black Beauty. Black Beauty has a much better skin and a unique aroma. Supreme is huge. I would add Scarlett. Also don’t miss out on Paulk and Ruby Crisp. It literally takes 15 mins to toss them away but takes 2 years to get fruits.
@Sunny_Orchard
Thanks, Kenny!
Yep. You did a comparison between Hall and Triumph in one of your videos. When I found out Triumph was sold out, I switched to Hall without any hesitation. You have some many varieties in your yard, like a jungle. Very impressive. I am hoping next year you could do a few more structured videos. Ex: side by side comparison for early season varieties, then another for mid season. It’s very difficult to compare them if they don’t ripen at the same time. Just a small wish, no pressure.
After 3-4 years, I am planning to keep only 3 because my yard is not big and I don’t want to change the existing lawn too much. Probably keep all the good varieties on these 3 by grafting, then give the rest to my friends, multi-grafted as well. I know you used air laying to propagate. Did you ever try grafting them?
@Auburn
I hope so too. I am sure Hall will do well here. I read a lot regarding Hall from your posts too. Thanks!
I haven’t try to graft them because a bad winter can wipe out an arm. You can just grow them 1 per post no tellis. Then prune them back to a bush every year.
Thanks for the tip!
I like the idea. Muscadines do need a lot of space, but I think I will have to make some compromise. Originally I planned to plant them 16 ft apart. Now I plan to plant them 8 ft apart in one row like below.
[1] Sugargate [2]Sweet Jenny [3] Hall [4]Supreme [5]Ison (<–16 ft -->) [6] Black Beauty
Then do some adjustments 2-3 years later.
You definitely don’t want to plant them 8’ apart on the same wire. Mine grew 10’ per season after year 4th. Even at 20’ apart I had a tough time stopping them from grow into each other. 7’ apart on a post is better. Train them like this Dragon fruits plant OIP.WM5bUh_kEcdQ7siG4lMKLQHaFj (640×480) (bing.com)
Got it. I knew they grew fast, but did not know they could grow this fast. My Black Beauty and Ison grew about 5 ft this year but that’s their first year.
I will follow your suggestion. Then adjust the set up if I decide to remove a few vines down the road. Thanks again!
Especially Darlene…she will take over anything close!!! I try to stagger my blacks and bronzes…at least when they get close together I can tell which fruit came from which vine. Darlene’s growth is almost twice as fast as any others.
