I’m finally planning to grow seedless table grapes. I’m committed to Somerset Seedless, and leaning toward Mars, Reliance and Marquis, also. Any experiences with these varieties? Is there anything better for a 5b/6a zone with some humidity/lots of spring rain like we have here in Southeast Michigan? I was wondering how Himrod or Lakemont compare to Marquis. Also, I’m now “officially” 6a – could I get away with some of the new ones from Arkansas that are supposed to be non-slip skin and more mild? At first I was thinking of planting them along a chainlink fence along the bottom of our property, by a river, but am thinking of moving them higher and dryer and building a pergola in the sunniest area of my yard, which just happens to be our patio. Any thoughts/experiences? Thanks in advance!
I was looking for a seedless with thin skin for fresh eating. Well all I have growing is Einset
Grapes are OK, not that large, it grows just fine here. I like the grapes but the store bought are so much crisper and bigger. I pretty much snack on them in the garden and whatever is left I dry to raisins and they are pretty good. It took a few years for flavor to peak and may vary in taste depending on weather. Always looking for another that will work here and is seedless and thin skin. It does get some fungal diseases but I spray with lime sulfur once a year when fruit is small and it prevents all problems. It is very productive. Fifty or so clusters. I should probably limit clusters. I like them as is though, all that matters.
I have two main trunks and I spur prune as it is easier. It’s about 6 or 7 years old.
Thanks for your reply. I hadn’t considered Einset. It’s not one that my usual nurseries are carrying right now, but it looks tasty from the description. I really like the taste of homegrown grapes. 50 or so clusters from one plant? That’s a ton. I wonder if four vines is too many for me… It was helpful to know that flavor peaks over time and can vary by weather. I didn’t know that. Also, the tip about sulphur is very helpful. I have some fungicide I use for my fruit trees, but haven’t yet used lime sulphur. Good to know it works well for you. I’ve been researching spur pruning. Thanks for sharing your photo. Looks great.
You’re welcome to try them when ripe. Come on over and grab some. They are not as firm as I would like. I was thinking of using gibberellic acid, one description said they respond well. The grapes would be great if firmer, and larger. So I sort of want to try this natural plant hormone. When researching it I see it’s one of many available.
Last year was a bad year for my fruit, although the grapes were very good. As the vine matures, the grapes are becoming sweeter.
Cornell cultivar descriptions.
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/reisch/grapegenetics/bulletin/table/tabletext3.html
I dont grow marquis, but i can tell you my himrod is sweeter than lakemont, and the sibling interlaken is most sweet and tighter cluster. - YouTube
Thanks! Would they be larger if you thinned your crop more? I was reading some of the new grapes like Compassion and Faith from the University of Arkansas are more crisp. They are good down to zone 6. So, I’m not sure if they are risky for SE Michigan. The natural plant hormone sounds interesting. Last year was not a great year for our fruit either. Too much spring rain didn’t help things.
Thanks for your answer! It’s helpful to hear other people’s experiences with the different varieties. Is sweeter always better? I like a bit of tanginess to my grape, but maybe they are sweeter, but tangy. Also, is tighter cluster bad or good? Does it lead to rot or is it considered prettier/easier to harvest?
I would say yes, and I do thin bunches. It’s not the best grape for the area, as it does seem to get fungal problems and it’s OK to use sulfur on this grape. I use lime-sulfur every year. That has eliminated problems so far ( I have had 3 big crops on this mature vine so far) It does seem to be plenty hardy enough. I guess all commercial grapes are sprayed with the hormone. Which may be synthetically made but was found in plant material. I was kinda off put to use it until I read the original gibberellic acid was found in plant materials. A number of related compounds exist as hormones with gibberellic acid being the most common. The hormone also increases fruit set in tomatoes, so I will be spraying them too.
More good information! It’s so nice to have this community to share information. Thanks!
sweeter is not always better for me. i dont grow interlaken becuase it is too sweet for me. i like himrod. and lakemont is more sweet tart if you are looking for tangy. i also like more complex flavor. it really depends on how sweet and what type of sweet.
Super helpful! Thanks.
Thought I’d revive this thread, as it had some similarities to my situation. I’m in Nebraska, and planning to get into seedless table grapes (for my kids). My initial selections were, similar to kare_hunt: Somerset, Mars, and Marquis. Selected as they seemed to be rated as most disease resistant across the board (according to data from Double-A vineyards page). But since there’s a fair amount of time to be invested, I wanted to see if there were newer/better recommendations for a zone 5b (Omaha) seedless table grape. I was initially pretty excited for the trio above, but then have found mentions of Mars and Marquis being slipskin, which I’m concerned the kids would not go for. Is Somerset also? is that why they’re not as disease susceptible? It seems like not many sites mention the slipskin-ness.
The kids do love raspberries and gooseberries even, straight from the bush, so they’re not really shy about tartness I think.
My site is full sun, farm fields all around so very high air circulation. Soil ph though is around 7 (former heavily limed cornfields I assume), is that a problem for grapes? Soil drains fairly well, and site a slight slope.
Just wanting to get any other input I can before investing a bunch of effort and years.
For your zone, you will need to grow varieties that are entirely or mostly descended from American species. These are all going to be slipskin by default. A grape hardy enough for your area that is also non-slipskin would be unusual enough that the catalog description should mention it.
This can be a problem for American grapes on their own roots. I’m not sure that pH will be of concern, but you can buy grafted vines to be safe. Any rootstock with V. berlandieri in its parentage will work. For example: 110R, 1103P, 5BB, 5C, etc. but I am not sure how hardy they are.
I’m in New York Dutchess County, zone 6A borderline 6B…planted the following grapes this year …hopefully all will winter over OK…Himrod / Suffolk Red / Villard Blanc / Compassion / Gratitude / Joy / Jupiter / Neptune …grew Suffolk Red, Himrod, Seneca and others in New Jersey zone 7A with good success…could not grow any of these when I lived in upstate NY zone 5A…I’d love to get Seneca again as it had fantastic taste and grew vigorously in Jersey…only negative was it was very susceptible to powdery mildew although spraying was well worth it…hopefully hardy in 6A /6B but I can not find a source…also Suffolk Red grew extremely vigorously in Jersey but had a bad habit of the bunches never filling…(more blanks then berries)…true every year except one which I can not explain…but that year it had gigantic full bunches every bit as big as the seedless California grapes you buy…should be hardy in 6A…trying the new Arkansas varieties for the first time …would love to hear others experience with them…also, anyone growing other varieties in the north east ??..still have room for 4 more vines