I’ve done a lot of research on the internet, including this forum and I’m looking for muscadine recommendations for South Carolina, zoned 8A. I’m looking for a good combination and I’m considering Lane & Sweet Jenny.
The previous location I tried to grow 3-4 years ago didn’t get enough sun and I didn’t have much luck. Since then, I’ve moved the garden and built a new trellis beside the garden (full sun) that is big enough to accommodate two vines. I’d like a golden and dark variety if possible.
Also, if I settle on something is it to late to get them in the ground this year? It looks like a lot of the online resellers are already out of stock.
It depends on what you want to use them for and what your taste preferences are. I would wait till the summer and then order from Ison’s. Generally , I would get self fertile plants, if you are getting only two. In my area, bronze varieties need regular antifungal sprays, to keep the fruit from getting Black Rot.
I’m located in zone 8A Central Alabama. Lane and Hall both are self fertile and have done well for me. I’m moving to the seedless now. Oh My has done well and I just planted the Oh Yes.
I took my Isons muscadine out.. transplanted it to another location.. to put a new Oh Yes muscadine (seedless, edible skin) in place.
Isons is a great muscadine.. wonderful flavor… well all but those seeds and skins that you have to spit out.
I now have Oh Yes and Oh My on my new trellis… and Isons moved to another location.
If you, your wife, kids, grandkids… don’t mind a mouth full of tuff skins and hard seeds that you have to spit out with every dime you eat… go for the older varieties. I can only speak for Isons and it is delicious.
Hard large seeds and tuf inedible skins… Do not work for anyone in my family.
I would highly recommend Oh Yes and Oh My instead.
I do like the skins of Ison, don’t mind the seeds. I think that Ison is a great all around muscadine. What makes it special sis that it is not only sweet, but is balanced with relative high acid, which makes it also suitable for wine and juice and jam.
That AI response is pretty bad. There is no nuance and very few of the suggested varieties should even be in this discussion. This is one time I would vote to not even bring AI into a thread.
Paulk should be considered instead of Lane. Paulk is more consistently productive and has significantly better dry scar rating. One caveat, if you want to make muscadine jelly, Ison is a better flavored variety.
Sweet Jenny is one muscadine that I will never grow again. It just doesn’t produce grapes like other varieties. For a bronze, Late Fry is a very good choice. I’ve been very favorably impressed with production and flavor.
For female varieties, Supreme and Summit are outstanding. You would have to pair either of these with a self fertile variety. Supreme with Late Fry would work as would Paulk with Summit.
As others have said, the new seedless varieties are worth checking out. Oh My and Oh Yes have a lot of potential for your climate.
I have found that a lot of muscadine growers are okay with seeded varieties but I have given away hundred of pounds over the last 4 years and most of them prefer the seedless varieties for fresh eating. The ones making jelly/jam like not having to deal with removing seeds. I occasionally make a cobbler and I prefer using the seedless. It will take awhile but I would like to see more different flavors of the seedless.
I don’t grow seedless varieties and do not know their characteristics in terms of Brix and Total acidity, as well as aromatic flavor. My guess is that the first varieties launched were just selected for sweetness. Most muscadines are low in total acidity, which makes them not suitable for wine and less desirable for jam. Noble, Carlos and Ison have relative high TA, that is why they are preferable for juicing/ wine. Carlos and Noble are not good for fresh eating, they are small and seedy and Carlos has a very though skin. For winemaking, I think the it would be great to select some new varieties that have higher TA combined with higher Brix, so that one does not have to add sugar and tartaric acid to make a stable and balanced red wine.
About 40 years ago the local electric utility in north Alabama sent out a monthly newsletter. One issue had an article about a grower who was crossing muscadines in an effort to produce a variety more amenable to making wine. The article stated that he had one success with a new variety selected for higher acidity, high flavor, and good sugar content. I don’t know what came of that work or who it was. But the memory is still clear and perhaps interesting if someone wants to follow up. The grower lived near Talladega Alabama somewhere close to Lake Martin.
As a Northerner, who may be doing it wrong, I liked to slice them in half and just remove the seeds for fresh eating. I was only doing a bunch at a time out of a clam shell though. Either whatever varieties they were (one bronze, one black) were thin skinned or I just didn’t care and had no problem eating the skins.
Yeah I’m confused with all the responses referencing AI. If I wanted to know what AI thought I would ask it. I was looking for advice from growers in the same area.
After reading some of the other responses, it looks like I should have included what I wanted to do with the fruit. I’m really just interested in fresh eating so I’m assuming that factor definitely plays into the decision.
I’ve seen a lot of references to Ison. I’ve purchased from them before. Are people referencing them because there’s specific varieties that you can only get through them?
There is a variety sold by Ison’s nursery that is named Ison after Bill Ison who ran the business for about 40 years. It is a very good medium large self fertile muscadine with a tendency to overload if it is mismanaged. Prune heavily, fertilize when needed, harvest when fully ripe and it is a very good variety both for fresh eating and for juice/jelly.
I’m definitely going to check these out. Looks like they only ship in the fall so I’m probably going to hold off ordering which gives me some time to decide.
There are many good tasting varieties to choose from but I normally only reference the ones that I have grown. Paulk is a large self fertile variety that has a good taste.
I have Darlene and Fry. Ison’s rave about Darlene for fresh eating, but I like Fry a lot better. Darlene is just large and very sweet, Fry is more balanced with acid as long as not dead ripe, and is more aromatic. I guess that you’ll like Darlene, if you like Gala. People have different taste preferences. Maybe try to get to taste a few different varieties.
