One night drop to 21f and the muscadine leaves started to rapidly drop. I look forward to clearing out the leaves so I can get a good look at the vines framework.
3 Likes
It is not the end. It is not the beginning. It is not even the beginning of the end. Plant more muscadines.
3 Likes
Take a few more pictures when pruning this tree
1 Like
Wow, mine dropped over a month ago. Wish I had your weather. Trying a muscadine experiment. I had an azalea tree(?) that I tried to get rid of but keeps coming back. Last year I planted muscadines all around it and let them grow into it. And they did too. 10-15 feet of growth in one year up into the tree. Just like they do in the wild and they seem to like this better than the trellis. Hoping to bring back memories from childhood walking in the woods picking up muscadines from the ground because they were 50 feet in the air in the trees. Will keep everyone posted on the crop production to see if the experiment pays off.
1 Like
That is how I first discovered muscadines. Nice walk down a dirt road with them growing in trees. I would like to see your memories work for you. Is your vines self fertile? If not you will need a nearby pollinator.
I have five surrounding the tree, several on trellis, and 6 more to arrive in spring. I really like the idea of the tree planting. Both plants are coexisting well for the moment. The tree is an already existing free trellis that the muscadine is used to. At best it was a free trellis out of deer range. At worst the birds steal it instead and it does’t produce much.
1 Like
@TianTai. Below is a two year old Black Beauty going into it’s third year in 2020. Normally I prune from the end of January-February but I wanted to see the effects of early pruning on winter hardiness and fruit production. This vine was mostly pruned to 2-3 buds. Hope this helps.
2 Likes
Your grapes look amazing for being 2 years old. I put several varieties of muscadine in the ground last fall and this year they are only wisps. I’m hoping that next year they actually fill out.
1 Like
Hope they grow well for you in 2020. I mostly use the method in Ison’s videos on youtube. He has some of the best help that I have seen.
I will have to look that up. I am not growing black beauty. I have Dixie red, welder, and southern home. It is the same situation with each of these varieties . I bought them at the end of last season at a local Nursery as just wispy little plants with dozens of vines coming out of a pencil thick main stem . This year the stem grew a little bit and the vines branched out a couple more feet , but the vines themselves are very thin maybe less than 1/8 of an inch . Perhaps this year I will add another variety like black beauty if I come across it in a nursery.
1 Like
I’ll be interested to follow how the early pruning works for you. I’ve got a Black Beauty the same age and about the same size that I haven’t pruned yet. Looks like it’s not bleeding. When I pruned in February this year I had a lot of bleeding. What are you using the clothespins for? I couldn’t quite make it out in the first picture. I agree with you on the Ison’s videos. They’ve been a big help for me getting started with muscadines.
A good harvest in 2020
1 Like
Please tell me Ison’s videos on youtube links，thank you!
1 Like
Here is what my muscadine look like right now very pathetic. Some of the vines have even rooted where they touched the ground last year. I really need to cut back all but the strongest vine. The 3rd is Welder, 2nd is Dixie Red, 1st is Southern Home. Don’t know which I should try to grow more of. The ground is red clay.
2 Likes
Listed below is a couple of links to what I consider to be very good advice about growing muscadines while they are young. He also has other videos that cover other aspects.
2 Likes
They will grow off well next year. The vines look healthy but they need a little help getting up and down the wire.
I was waiting till I had a long enough Vine to make it up to the second wire before getting them off the ground. The welder version of the muscadine is the only one that has a Vine going up that tall. The Dixie red has maintained more or less short Vines. The southern home has at least Grand long enough vines that I could tie them up to the first wire. I don’t know if I’m exactly doing it right since I’m no grape expert, but each plant has about 5 foot on either side of it to grow along a wire giving a total of 10 ft for any single Vine.
1 Like
Is muscadine vines spur pruned the same as table grape vines?
1 Like
The typical method is to annually prune the spur back to 2-3 buds of this years growth. This method keeps the fruit area high for ease of picking and pruning. Muscadines are more aggressive growers than table grapes.
2 Likes
I’m using a double curtain trellis with the muscadine vine having 6 canes (or are they called cordons?) growing from the trunk. This summer I pruned the growth (I guess they called lateral canes) off of these canes back to 2 or 3 buds. Each cane has grown along the wires about 6’-8’. I’m wondering if I should prune back the length of these canes and how much? In other words just how much vine should I have leading off of the trunk? This vine is going into its third year.
1 Like