Not sure what zone I’m in anymore because they are continuing to change zoning. Probably was not right when I first became a new member. All I know for sure is that I’m just east of Memphis and a few miles south of I-40.
I’ve read about burying bunch grapes vines in winter but not muscadines. Can’t remember doing that back when I had bunch grapes though. Probably a good idea. Muscadines are native here so probably not necessary. Probably just stay with recommended varieties. Speaking of varieties, what varieties do you have?
I’d rate several as better than Concord with a caveat that Concord is very good for making grape juice. Big Red, Supreme, Summit, and Ison all have decent flavor and sweetness.
Concord also makes surprisingly good wine *at least to my taste buds. Curiosity got the best of me a few weeks ago.
Can’t say same about “Angry Orchard Hard Cider”. Bought some bottles of the stuff just yesterday., Way too strong without much cider taste. Labeled 5%, tasted more like 50%. Guess they just wanted to get me drunk. I need to quit getting curious.
Chickasaw Electric left me with this big pile of Crape Myrtle mulch today. I don’t know the quality of this mulch but I’m guessing it’s okay. Not my Crape Myrtle trees but it is what they left me after they pruned some tree branches that was threatening their lines. Muscadine vines had been mulched with oak leaves for the winter but I’m sure this is better.
I’ve got to have one of those pruners that they have. Long pole on a truck like thing that looks like it’s 100’ with a round blade about the size of a basketball. Just a few dollars more.
I grow black beauty and an obscure green variety called pineapple. If there’s anybody north of me growing muscadines I’d like to visit. Anybody in zone 6?
I planted a isons vine last fall… and an Oh My this spring…
Oh My has leafed out and i have pruned it a little focusing on one the tallest part of the vine heading up towards my trellis cable.
It is still a tiny thing but is growing.
Looks like isons did not survive the winter… not budding or leafing yet… rats. We did have a low of 2-3F… is that cold enough to take out one of these tame/named varieties ?
Here… SWD seem to peak with our wild blackberry crop… wilds are ripe first week in July… thru mid August depending on rain as far as how long they produce.
Once the wild crop diminishes… my SWD pressure goes way down.
Wild muscadines are not ripe until late Sept, October… and have such thick skins I doubt seriously SWD would be able to inject them.
Not sure about the thinner skinned varieties like Oh My.
But if Oh My ripens late Sept or into October… my SWD pressure is gone then… they do not affect my fall raspberries and they sure could if they were still active.
Ison has survived and produced here even last year when we went below zero. I’ll root another one for you. A muscadine will often produce a sprout from below ground so yours may yet leaf out. Give it a few more weeks.
Was your Oh My vine sold to you as a 1 year or a 2-year vine? Just looking at the picture it appears to be a 1-year vine. If that is the case, it’s in its 2nd season this year.
Last year I purchased a Carlos vine that was 9-10 feet tall. Guessing it was 2-year vine. It even produced 4 grapes the first year. So, this year it’s in its 4th season. I’m not sure as to how much growth and production I can expect it will have this year.
All my 20 wild muscadines are tiny things so I’m assuming they are 1-year plants. Did not lose but 1 over the winter. Probably one that had little to no roots. Those wild vines are apparently tough.
You should be able to get a replacement for the Ison vine that you lost from the nursery.
I pruned my muscadines hard this year hoping to actually reduce the production some. They produce more than I want to pick and distribute. Even with a heavy pruning the Oh My has a heavy set of fruit buds popping out. My five year experience indicates production for Oh My will be high.
Crepe myrtle has fairly dense wood, about the same as black walnut, and tends to be moderately resistant to decay without being as high in tannins as say oak. All of which should make for a good mulch. It won’t be as pretty or as long-lasting as cypress mulch, but it’ll stay in place better. I’d expect it to last about as long or a little longer than regular hardwood mulch. I doubt it’d last as long as a pure white oak mulch, but it also won’t leach a bunch of tannins and stain concrete or burn plants like fresh oak might. Overall, should be a good mulch.
Another tree species in the same genus of plants, the banaba or pride of India, is considered a very fine timber. And crepe myrtle itself is actually a not uncommon timber valued for its burl pieces, usually marketed under the name pyinma.
Familiarity breeds contempt, and over-use in the landscape is made for a lot of contempt for crepe myrtle, but it’s honestly a really nice tree–especially if it isn’t butchered by needless decapitory pruning.
I bought a summit vine from Isons this spring. Ive heard the golden varieties are very tasty but I’ve not tried them. It’s already shooting up like a rocket. Also have black beauty, Supreme, and Sugargate. I ate so many muscadines last summer I almost hurt myself.
