If you decide to pot them year 1 then I would recommend RootMaker bags or high quality knock offs. I’ve had success with those where normal plastic pots failed.
I go straight to the ground too. I’m not a fan of pots and everything just seems to grow better in the ground.
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At about the 14th I would look at the forecast for the next 10 days and if it looked favorable I would uncover then and tie to trellis.
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Anyone growing muscadines in part sun/shade? Thinking about a 4-5 hour morning sun spot.
Nope. Just nope. Muscadines never do much if in part shade.
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So, 6 hours min for fruit?
If at all possible, full sun. If not possible, 6 to 7 hours will work somewhat. 4 to 5 hours is just a vine that grows and produces very little.
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If it’s your only option….I would try it if you have 5 to 6 hours.
I have a Paulk vine on an east facing slope kicking absolute butt in morning direct sun…averaging around 5 hours and 45 minutes in the Summer months. More fruit than I can handle. I’m sure i’m not maximizing fruit output but it’s good enough for me.
Paulk is by far the most vigorous vine i’ve ever dealt with though (i’ve only messed with 5 varieties).
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@Fusion_power @sps46 thanks for the information.
@Robert and @lordkiwi You all are making me rethink my plans now!
I’ll put my muscadine straight in the ground with plans to take it down and cover it first year? Does that sound reasonable?
I had bad luck with putting a young tiny fig straight into the ground and they did much better after being larger and protected in a pot for a year. But it sounds like muscadines really hate pots (where figs don’t really seem to mind so much).
I just pruned my muscadine yesterday. The weather is supposed to be nice through the weekend.
@Eme Are you boundary pushing with your muscadine like I am? I’m in zone 8b and I thought I had put my vines in a good spot originally. Two years later and barely any growth- I dug them from the ground and put them in black totes along my south facing fence. They get sun just about all day there. I almost had fruit last year. (Flowered and set twice! First ones dissapeared and the second time was almost the end of summer so no time to develop!)
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I’m at the top end of VA. not that far from you. Muscadines have had no problems for me. Figs on the other hand I get partial or full dieback almost every year. Even so protecting your muscadine over the winter won’t hurt anything.
My comment wasn’t directed at muscadine but plants in general. I’ve never actually tried muscadine in pots.
I’ve stashed muscadines in containers for their first season after purchase a couple times with no issues. They did fine when I put them in the ground. Hell I have a neglected Darlene vine that’s been living in a container for years now without any protection or fertilizer and minimal watering (not recommending this approach LOL). I just recommend using a nice 7 gallon air pruning bag instead of a crappy plastic pot if you’re sticking an expensive plant in it temporarily but thats personal preference.
I’ve lost vines when sticking them in the ground first season. I’ve also had them do just fine going right into the ground.
Whatever you do just keep an eye on it and protect it when needed.
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I hope you get fruit this year! I don’t think it’s boundary pushing? Rare to go below 10, though it did happen this winter. It seems most people in the DMV can keep them alive and fruiting. Not super invested as no one in the family likes muscadines we’ve tried from grocery store.
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Bill Ison says to pile dirt a foot or so around the stem in the winter. Also, muscardines store antifreeze compounds in the roots but also in the stem, which are partially lost after pruning (both, because you cut it out and due to bleeding). So, don’t prune till the strong frosts are over. Same applies to new vines planted in the fall or early winter, don’t prune them at time of planting.
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Neither of my two vines (Paulk and Hall) get full sun at my house.
Paulk which is on the E/SE side of my house gets the most, probably 8 hours when the sun is in the best path to get over my neighbors house, then running until it hits the oaks behind my house and the vine is shaded. By the time they are ripening in the fall it is probably down closer to 5 hours.
Hall is about 20 feet off the W/NW side of my house and is shaded by the house at times as well as by a dogwood between the vine and the house, plus there is an apricot that shades part of the vine from morning light as well. I’d say it gets 6 hours at the most, probably a fair amount less by later in the season when the sun is lower. Also, since they each are 20ish feet of arm length, sometimes part is shaded, but not the whole vine, like the impact of the apricot on the Hall vine.
Both are 4 years old I think at this point and produce 15+ pounds of grapes each year. This will be year 5. Will they ever get to their potential of 50+ pounds per vine, probably not, but if they did my rinkydink trellises would collapse anyway, lol. I would say besides hours of direct sun you have to look at the quality of the “shade”, since the higher canopy of the oaks in my back yard means they are in dappled light at times and probably brighter than if they had dense shade above them, like the shade from my house.
When you come for the pickup of the muscadine group buy you can see the vines.
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Agree on the shade density. The Paulk I referenced is shaded by forest in the afternoon, not a building. So it’s still getting filtered light.
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Thank you for the additional data. Ill be interested to see yours and run my placement options by you.
