I’m interested in what table grapes hobbyists are growing in the Northeast…interested in varieties / where grown (zone) / success? / evaluation of fruit / evaluation of hardiness / ease of growth / level of vigor / susceptibility to disease / harvest date / pruning protocol / grafted vs. own root / etc…anything to shed light on the variety.
…My personal experience began many years ago in Bergen County NJ 7A…I could grow anything from a hardiness point of view and considered the varieties Seneca / Suffolk Red / and NY Muscat as personal favorites…but all three had other issues…I thought Seneca was absolutely delicious and it had great vigor…but was very susceptible to powdery mildew…I suspect this trait alone has caused it to be near lost in this country…certainly not the taste of the fruit…I also liked Suffolk Red very much…but it also had issues…it was fully hardy in 7A but is probably only marginally hardy in 6A…biggest problem was the bunches almost never filled…most years very sparsely so…what I can not explain was that one (1) year, the bunches filled beautifully (literally enormous) and were as large if not larger than the bunches of the California table grapes you buy in the store…an incredible year that was never repeated…Suffolk Red is also a very vigorous grower…the third NY Muscat had multiple issues…I loved the muscat flavor…but the bunches and berries were small and the vine was not at all vigorous … again probably only marginally hardy in 6A…also susceptible to the mildews. I grew many others but these three are still fixed in my mind.
My move to northern Dutchess County 5A and at some elevation (800ft) pretty much put a hold on my grape growing…I was way too optimistic about what would survive the winters… and I think the third year there , we had a record -24F for three straight nights…lost virtually everything and I gave it up for many years.
I moved to west central Dutchess County NY at 200ft elevation and only several miles from the Hudson River…now in zone 6A and back in the grape business…have only seen about -6F in the 7 years I’ve been here…I finally got a simple arbor up (about 52 ft) and planted the following last year:
Suffolk Red
Himrod
Villard Blanc
Compassion
Gratitude
Joy
Jupiter
Neptune
…have grown Himrod and Suffolk Red before and the last 5 are new varieties from the Univ. of Arkansas…hopefully made some good choices…also found Seneca again and will just have to make room somehow.
Somerset might be worth a look. Reportedly tastes fairly noticeably like strawberry and bred in Minnesota, so it’ll probably survive the Winter. Mine’s on its second year, so I haven’t gotten to taste them yet.
I have a few vines of Vidal Blanc that are delicious as a table grape. They’re pretty seedy, but I don’t mind. The only problem I have with them is Japanese Beetles, there aren’t have any major disease issues. I just train them to a pole with a goblet shape, no trellis.
I second Somerset Seedless. So far, it is the only disease resistant grape that has worked for me. The downside is that the fruit is small and birds love them. I am looking for other disease-resistant varieties. Steuben suffered badly from black rot. Jupiter had significant downy mildew and die-back. I am trialing some others but they have not fruited yet.
Yes, Somerset is good but small. Everest is probably a good choice. I just have 1 small vine producing for 2 years so far, but it seems like a winner on all fronts. Big berries, tastes good like Concord, no disease issues so far. I hit it with immunox in the spring. Slip skin, though.
Was looking up fresh eating grapes of NY and came across your post. Currently southern Dutchess county, but moving to Nassau.
I have Everest which is a large seedless concord type, decent mid-season grape, Steuben, my most vigorous grower - late season medium hybrid and Swenson an early labrusca hybrid, reported to have notes of strawberry, all are pretty flavorful and IMO much more interesting than grocery store grapes which mostly tastes likes sugar bags (I guess Thompson is a bit better but still)
Dutchess County NY Z6A…Hi…you can grow most anything on Long Island Z7A…my personal favorites are Seneca and Suffolk Red…both fully hardy on LI…Seneca is vigorous and Suffolk Red even more so…both delicious…Seneca extremely so…downsides are Seneca susceptible to powdery mildew…in bad years , you need to spray maybe twice…but it is worth it…Suffolk Red in most years does not fill the bunches very well…but in the years it does, the bunches are IMMENSE…you should also consider some of the new varieties from University of Arkansas…good luck…Beemster
Seneca source…Planting Justice Nursery…CA…only one I know
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Thank you, will look those up. Seems all grapes get fungal diseases here. Surround and propiconazole spray seem to limit them though not 100 percent
Currently in Beacon, my biggest success in my young orchard is Asian pear, what Pawpaw varieties are you growing ? I have a couple of young trees that are straight species, I heard cultivars are much better so I will need to either buy or graft them
…you are moving to Nassau County NY?..or Nassau Bahamas??..see all my posts on Pawpaw 2025 and Pawpaw 2026 board…if you want to graft, I can supply scion wood next spring…Beemster
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