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View compareIf package is frozen, do not open. Allow package to thaw out. | If it will be several days before you will plant β make sure that the roots stay damp. You may need to open package, moisten the roots and re-close. | Store your plants in a cool dry area. (garage, porch, well house, basement) Make sure plants are stored away from extreme heat, cold and sunlight. | It is important that you DO NOT let the roots on your plants dry out. Keep roots covered with damp sacks while preparing holes for planting. Plants may also be heeled in ground in a well-drained area or placed in a bucket covered with dirt until ready to plant.
1. Muscadines produce best in full sun on fertile, well-drained soil with good water holding capacity. Sites with good elevation and cold air drainage are preferred because they are less prone to late spring freezes. If full sun is not possible β Morning sunlight is the most important.
2. Muscadines require a pH level around 6.5. We recommend having your soil tested in January, as it takes 3 months for lime to raise the pH level, to ensure the best soil for highest growth and productions. If pH is too low a lime application may be necessary. Sometimes the ripening season on muscadines will be delayed as much as 3 weeks when the pH pf the soil is below 6.0. Limey soil produces sweeter fruit, as a rule.
3. The area you are planting the muscadines should be free of weeds such as Honeysuckles, Brambles, Johnson Grass and Bermuda Grass. Your County Extension agent can help you choose the best herbicides for your area. BUT YOU CANNOT LET Roundup COME IN CONTACT WITH YOUR PLANTS βAT ALLβ.
4. Muscadines are shallow rooted with most of the feeder roots in the top 1/2-inch of soil. To avoid damage to these roots, cultivate shallowly and only as frequently as necessary to control weeds. Frequent clean cultivation is necessary the first two years for young vines. Remove all grass and weeds from around the plants so that growth will be vigorous the first year.
5. Muscadines can produce fruit for over 20 years with proper care. They will start bearing fruit the 2nd to 3rd year in the ground and will reach maximum production their 4th year. Usually between 15 and 20 years they are more prone to cold damage and will not produce as much as younger vines. Generally self-fertile varieties will produce 75 to 100 lbs of fruit per vine and female vines will produce 50 to 80 lbs per vine.
6. Female vines require pollination by a self-fertile variety. We recommend planting a self- fertile variety within a 50 feet radius of each female. Usually in large plantings we plant 3 rows of females and then 1 row of self-fertile pollinators. This provides ample pollination. On single row plantings you may space your pollinators throughout the row. (The more pollinators you have β your fruit yield will increase on your female plants)
7. A good trellis. We recommend the One-Wire Trellis using 9-gauge wire to support the vines and 8β pressure treated posts. Caution: Wood preservative treated posts should be weathered prior to erecting the trellis so that excessive surface preservatives are washed off. If posts are not weathered, vines planted adjacent to the posts can be damaged by the wood preservative when it leaches into the root zone. Also, direct the root system away from the posts.
a) End posts should be at least four inches in diameter and eight feet
long. Set the end posts three feet into the ground so that the trellis
wire will be five feet high. Bracing involves setting a post identical
in size to the end post three feet deep, six feet from the outside brace
posts. Then position a 4 x 4 timber or post between the tops pf the two
posts. The horizontal beam must be longer than the posts are tall. Run a
double 9-gauge wire from the top of the inside post to the bottom of
the outside post. Twist the wire to tighten and secure the brace system.
In heavy soils it may be possible to us a 5 to 6 inch post and drive it
with a post driver and eliminate the bracing.
b) Line posts, (3 to 4 inches in diameter and 6 1β2 feet long) so that
the wire will be 5 feet high. Spacing on the line posts should be 20
feet. We recommend row spacing 12 feet apart (ample room for a tractor
or truck to drive through).
c) Use no. 9-gauge galvanized wire for the trellis. Staple it to the
tops of the line of posts with 1.5-inch staples (commonly called horse
shoe nails). Leave the staple just loose enough so that the wire is not
held rigidly. If the wire is bound too tightly to the staple it may
break. The wire is brought over the top of the end post, tightened,
wrapped around the end posts and stapled.
d) Ease of training, picking and pruning, lower construction cost, time
and good spray coverage are the main advantages of the one wire trellis
system. We are tried everything in our vineyards and always go back to
the one-wire system.
8. In general, Muscadines are among the last plant types to leaf out in
the spring. They have a low chilling hour requirement in the
200-500-hour range. However, they have a very high heat accumulation
requirement in the spring before they will break bud and grow. This
characteristic keeps the plants dormant many times until late into the
spring.
We primarily ship plants grown in containers at our nursery β although we do still have some varieties that are βlayered plantsβ.
Vines may arrive with more than 1 runner. Prior to planting remove all runners except the longest one. This one runner will be trained up to the wire.
Muscadines produce their greatest concentration of fruit near the trunk, so we recommend planting the vines approx. 12-16 inches from the trellis posts.
Layered plants require a trench like hole large enough for the roots to spread out and not be cramped. Make holes at least 8 β 12 inches deep. Space plants 20 feet apart for maximum fruit production but no closer than 12 to 15 feet.
* Place the vine in the hole with the roots about 3 inches below the ground. * Fill the hole half full of topsoil.
* Pack the dirt and add enough water to make soil pack around roots.
* Then fill to ground level.
* DO NOT add fertilizer in the planting hole and DO NOT fertilize when planting.
In late fall and winter we recommend backing the dirt up 8 to 12 inches high around plants to protect them from freezing.
(1) At planting, prune all side growth. Find longest runner and prune off all other side growth.
(2) Keep all side growth removed from trunk area leaving only leaves that are closest to the trunk.
(3) Once vine reaches top of wire, lead vine down wire in one direction
and wait for a sucker to put out and lead down wire in other direction.
(4) Allow side growth off main vine growing down wire to grow 6β long
then pinch tip off every 10-12 days until main vine reaches 10β in each
direction.
(5) Once vines reaches 10β down the wire, keep main vine cut back to 10β and allow growth back to side growth.
WINTER PRUNING OF MUSCADINE VINE
Prune all side growth back to 3-4 buds in late
February to early March
(1) If there is no fork on side growth, prune back to 3-4 buds
(2) If there is a fork on the side growth, leave 1-2 buds of fork remaining.
Watering Schedule for Young Plants
(1-2 years)
April: 6 to 8 gallons of water per week
May: 8 to 12 gallons of water per week
June, July & August: 12 to 15 gallons of water per week Sept. and Oct.: 8 to 12 gallons of water per week
We recommend using 10-10-10 fertilizers on the following schedule:
1st Year April 1 β may 1 β June 1 β July 1 Apply 1β4 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer 12 inches out from the plant in a complete circle
April 15 β May 15 β June 15 β July 15 Apply 1β4 pound of Calcium Nitrate. This will add nitrogen to the soil which will increase growth. (Calcium Nitrate can be hard to find in some areas β We carry it through our nursery in 5 lb bags) If unable to find Calcium Nitrate you may use Ammonia Nitrate but only use 1/8 pound per plant.
2nd Year April 1 β May 1 β June 1 β July 1 Apply 1β2 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer 12 inches out from the plant in a complete circle
April 15 β May 15 β June 15 β July 15 Apply 1β2 pound of Calcium Nitrate. This will add nitrogen to the soil, which will increase growth. (Calcium Nitrate can be hard to find in some areas β We carry it through our nursery in 5 lb bags) If unable to find Calcium Nitrate you may use Ammonia Nitrate but only use 1/4 pound per plant.
3rd Year Use 3 lbs of 10-10-10 on May 1st 4th Year Fertilize as needed depending on growth of your vines
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