How To Grow Muscadine Grape Vines
A warm-climate loving variety, Muscadine Grapes are a popular berry option for gardeners in the south. Not only are they easy to grow, but they also prolific producers. Mature muscadine varieties can produce between 35-80 pounds of fruit per year! If you’ve been dreaming of making lots of jam, jelly, or wine, muscadines are for you. This blog will teach you how to grow and care for these delicious variety of grape vines right in your own backyard.
Muscadine grapes are an adaptation of a native southeastern United States grapevine. The vines fruit in late summer, filling the air with their sweet aroma. They are thick-skinned, seeded, and available in black, pink, purple, bronze, red, and green colors. Muscadine vines are gregarious and long-lived with recorded vines 200+ years old that still produce every year. These bunch grapes thrive in warm-weather and humid climates; temperatures below zero will kill the vines.
The Basic Characteristics of Muscadine Grapes
The majority of Muscadines are not self-pollinating; meaning you will need at least one other variety in order to cross pollinate and produce berries. Make sure you know which one you are getting! If you choose one that needs cross-pollination, all you need is to pick a different muscadine cultivar to plant with it. Luckily, there are some self-fruiting varieties which are excellent for smaller spaces where there isn’t room to plant two vines. The muscadine grapes we carry here at Perfect Plants are all self-pollinating to knock out this hassle:
Muscadines are mostly seeded, with only a few new varieties offering seedless grapes. They are available in early-season, mid-season, and late-season varieties. While the above three grapes are self-pollinating, planting at least two young vines of each will give you even more grapes all season long!
Planting Muscadine Grape Vines
Planting is broken down into three sections: Location, sunlight, watering. Get these three right and you'lll set up your berry plant for a long, happy life in your garden landscape!
Muscadine Grape Sunlight and Soil Requirements
Muscadine grapes love full sunlight! The brighter the better is what we tell our gardners. Look for a landscape location that receives six to eight hours of full sun per day. This is why commercial vinyards are in large open fields with little to no shade from trees. While the plant itself will grow in a small amount of shade, this can significantly reduce its berry output; if it produces at all! This is a common issue gardeners face after planting.
Soil should be well-draining and acidic, Muscadine grapes do not like to sit in soggy dirt. The roots will become diseased if allowed to sit in wet soil too long. The ideal soil pH is between 6-7 which can be achieved by incorporating compost material, peat moss, or other soil amendments such as Sulfur to increase the acidity of the potting soil. Or, you can purchase our pre-bagged acidic potting mix before your plants ship out to you! This is comprised of organic, composted pine bark and peat moss as the main ingredients plus plenty of perlite and sand to aid in drainage.
How to Build a Trellis for Your Muscadine Grapes
Muscadine grapes grow best on a trellis or fence – anything they can cling to and reach the sunshine. The vines are heavy, and the root systems are shallow, requiring they receive special care and consideration. Situate the trellis posts securely in the ground, so that they can bear a heavyweight.
A good muscadine trellis is built a lot like a sturdy farm fence. It has to carry real weight, the vines themselves plus a full crop of grapes, and it needs to stand firm when the wind kicks up. The basic idea is simple: two or three wires running one above the other, pulled tight and anchored to posts that are set deep and solid.
Setting Your Posts
Your end posts do the heavy lifting. They anchor the wires and take the strain, so go with posts about 8 feet long and 4 inches across, sunk roughly 2 feet into the ground. Those end posts need bracing to hold up over the years. A reliable method is to drive a second post a few feet in from each end post, then run a heavy piece of wood or another post between the two as a brace.
Line posts carry the wire down the length of the row. Use 8-foot posts here too, but a slimmer 3-inch diameter is fine. Set them about 2 feet deep and space them roughly 24 feet apart down the row.
Choosing and Stringing the Wire
Reach for galvanized wire. It holds up to the weather for years and is gentle enough that it will not chafe and damage your young vines. Wire gauges of 9, 10, or 11 all work well.
To fasten wire to an end post, wind it around the post once or twice, then twist the loose end several times around the wire as you stretch it toward the next post. If you would rather make tightening easier down the road, there are crank-style wire tighteners that let you adjust tension without unwinding the wire from the post. On the line posts, ordinary fence staples are all you need.
Spacing Your Wires
How high you run your wires depends on the training system you plan to use:
- Four-cane Kniffin: two wires, one at 3 feet and one at 6 feet
- Six-cane Kniffin: three wires, set at 2, 4, and 6 feet
- Single curtain: one wire, run about 6 feet high
The best time to plant muscadine vines is in the early to mid spring. Dig a large hole alongside the trellis deep enough to hold and secure the roots. Place the vines near the posts for added support while they grow. Arrange the roots, so the root ball plus 1-inch of the vine is in the hole. Fan the roots out to stabilize the plant and encourage establishment.
Fill the hole 3/4 with soil and then water thoroughly. This settles the soil and helps secure the vine. Fill the remainder of the hole with soil and water it again.
Apply a layer of mulch around the base of the vine around the soil line. This assists in moisture retention and keeps the cold away.
Muscadine Care After Planting
Trellis training can include tying the vines to the fence or support system. The most common method is to stretch one lateral branch out on each side. The muscadine grapevine produces copious amounts of leaves, causing other lateral branches to get over shaded.
Muscadine grape vines require regular watering until they get established. During fruit production, especially, they benefit from irrigation or deep, thorough watering.
Once matured, they are resistant to dry spells. Rainfall is generally enough to keep them alive and thriving. Keep the area around the vines well-weeded to prevent suffocation or the proliferation of diseases. Several inches of straw or woodchip mulch will aid in weed prevention and keep the soil’s moisture.
How to Fertilize Muscadine Grapes
A 10-10-10 application in the spring, when the vines are just waking up, is best. Two more applications throughout the growing season are sufficient. Do not add any fertilizer in the late fall or winter when the vines are entering dormancy.
How to Prune Muscadine Vines
Pruning should be done in winter or early spring while the leaves are still off the vines. Grapevines can withstand heavy pruning so don’t be afraid to take a lot off. In late winter or early spring, prune to remove any old dead branches and leaves. Old branches don’t produce fruit. Prune to allow for sunshine, airflow, and pollinating insects to get to all parts of the vine. Don’t be afraid of pruning! Remove 90% of the previous year’s growth. Grapevines are forgiving and hardy; if you prune too much or too little, it can be fixed the following year.
The first few years, prune aggressively, only allowing the sturdiest canes to stay. Each year, repeat this, so the most vigorous canes have plenty of space and light to thrive. As it gets established, train the sturdy vines to stretch out along the trellis.
In the summer, do a light pruning to remove excess side shoots and runners. The new shoots require lots of energy, which takes it away from where you want it, growing grapes! Remove any tendrils that have wrapped themselves around the vine as this can girdle it if left.
Muscadine Grapes Harvest Time
The best test is a taste test! Is the grape sweet and juicy? If so, it’s ready to be harvested. A mature, healthy vine produces up to 125 lbs of fruit. Muscadine grapes ripen individually, not in bunches. Ripe grapes release easily and don’t need pulling or yanking. Enjoy!
