DIY Network

Care and Harvesting Tips to help you maximize your muscadine harvest From "Fresh From the Orchard" episode DFFO-113

Proper pruning won't be a challenge after you see Kelly Givens's hands-on demonstration of how to deal with muscadine leaders, canes and spurs; you'll also find out whether "bleeding" vines are cause for concern or not. We show you a foolproof way to create baby muscadine vines from a parent plant by a process known as layering. When harvest rolls around, you'll see that simply shaking the vines can result in a rainfall harvest of ripe, ready-to-eat muscadines!

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Pruning and Training

Pruning is necessary to provide the best fruit production. Your local cooperative extension service should have detailed information on various pruning techniques for muscadines, and it's worth your while to study these materials.

The best time of year to prune is in the late winter or early spring, when vines are still dormant. In some cases, you may need to prune at other times of the year, such as late spring. If you prune in the spring and notice some "bleeding," there's no cause for alarm: it's just sap oozing from the vine. A little bit of bleeding won't harm the vine.

The first two years are devoted to developing the trunk (the vertical part of the vine) and the fruiting arms (also called cordons, they are trained to grow along the wires). A properly trained vine on a trellis has a trunk and arms that together form the shape of a T. To train a muscadine vine, use a string to pull up the young vine and attach it to the trellis wire. At the top of the trunk, let two shoots grow out in either direction along the wire to form the arms (figure A).

After the trunk and cordons are trained (figure B), fruit production will be increased through annual pruning. To prune properly, it's important to understand how muscadines grow. Muscadine flowers grow on new spurs, or shoots that have developed from buds on last year's growth. Mature shoots that will have the buds for next season's growth are called canes.

Figure A

Figure B

Here's the most common pruning technique:

1. Go to the main leader (figure C).

2. Count up three to four spurs (figure D).

Figure C

Figure D

3. Make a cut (figure E). The cut will remove the old growth and will allow for new growth to produce your new fruit.

4. Remove any canes near the base of the trunk (figure F).

Figure E

Figure F

Many muscadine growers also "thin" their fruit by removing some of the flower clusters in the spring to prevent overcropping. Flower clusters are typically thinned to one flower cluster per shoot.

Propagation

Muscadines can be propagated by softwood cuttings or by layering. With the layering method, first find a long cane that will reach to the ground (figure G). Dig a shallow hole, place part of the long cane in the hole with the tip sticking up, then cover the middle with soil (figure H). Roots will develop during the late fall and winter. When you see new leaves growing on the cane in the following spring or summer, you will know that the cane has developed roots. At that time, you can cut the cane from the parent plant, dig it up and transplant it.

Figure G

Figure H

Irrigation

Muscadines are tolerant of dry weather once they're established. But there are two times when you want to make sure they have plenty of water. The first is when the vines are young; the second is when they're fruiting. Muscadines are a juicy fruit, so they need water to form the fruit.

Fertilization Program

Muscadines will grow and produce in poor soil but are most productive when the soil is moderately fertile. Growers may use a 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 fertilizer or animal compost to provide nutrients to their soil.

Muscadines have a high requirement for magnesium; the leaves can turn yellow if the vine has a magnesium deficiency (figure I). To help prevent this, use Epsom salts just like those you use in bathwater (figure J). Scatter the salts in a 3' to 6' area around the vines, using about 3 oz. for young vines and 5 oz. for older vines.

Figure I

Figure J

Harvesting

Unlike bunch grapes, which ripen and are harvested in clusters, muscadines produce fruit in clusters but the grapes ripen at different times over a several-week period.

Harvest is usually around the middle or the end of August, but depending on the cultivar, the climate and the weather, harvest can be as early as July or as late as October. A muscadine harvest can easily spread over weeks since not all the fruit ripens at the same time.

Figure K

When muscadines are ripe, they can be shaken off the vine; you can put an old sheet or tarp underneath the vines to catch the muscadines as they fall. But although shaking the vines is fun and easy, it can bruise muscadines. As a harvesting technique, it's best for fruit that will be made into jams, jellies or wine. Hand-harvesting is best for muscadines that will be eaten fresh (figure K).