Friday, July 13, 2012

How do I prune musadines to run on a trellis, how and when to do I fertilize?

Growing up as a kid I enjoyed gathering and eating wild muscadines. I decided to try growing some myself. I planted 2 vines in April. How should I prune them to ensure they are trained to run on the trellis? What time of the year is the best time to prune the vines? What is the best type of fertilizer to use and when to use it as well as how much? I enjoyed your video on prunning your muscadines. Since mine are young plants I don't want to be to aggressive and lose my plants.

Beginning now (July), choose 1 shoot (the longest and strongest) to train as the trunk. The goal is for it to reach the trellis wire, which should be at 4' height. Tie it to a 4' long stake. Use plastic tape or cloth ribbon. Remove all other shoots growing around the base of the plant, and remove any shoots growing from the "trunk" that are emerging any lower than the trellis wire. You can do that now.

When the "trunk" vine reaches the trellis wire, clip off the upper end of it. This will encourage lateral branching along the trunk. Remove all shoots except for the top two. Those will be trained to the trellis wire to serve as arms.

You can prune to train (as mentioned above) any time of year. When pruning for fruit production, do it late winter or very early spring before growth begins.

10-10-10 fertilizer is about as good as any. Fertilize any time between early spring and mid summer. Amount depends on size/age of plant.  For specific recommendations, take a soil sample to your nearest Cooperative Extension Office for analysis. The test results will include recommendations. 

I've grown clover for cover crop, and that worked well. I haven't needed to fertilize my vineyard in years.


John Marshall
goGardenNow.com
goGardenNow.blogspot.com

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