new house - backyard trellis??

[captainl]

hey guys. I just moved into my new house 10 days ago...man have I been busy. Anyhow, here are a few pictures of my backyard trellis design so far. I have 2 muscadines that have been in pots since last spring. Jumbo and southern home. I have an idea of chasing the fence line around my backyard. We have a lot of trees here in the woodlands but where the grapes are in the pictures, they are getting about 9 hours of sunlight.

Here are some questions.

I know its best to plant in the spring, but do you think I could plant them in the next week or so. How will they hold up in pots for the winter?? I imagine not very well.


For you muscadine pros, how much space are you giving them. I was thinking of 20 feet apart from plant to plant?? Maybe 15 would be better?


I have only trimmed my muscadines down to 2 main vines from one plant. I was thinking of trying to get the second vine to root in a pot so I could get some vines to move to other areas. How long does it take and would this be a wast of time. Keep in mind the first freezer doesn't happen here until probably late december/january. And the highs are still hitting the 90's.

Or should I just trim to one vine NOW??

I also just bought another jumbo and southern 2 yr plants from a clearance for $6 each. Can those survive a winter in small 1 gallon pots or do I need to plant them or move them to bigger pots.

I also have some wild muscadine vines hanging over the fence. don't know if they produce but I am thinking of training one of the vines into my yard.

I also plan on putting some some blackberries between the grapes.

Any tips or advice appreciated.

 

[jeepingchick]

I do not know about planting now but...since ur in tx, you may be ok! the one gallon pots I would def make bigger I don't know how cold yall get though...

 

[docanddeb]

I would think if you are carful not to disturb the root ball, you could plant them now. Just make sure your initial hole is big enough and then fill and water in well to settle.

Debbie

 

[Sacalait]

You may end up having to brace the fence. You'd be surprised by how much weight the vines and fruit will add.

 

[Redtrk]

You may end up having to brace the fence. You'd be surprised by how much weight the vines and fruit will add.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[captainl]

hmm good point. I'll keep an eye on that this spring. Maybe i'll put some 4X4's along the centerline to help if needed. I was thinking of extending this to follow along the fence line of my hole backyard....Maybe not a good Idea though??

Any other ideas for a functional, decorative, and space freindly grape trellis for a back/front yard?

 

[Sacalait]

Functional, well maybe but decorative absolutely. A back yard swing with a frame or trellis over it makes a nice showing. Sitting in the swing with grapes suspended above make be a great conversation piece. The big draw back is when it comes time for pruning.

 

[garymc]

If you're interested in different trellis or arbor solutions, here's one. The pics are 2009 and 2010. In 2011 you can't see a speck of the wire.
I have entirely too many vines on that arbor.

 

[Runningwolf]

Gary, that looks pretty cool. I am assuming that is the wire mesh they use for pouring concrete with. I use to do the same thing at my old house to cover my pond and layed plastic over it in the winter time. It held the snow load very easily with a support in the middle.

 

[ebbutler]

Looks like cattle panel to me.

 

[Sacalait]

Looks great but a real pain when it comes time to trim.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

None of this may be true, but this is what I have been told and have read. I am prepared to be corrected and if something is incorrect, please correct me, it will help all of us.
*Plant them now. The rule of thumb is to prepare a $5.00 hole for a $.50 plant. Be sure you have good drainage and keep vine moist, not wet. I have heard that if water stands on the vines for 2 hours, it's dead.
*Space 20 feet apart. At wire train one runner to go one way and another runner to go the other way.
*Rooting muscadines is sooooo easy. Use new groth cutting no larger than a #2 yellow pencil (thickness and length). Keep cutting seperater for each vine, as to type and Male or Female. When planting, you should have one male for every 3 females and within 50 feet. I use plastic coffee cans, plastic gallon jugs or anything that will hold the potting soil. Be sure to drill holes in bottom of planters. The cuttings should have 3 nodes on them. Cut the cuttings straight across at the base and slanted on the top, the base should be just below the bottom node (I think that's what you call that little bump). Put the 2 bottom nodes in the soil and one above and lightly pack it. Keep it moist, not wet.
*Keep vine length about 10 feet, longer than 10 feet the berries starve and are smaller and it takes away from the rest of the berries.
*Put vines in the ground now. Before frost, bank about 6 to 8 inches of soil around trunk to protect from freezing.
*Important!- Go to your County Agent and get a soil sample box and send a soil sample off. The Agent will send it off for you.
*Your wild muscadines may start producing now, if they weren't. You now will have some other vines to polinate them.
*Blackberries (hopefully) will shaded out with the muscadines
**Don't count off for my spelling?
****Again, correct what I say if it is incorrect, we all need help
Semper Fi

 

[Sacalait]

The male or self fertile vine should be within 20' of the females. You're on the mark about watering, muscadines don't like wet feet. As for not letting them range more than 10', I question that. I use "T" posts and train the vines to go in 4 different directions and stop them at 15'. This gives me a total of 60' of vines and I can't tell any fruit size difference from beginning to end.

 

[captainl]

Just realized this is my thread from last winter. haha. Good news. I planted everything in the fall and it all survived. I now have 4 muscadine vines. 2 jumbo and 2 southern home. I also bought a black spanish last week when we where at garden center buying gardening supplies. I am definitely going to reinforce or redo the trellis system when need be. But right now I am getting everything growing properly. I'll update some pics when I get home in the next couple of days.

 

[Sacalait]

Good luck with the southern home, I pulled my (2) up last year. There was a lot of good hype about them but I was not impressed.

 

[captainl]

Why did you pull them up? I can tell they don't grow nearly as fast as the "jumbo". Did they not produce? Did they not taste good? How long did you have them? I ask because I could be tempted to replace with black spanish.

 

[Sacalait]

I'd had them 3-4yrs. There wasn't much sugar content or exceptional flavor. Since I was looking for a stronger muscadine flavor I decided on welder as a replacement.

 

[garymc]

They are cattle or hog panels. 50 inches tall by 16 feet long. Bud, the one thing I would take issue with in your post is that muscadines are not that easy to root. They recommend the use of a misting bed for cuttings. Otherwise, layering or pinning shoots - take a low growing runner, lay it on the ground still attached, put dirt over a section of it, put a brick or something on it so it doesn't get jostled out of the ground and then cut it loose from the main vine months later during the next dormant period. Air layering is the other technique I've used.

The pruning would be a little easier if I didn't have so many vines on there. I'm 5'6" and the height of the thing in the center is just out of my reach. So if I step on something to give me a foot more reach I have no trouble. But the fact that the vines grow into one another makes it a headache. This pic was taken July 27, so imagine what it looked like by the end of august.

 

[captainl]

Here are some pics to update. The best grower is jumbo so far. They where 2 year plants last year but they lived in a pot for about 8 months before I planted them here 6 months ago. The Black Spanish I planted a week or so ago is taking off. On similar note, while I was walking down a bike trail to take my 5 year old fishing at a creek I ran into a wild grape vine that looks VERY similar to the black spanish I have. I guess it could be blanch de bois or something similar, but I have never seen anything wild other than muscadine and mustang grapes around here.

 

[captainl]

Here is the jumbo thats growing well. Does it look like I'm pruning it right?