Oh WOW! That's a heavy producer!!! I'm just looking for enough to make jam, wine, and some fresh eating. I figured three vines will do me good if I can cultivate them well. I'll be planting them at the edge of my little (laid by and untended this year) vegetable garden. I picked up some 9-gauge wire the other day for a single wire trellis but still have to go by the co-op and pick up some posts. It looks like the best end post setup is an H-brace so I'll be shooting for that. I'm just curious, I'm thinking I can include the H-brace in the total length of the wire for the cordons to grow on. I had planned on doing a full 20' distance for each plant but I'm thinking of backing that up to 15' and let them put more energy into the more central area of the cordons that are closest to the trunk. Kind of stubby cordons. 45' will fit better than 60' but if need be 60' is doable. Got any feedback on that?
Gotta figure out how to keep the varmints away from them. I walked behind the house (like turning the corner and about got run over by a couple of yearling dear. Pulled into the hayfield across the road last spring and was suddenly in a deer stampede...must of been 20-25 of them running around the jeep. My wife thinks the deer are "so sweet" so putting them on ice is kinda tricky...I had them stand there and just look at me...even walk towards me.<sigh> Of course, across the road is a whole nuther story...those are different deer.
Then there's the raccoons, the coyotes, the birds, the sasquatches, the possums, the... Well, you know where I"m coming from most likely. I've got a 4-strand hot-wire around the garden and will most likely be installing either another single strand about 3' outside the fence perimeter at about 30-32 inches high or either extending the fence upward and outward using a couple of strands of nylon string. Both tactics will mess with the deers' visual perception. I really see no need for a hot wire up high. Looking for the better mousetrap...
From everything I've read the Isons are very good muscadines. We've got wild bullis/scuppernong vines growing all around us but only the rare one (up about 30' in the trees) produce fruit. I know where one is that has grown wild for years but produces fruit that I'm going to visit this spring for some green cuttings...might scratch around beneath the overgrown vine and see if any low-growing laterals have pegged down roots...that would be nice.
Thanks a bunch for the link to the Facebook muscadine group!!! There's some good information there...I've already applied to join the group.