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Fruit & Orchards

Cowart muscadine grape in pot, info needed

12 years ago

Okay, I semi-impulse shopped in the nursery today while picking up some parsley and marigolds and bought a Cowart muscadine grape. (I say semi- because I was planning on getting one of these, just at a better planting time.) Now I need a little help.

It's well past bud-break but all the current growth is quite young and tender, with flowers beginning to form. Planting instructions says to slice the roots with a shovel to initiate root growth, but I don't feel like that would be so good at this point in the plant's growth. Would it? I definitely want to move it out of this pot, but should I put it in the ground right away?

Also, its leader has two main shoots coming out about 1 1/2" above the soil line, and everything I read about pruning grapes says to have only one. Should I prune out one come dormancy? It is sort of wild and crazy-looking with shoots every which way, could I just stick it in a tomato cage until I'm ready to prune it and then shape it nicely? Your help would be appreciated!

Cheers!

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Comments (5)

Scott F Smith
12 years ago
At this point I would just stick it in the ground and leave it alone. Its not going to reach the top wire this year so prune it back next late winter and let only one shoot grow to the wire next season. You can just put it in a tomato cage this year to keep it supported. This advice is based on the muscadines I have bought which did not have a whole lot of vigor in the first year; if your vine is taking off you could prune it back to one shoot this year.

I don't understand the instructions on slicing the roots, never heard that before.

Scott
gonebananas_gw
12 years ago
Muscadines are pretty tough and you have a number of options.

Personally, I'd either put it in a big pot for a season or in the ground if it were a place where I could water and weed it some in the summer.

I'd have the planting site already prepared (hole dug if in the ground) and would gently separate the main roots by hand and spread them out in the planting hole or container and then quickly fill in and water. It's bareroot planting of a leafed out plant but it's only for a couple minutes (and do it in the shade).

Personally, I'd leave all the growth this season to grow a good root system. Pick the strongest as a leader late next winter (early pruning is thought to have some considerable cold-injury risk with muscadines).

Barerooting leafed out plants is normally a bad practice, but with containerized plants sometimes can be done safely. I just barerooted (or nearly so) 8-10 foot tall fully leafed out pears from 25-gallon pots, where loose granular soil made this fairly easy. Just one of 10 wilted noticeably but recovered quickly with ~8 gallons of water into the backfilled hole.
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gonebananas_gw
12 years ago
"slicing the roots"

It's mainly for when they are spiraled tightly in the pot, to give them an end at an edge in order to grow outward from there.
sunnibel7 Md 7
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks, Scott!

I'm not too sure about that root-slicing manuever either. Maybe they're assuming the vine is pot-bound when you get it? Sort of like spreading the roots on a tomato transplant from a 4-pack? Since I don't have any previous grape experience, I have no clue if this one is vigorous or not. Looks pretty good to me in terms of over-all growth, but I haven't had a look at the roots yet. I'll stick it in the ground just as soon as I can get the husband to agree to a spot. That will be the tricky part...

Cheers!
sunnibel7 Md 7
Original Author
12 years ago
Oops, both of us writing at the same time! Thanks GB! I understand what you mean by bare-rooting, I'll see what they look like when I get into the pot. Out of curiousity, what insects pollinate grapes? It's been a long time since I looked at one in bloom...

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