abfield: I think what we may have here is some misperceptions on your part due to differences in writing styles. I have read a fair number of Herman's posts before. He is a specialist in grapes, and tends to have very firm opinions in this area. When he expresses them, they may sound a little condescending, but I am sure that is not his intention, and equally sure that Herman is not a bad guy at all, who probably has a life many of us would envy. When I post a reply, I have to re-read it several times before hitting the submit button to make sure I do not come across as a know-it-all, condescending s.o.b., and I often make changes when I see something that looks bad. Of course, the best way to do this would be to have someone else read the post before submitting it to see how it sounds, but that is not practical. Most of us who participate in Gardenweb understand this, and try not to look for reasons to take offense. One thing is for sure: Sexual references and direct personal insults are not at all common here. That is one of the things that makes it a pleasure to participate in Gardenweb. There are plenty of websites for that sort of thing, but they usually do not involve gardening. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

bamboo rabbit, I know of a GA. muscadine winery that use Concord grapes in a mixed wine. the owner gave me two 1gallon plants. I told a friend here in S.C. of my good luck & he told me of Pierces disease. Then was kind enough to give me 3 wine grape vines that have thicker skins, smaller grapes, that are not as sweet as table grape, but will not carry Pierces disease. My Concords are doing fine, but will only last 7 years if I am lucky.

It took me a long time before I really could wrap my mind around the proper pruning for a grape vine and I'm supposed to be a gardener by profession. LOL. There are two reasons to prune grapes and one is to establish the proper structure of your vine as it matures and the other is to increase your fruit yield and that involves leaving a certain number of buds per branch, and not allowing it to go wild with foliage. No vine on a grape should have been allowed to get sixteen feet long. If you planted five vines last april, the first year or two the pruning should be directed to how you wish to trellis it. You will be building the architecture of the vine properly so that you can keep it under control for years and allow each branch of it to get the proper amount of sun exposure. Your old plant had too much energy put into branching and foliage to produce much of anything. You will have to selectively remove a lot of these as you wire it up to a trellis or support and leave only the basic branches you wish to work with. Then come February, you'll do your final prune and that involves choosing a new leader branch for each old branch and then pruning back each side shoot to a certain number of buds. It's not nearly as complicated as it sounds and YouTube has some really excellent walk-throughs you will be able to understand as the visuals are there so you can see exactly what they mean as their talking. Have a look at some put out by legitimate sources and then come back if you have questions.

Jim Kohut describes Morden 9703 (S16) - A recently introduced (and as of yet unnamed) hybrid from Eastern Europe, this is undoubtedly the hardiest green table grape you'll find. Produces absolutely enormous clusters of large green grapes that are incredible for fresh eating, especially if left to ripen on the vine into fall - these will rival any table grapes you'll find in the store! Hard to find in the trade. Marginally hardy in zone 3 - may need some winter protection." Make it Green garden center lists it, whether it is what they say it is is another matter. The front here would be Prairie Star but I was busy and the vines co mingled together...I did trim a few times but the wet summer created a lot of vigor. The clusters look good but I will have to follow the cordons back as they should not be colouring. If they are they would most likely would be the Frontenac if the clusters continue to change colour. There was no die back anywhere but this was an unusually mild winter. Probably could be described as a zone 4 rating. Frontenac on the left.