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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Poplarville, Mississippi » Southern Horticultural Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #128131
Title: ESTABLISHMENT AND PRODUCTION OF MUSCADINE GRAPES

Author
item BRASWELL, JOHN - MSU MAFES
item Stringer, Stephen
item Sampson, Blair
item INGRAM, DAVID - MSU EXPER STATION

Submitted to: Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Technical Bulletin
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2002
Publication Date: 2/1/2002
Citation: Braswell, J., Stringer, S.J., Sampson, B.J., Ingram, D. 2002. Establishment and production of muscadine grapes. Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Technical Bulletin. pub.2290 pp. 1-16

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The muscadine grape is a native plant suitably adapted to the American South and whose 200 years of cultivation have produced many edible varieties useful for the fresh and process markets. Commercial muscadine vines perform best on well-fertilized, upland sites with excellent air circulation and near neutral soil pH. Criteria for selecting muscadine cultivars are numerous but some include pollen fertility, cultivar arrangement, size, yield, picking scar, juice quality and quantity, sugar content, cold (winter) hardiness, earliness, disease and insect tolerance and more recently neutriceutical benefits. Common trellis systems for training muscadine vines in Mississippi vineyards are the Single Wire or Geneva Double Curtain. Drip irrigation is the most cost-effective watering system for muscadines and is principally needed for newly established plantings and during prolonged periods of drought. Fungicides are often applied to control fruit rot and leaf spot diseases in vineyards. Useful fungicides applied to control muscadine diseases in Mississippi are Abound, Captan 50WP, and Nova 40W. Integrated insect pest management is also discussed.