How to Grow Fox Grapes

Grapes are successful and productive in home vineyards, and bring rustic, old-world charm to the garden. Fox grapes, or Vitis labrusca, are muscadine cultivars that grow from the East Coast to the Midwest and South. They bear brownish-purple to dull-black fruit in late summer, in small, compact clusters. Like all grapevines, Fox grapes require bright light, warmth, support, nutrition and good moisture to produce their fruit. Give them appropriate plantings to build the vineyard and guarantee a future fruit harvest.

Garden/hand fork
Organic compost
Fertilizer
Pruning shears
Mulch
Trellis
Ties

Instructions

- 1
  Plant Fox grape canes in late winter to early spring, when the ground thaws and warms to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. These are hardy grapevines but do best with a gentle, mild-weather start. Planting in colder weather results in grapevine death.
- 2
  Plan the vineyard. Fox grapes require full sun exposure all day, with good air movement and efficient drainage. Choose a large, sloped plot for multiple plantings, sunlight and drainage. Set out 15 to 20 feet of space in the row for each grapevine, and leave 10 to 12 feet between multiple rows. Grapevines don't do well in crowded or competitive plantings.
- 3
  Prepare individual planting sites rather than amending the entire vineyard. Grapevines do best in deep, loose, moist and nutritious soils, which give them room and resources for root development. Dig with a garden or hand fork into and mix the top 12 to 14 inches of soil in each planting site, in a 1-foot-square area. Remove rocks and weeds, and turn 6 to 7 inches of organic compost into the soil for a loose, rich, moist consistency.
- 4
  Plant grapevine canes in holes as deep and wide as their root balls. Sprinkle amended soil over the roots gradually to completely fill in the hole and eliminate air pockets. Put a trellis system behind each row of grapevines at this time, when the soil is loose. The grapes require support when they grow, for air circulation and sunshine. Secure the vines loosely to the trellis with cloth ties.
- 5
  Give each grapevine 1/2 gallon water after planting, and put the vineyard on a schedule of 2 inches of water every week. Grapes don't do well in dry, poor soil. Prune each grapevine back to a single stem with two to three buds, using pruning shears. This encourages new, healthy growth.
- 6
  Give Fox grapes 8 oz. of 10-10-10 fertilizer per plant, one week after planting. Sprinkle the fertilizer in a 1-foot amended circle, and dig it into the top 3 inches of soil. Water immediately after feeding. Feed the grapes every six weeks through mid-season.
- 7
  Lay 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch over the amended soil to keep the grapevines moist and warm. Replenish this mulch layer as it breaks down.

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