How to Grow Muscadines in Georgia

Site Preparation

• 1

  Plant muscadines in the fall or early spring. Choose a sunny spot in the garden that has both good drainage and air circulation. Measure the space to determine how many vines to plant. Muscadines require 20 feet of trellis per plant. If you intend to plant more than one row, space the rows 12 feet apart. Test the soil to determine if it falls within the necessary 6.0 to 6.5 pH range, or measure 1/2 cup of dolomitic lime and set aside for later use. Muscadines grow quite happily in the red clay soil found throughout much of Georgia, but also will grow in sandy or loamy soils.

• 2

  Dig a hole with the shovel that is 2 feet wide and deep. If you did not take a soil test, work the dolomitic lime into the soil displaced from the hole. Replace some of the soil so the hole is as deep as the nursery container. To remove the plant from its container, firmly grasp it just above the soil and turn the container upside down. Rap sharply on the bottom of the container to free the plant more easily.

• 3

  Place the plant in the hole and hold it in place with one hand while pushing some of the soil into the hole around the roots. Adjust the position of the plant, if necessary, then finish filling the hole with soil. Use enough dirt to fill the hole to the same depth as the vine was planted in the nursery container.

• 4

  Water the muscadine vine thoroughly, adding more soil if needed to keep the level the same as when the vine was in the nursery container. Do not fertilize.

• 5

  Install a prefabricated trellis or grape arbor about 1 foot behind the muscadine vine, or construct a trellis using fence posts and wire. In the coldest areas of North Georgia, keep in mind that snow and ice may weigh down the trellis, and reinforce the structure with guy-wires if needed. Install two pressure-treated posts, each 8 feet long and 5 inches thick, into the ground so that the vine is centered between them. Place them 20 feet apart and 3 feet deep. Attach 9-gauge wire near the top of one post, then stretch the wire to the other post and fasten.

• 6

  Once the vine's shoots are 1 foot long, remove all but the strongest single shoot. Push a stake into the ground 3 inches from the vine. Tie one end of the string to the stake and the other end to the trellis wire. Lay the end of the shoot on the string and check every few days to make sure the shoot is growing along the string. When the shoot reaches the wire, pinch it off just beneath the wire so the top two buds on the shoot form "arms." These arms will grow along the wire and eventually become the part of the vine that produces new growth and fruit.

• 7

  Fertilize the vines three times a year for the first two years. Use 1/2 lb. of 10-10-10 or other balanced, complete fertilizer as soon as the vine is settled and growing comfortably. In all growing zones of Georgia, fertilize the scuppernongs in late May with 2 oz. of ammonium nitrate. Repeat this in early July. Broadcast fertilizer in a 2-foot circle around the base of the vine. After the first two years, test the soil to determine what type of fertilizer the plant needs and follow manufacturer's directions to apply.

• 8

  Prune muscadine vines severely in February if you live in the warmer lower half of Georgia, and in March if you live in the cooler upper half of the state or in the mountains. Fruit is produced on new shoots from the previous year's growth. Cut last year's canes down to about 3 inches. Once the vines mature, remove old fruit stems to help prevent disease. If you plan to apply herbicides to the vines, remove all shoots that are growing within 2.5 feet of the ground to prevent contamination.