Propagation of Muscadine Vines

Softwood Cuttings

• Propagation using softwood cuttings is the best means to produce a massive quantity of plants. Take cuttings during or immediately after bloom in late spring or early summer. Cut off a 4- to 6-inch section of the current season's growth, cut off the tip, and remove the bottom two leaves while leaving four nodes. Keep the cuttings moist and space them amply on a sand and peat propagation bed. Use a shade cloth to keep sunlight at 50 percent and maintain humidity near 100 percent. Remove the shade cloth once the cuttings have rooted, incrementally reduce moisture and fertilize weekly. Remove the rooted cuttings before freezing and store them at 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit until they are ready to be planted directly in the ground in spring.

Root Layering

• Root layering is the simplest way to propagate by layering. Layering is most suitable when only a few extra plants are desired or with varieties that are difficult to root with cuttings. To perform a basic root layering, bend a healthy shoot and bury a portion of it but leave the tip exposed and use a brick or rock to hold the tip in place. Once the vine enters its dormant state in fall, dig up the shoot and cut it into rooting sections. Store the sections in a refrigerated state until spring planting.

Air Layering

• Air layering is best done between May and August when the vine is growing. Cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle and thread the growing point of a shoot through the cut end of the bottle, exiting through the cap end. Scrape down one side of the shoot portion that will be within the mix. This cutting down to the cambium, referred to as scarring, will help the air layering process. Fill the bottle with a mixture of equal parts sand, peat and pine bark and wet it. Check the bottle occasionally to ensure it is sufficiently moist. When the vine becomes dormant in the fall remove the shoot from its parent vine, cut it into rooted sections and either pot the sections or store the root at a temperature around 40 degrees Fahrenheit until spring planting.

Pegging

• Pegging is a variation of root layering. This propagation method calls for the wounding of a low-growing shoot with successive cuts into the bark and covering all but the tip of the shoot with damp soil. Within a few months when roots have formed, sever the shoot from the parent vine, cut it into rooted sections, store the sections and plant them in the spring.