Virtual Muscadine School 2022

1) Training, Pruning, Renovation:

Some of the questions asked during the webinar:

• When is the best time to prune and train a muscadine vine? Dormant pruning happens between December and February in most areas.
• Do I have to prune every year? Yes! A muscadine vine has to be pruned every year.
• Can a muscadine vine be pruned in summer? No. Pruning refers to the removal of wood that has grown in previous year(s). In summer, you remove wood that has grown in the same year. That process is referred to as 'hedging' or 'skirting'.
• What wood to chose to establish a cordon or spur?  Chose a cane that has 2-4 inches of internode length, is at least pencil think, and of brown color.
• What is the ideal planting and post space in a traditional muscadine vineyard? Most muscadine vineyards are on 20ft vine spacing, trained on a single high-wire bilateral spur pruning system. In such a system, we recommend to plant each vine about 3-4 foot next to a wooden post. Each vine is accompanied by a post (post spacing is also 20 ft). We then recommend to train one of the two cordons over the post to distribute weight and tension on the trellis system.
• Is there a disease risk if one cordon is trained on the post? No. The reason we recommend to train one cordon over a post is weight distribution. In a traditional muscadine vineyard, there is a large risk of 'sagging' wires and 'bowed' trunks if this is not done.
• What is an easy way to remember how to prune a spur? Three golden rules: a) Don't let your spur grow into space. Think about a helmet that you put over the spur. The helmet grows every year a little bit, so does your spur. b) Never cut through a bud c)  Always leave enough wood for wound healing.
• How many buds to I retain on muscadine vine? In a traditional muscadine vineyard, between 25 and 40 buds per foot of cordon can be retained. On some fresh market cultivars (e.g. Supreme), retain about 25-30 buds per foot of cordon, on vigorous cultivars (e.g. Carlos), retain 40 buds per foot of cordon.
• How many fruiting spurs should I establish on a cordon? A healthy number for a muscadine vine is on average between 3-4 positions per foot of cordon. Not more!

2) Muscadine Disease Control, Weed Control and Grape Root Borer Control:

3) Site Preparation, Planting, Fertility and Cultivar Peak View:

4) Summer Chores, Muscadine Cultivars and Economics

5) Food Safety, Sampling, Harvest, Post-Harvest

6) Winemaking Basics: