My grapes are starting to come in

[mtdoramike]

I planted some grape vines a couple of years ago for my birds to enjoy and they are starting to ripen. They are several Muscadine varieties. Mac and Tiki are having a field day with them My neighbors asked if I was going to make wine, I laughed and said nope, my birds don't like wine

 

[Nailztim]

I am pretty familiar with wine, but I have not heard of that varietal. Is that typically a wine grape?

Do you just let your birds hang out on the vines and enjoys the delicious delicacies? I bet those pictures would be cool to see!

 

[MikeyTN]

I can't plant any fruit plant in my yard as most fruits won't make it to maturity before the squirrels or such get to them. Oh well.....Mike, send some grapes this way!!!

 

[antoinette]

Congrats your hard work has paid off
Please send some our way, Mishka is missing grapes so much over our winter period.

Thanks for sharing

 

[JerseyWendy]

OOOOHHHH...perfect, a fellow wine, I mean GRAPE enthusiast.

Mike, how long did it take for your vines to produce? We started growing a couple this year, and the vines have really taken off. Of course we're not expecting any fruit this year, but wonder how long before they start producing?

Please don't ask which variety, because I forgot. :54: I know they are small...and green....HAHAHAHA.

 

[mtdoramike]

I am pretty familiar with wine, but I have not heard of that varietal. Is that typically a wine grape?

Do you just let your birds hang out on the vines and enjoys the delicious delicacies? I bet those pictures would be cool to see!

Muscadine grapes are native to the US and are especially productive in the eastern US and South Eastern due to their ability to ward off deceases. They have a tough skin and although some call them table grapes, I wouldn't due to the toughness of the skin. The purple or black variety are classified as Muscadines and the bronze variety are called Scuppernogns (common spelling) hahahahahaha. I have both varieties.

I also have a couple of true wine grape varieties like Catawba and Reisling as well as a Lake Emerald. But true wine grapes don't really produce that well here in the South I guess due to the heat and decease problems.

We have wild Muscadine grapes which grow wild in the woods that are a small purple grape that I guess was used to produce the hybred muscadines that we are used to today.

No, I can't let my birds set in the vines and chow down on the grapes. We have a snake problem here in central Florida. I was checking my vines and picking a few grapes yesterday and pulled back a few leaves and there was a snake laying in the vines within a few inches of my hand. Fortunately for me he didn't bite me and if he did, it wasn't a poisonous snake.

 

[mtdoramike]

OOOOHHHH...perfect, a fellow wine, I mean GRAPE enthusiast.

Mike, how long did it take for your vines to produce? We started growing a couple this year, and the vines have really taken off. Of course we're not expecting any fruit this year, but wonder how long before they start producing?

Please don't ask which variety, because I forgot. :54: I know they are small...and green....HAHAHAHA.

I have mine labeled so that I will know within a couple of years what works and what doesn't. If it doesn't work then I will yank the vines up and plant a variety that has proven to be a great producer here. My producing vines are 5 years old. I planted then two years ago and when I bought them, they were from 3 year old cuttings. Most vine will start to produce within the first three years with a few clusters at a time and then really take off after the vine has been planted for at least two years.

I hope you remember whether or not you have self pollinating vines, if they are not self pollinating, you will have to have a cultivar vine within 50 or so feet of the non-pollinating vines. Most all of my vines are self pollinating.

Here is a vine that is from a cutting that I cut off the main vine last November when I did the pruning of the vines. I stuck it in some hi grade potting mix and it's ready to be planted, but I will probably wait until Spring to plant it.

 

[mtdoramike]

I can't plant any fruit plant in my yard as most fruits won't make it to maturity before the squirrels or such get to them. Oh well.....Mike, send some grapes this way!!!

I have a bunch of squirrels around my house and they don't bother my grapes. I have a deal worked out with them. If they don't bother my grapes, I will throw out some corn and place out a couple of pine cones slathered with peanut butter and covered in wild bird seed and as an extra treat if they have been really good, I will throw out a couple handfulls of
Raw Peanuts.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks SO much for all the info, Mike.

I just looked all over to see if I could find the label, and I did. We have "Thompson Seedless Grapes", but it doesn't say on the label whether they self pollinate or not. So I did a quick search on them, and believe they do self pollinate. But during my search I also found out that they are actually NOT cold hardy to my climate. We are zone 6B, and they are recommended for zones 7-8.

Hopefully with a bit of winter protection they'll be all right.

 

[mtdoramike]

They should be fine as long as you cover them during the winter months, especially if there is going to be a heavy frost or snow. They may look dead during the winter, but they should sprout out during the spring months.

Mine here in Central Florida ripen in Late July to early August and I have some varieties that ripen even up to fall in October. I prefer the grapes that don't ripen uniformly or all at once. This way, I can harvest grapes starting in the end of July right up until mid to late October.

 

[mtdoramike]

There is a winery located about 20 miles from me and they mainly grow Muscadine grapes for their wines due to the resistance to deceases and drought tolerant.

 

[chippy]

Are the vines safe for them to chew on?