Back Patio Muscadines?
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Hristo Botev
- Posts: 1743
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:42 am
Back Patio Muscadines?
Anyone tried to grow muscadine grapes on a small back patio (or other, similar, small space)? I'm wondering whether it's something I could pull off so that, in a few years, I might actually have some grapes I can make wine out of. I could take the vines up a trellis up my chimney, I think; but I've never tried growing any sort of grape vines before.
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Alphaville
- Posts: 3611
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:50 am
- Location: Quarantined
Re: Back Patio Muscadines?
i have friends in my area who grow grapes in their backyards, and my state is a small wine producer. but we have different weather from what i assume is your subtropical climate, so i went looking.
i found this:
https://www.ehow.com/facts_7798779_seed ... siana.html
it says as you scroll down that muscadine sucks for wine.
and i can attest to sucky wine flavors. i made wine with concord grapes and it was... blech. sure it gets you buzzed i suppose but the flavor is SO WRONG: too much perfume. like drinking talcum powder.
if you want a tasty vine however, well suited to mad heat, and great for refreshing all-ages beverages, consider the glorious passionfruit (and for the grownups it makes great cocktails too)
for fermentation... maybe plant sugarcane? you could make guarapo:
http://www.lahabana.com/content/guarapo ... xcellence/
which is then fermented, etc...
here’s an example: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/w ... -18063279/
i found this:
https://www.ehow.com/facts_7798779_seed ... siana.html
it says as you scroll down that muscadine sucks for wine.
and i can attest to sucky wine flavors. i made wine with concord grapes and it was... blech. sure it gets you buzzed i suppose but the flavor is SO WRONG: too much perfume. like drinking talcum powder.
if you want a tasty vine however, well suited to mad heat, and great for refreshing all-ages beverages, consider the glorious passionfruit (and for the grownups it makes great cocktails too)
for fermentation... maybe plant sugarcane? you could make guarapo:
http://www.lahabana.com/content/guarapo ... xcellence/
which is then fermented, etc...
here’s an example: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/w ... -18063279/
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Papers of Indenture
- Posts: 197
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:40 am
- Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Re: Back Patio Muscadines?
I grow muscadines. For one plant you need at least 15 feet of space for vining and 7 hours of sun to get good production.
They'll grow in a container and even produce some fruit. But unless you're using a big 20 gallon pot I wouldn't expect anything approaching full harvest of fruit. Be precise about watering and drainage....they do not like wet feet. I like to use RootMaker containers when i'm keeping a vine potted for some time before it goes in the ground.
Where are you located? If you're on the northern end of their range make sure you don't leave them exposed in a container over winter.
Plenty of people make wine with muscadine. But they're much better as sweet wine.
Ison's Nursery is the best muscadine nursery and they are usually happy to answer questions. Might want to contact them directly for advice. https://www.isons.com/
They'll grow in a container and even produce some fruit. But unless you're using a big 20 gallon pot I wouldn't expect anything approaching full harvest of fruit. Be precise about watering and drainage....they do not like wet feet. I like to use RootMaker containers when i'm keeping a vine potted for some time before it goes in the ground.
Where are you located? If you're on the northern end of their range make sure you don't leave them exposed in a container over winter.
Plenty of people make wine with muscadine. But they're much better as sweet wine.
Ison's Nursery is the best muscadine nursery and they are usually happy to answer questions. Might want to contact them directly for advice. https://www.isons.com/