HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN, , , , , , , , , , ,
We have a muscadine orchard of 44 plants and on April 26 last year we had a hard freeze which killed about half our vines. We are trying to recover by using a propagation method I found on the internet a few years ago. It is far easier and more effective than the method I used in the past.
First, we are picking suitable vines prior to our spring pruning. We cut the bottom out of a 2 liter coke bottle and tread the vine up through the neck opening. Then we scrap a spot from the bark of the vine and add a root hormone.
Next, we add leaves and chips to contain the potting soil we add. As you can see the bottles are tacked to a temporary support board and convenient to keep watered as the vine begins to produce a root system that you can see develop through the clear plastic bottle over time. By late summer the bottle will be full of roots and ready to stand on it's own. We cut the vine from the parent plant and repot it for transplanting in late fall.
Each one of these potted Southern Grapes will cost you about $12 and what you see is 15 that we did in a few hours. We have both the bronze and black muscadines and make jelly, juice and I used to do wine. As a GA TECH Ch. E , I could make wine with the best . The problem is that it did not taste good, so I gave the practice up. Even though we are in East Tenn, this is about as far north as you can grow the large Southern Muscadines and also Figs. Extreme cold can kill our plants. This propagation method will work on any grape vine or fig tree.
In the picture.. excuse my thumb, I'm a novice photographer. We garden because it is a good way to stay healthy. We usually put up about 20 half gallons of muscadine juice during the season and 10 pints of jelly.
I am not in the league with Ted, Bill , Dave, Momma and Timh as far as health advice is concerned, but I can hold my own in growing healthy veggies, berries and fruit. So that will be my contribution to your health, if you want to go down this trail.
====== ORH=====
HI U OLE PATOOTS DOIN, , , , , , , , , , ,
We have a muscadine orchard of 44 plants and on April 26 last year we had a hard freeze which killed about half our vines. We are trying to recover by using a propagation method I found on the internet a few years ago. It is far easier and more effective than the method I used in the past.
First, we are picking suitable vines prior to our spring pruning. We cut the bottom out of a 2 liter coke bottle and tread the vine up through the neck opening. Then we scrap a spot from the bark of the vine and add a root hormone.
Next, we add leaves and chips to contain the potting soil we add. As you can see the bottles are tacked to a temporary support board and convenient to keep watered as the vine begins to produce a root system that you can see develop through the clear plastic bottle over time. By late summer the bottle will be full of roots and ready to stand on it's own. We cut the vine from the parent plant and repot it for transplanting in late fall.
Each one of these potted Southern Grapes will cost you about $12 and what you see is 15 that we did in a few hours. We have both the bronze and black muscadines and make jelly, juice and I used to do wine. As a GA TECH Ch. E , I could make wine with the best . The problem is that it did not taste good, so I gave the practice up. Even though we are in East Tenn, this is about as far north as you can grow the large Southern Muscadines and also Figs. Extreme cold can kill our plants. This propagation method will work on any grape vine or fig tree.
In the picture.. excuse my thumb, I'm a novice photographer. We garden because it is a good way to stay healthy. We usually put up about 20 half gallons of muscadine juice during the season and 10 pints of jelly.
I am not in the league with Ted, Bill , Dave, Momma and Timh as far as health advice is concerned, but I can hold my own in growing healthy veggies, berries and fruit. So that will be my contribution to your health, if you want to go down this trail.
====== ORH=====
