The grape vines that grow wild in this part of the country are Muscadines, sometimes called Scuppernongs (although from what I've been able to find out the Scuppernong is actually just one variety of the Muscadine). Apparently there are perfect flowering (male and female flower parts) types and flowering only (female flower parts) types. The second kind are not self-propagating, so they have to be co-planted with the self propagating sort. It seems as if I have one perfect flowering type and the rest are pistillate (self-unfruitful), but I don't know what variety they are.
The fruit bearing vine is presently wound about a pine tree, but I'm considering bringing it off the tree and putting it on a trellis and maybe making a cutting or two for replanting elsewhere. I might try creating and transplanting shoots of it with one or two of the other non-producing vines to see what will happen. I have no idea what variety of grapes will grow on these vines but it might be interesting to find out.
I won't be getting into the grape growing business full time, but it seems like it might be a fun hobby.
4 comments:
I was wondering about those things...got one or two that have come over from an adjacent yard, climbed up a tree, and was making out with my power lines before I cut it. I don't mind grapevines, I just hate all the half-eaten grapes left all over the inside of my storage shed by the mice that I had to poison the crap out of in order to convince them to leave. Ended up cutting one vine (see the aforementioned power-line issue).
Almost as bad as kudzu. Almost.
But at least I get grapes off of one of them, so there is that.
I always wondered (off-handed, so to speak...and usually as I was ducking/dodging a loaded vine whilst trying to mow) if those were edible or not. Having a 4 year old, that question is actually quite relevant!
Quite, and now you know that he's perfectly all right eating the scuppernongs...but leave the pokeberries alone.
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