Muscadine Grapes: A Fruit for the South Page: 5
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PROPAGATION
If you want only a few vines for
home planting, propagation is hard-
ly worthwhile; it is better to buy
plants from a reliable nursery. If
propagation is considered worth-
while, it may be done by layering or
by taking cuttings.
Layering
Layerage is the most widely used
method of propagation. A layer is
a branch or shoot that is covered
with soil. The covered part puts
out roots, and when cut off from the
mother vine and transplanted, starts
a new vine.
There are several methods of lay-
erage. Following are instructions
for one of the most commonly used
methods.
Start layers in late June or July.
If only a few plants are wanted,
select strong shoots or young canes
that can be laid on the ground. If
many plants are wanted a.n entire
main branch, or fruiting arm, can
be used. Lay the cane or arm in a
shallow trench; hold it in place with
pegs if necessary. Cover with 4 or
5 inches of soil after stripping all
the leaves from the parts of the
shoots that will be covered. Leave
foliage on the uncovered parts of
the shoots, the ends of which should
protrude from the soil. When an
entire arm is used, the older wood
and base of the shoots will be cov-
ered with soil.
Roots will grow from the covered
part of the shoots. During the fol-
lowing winter separate the rooted
layer from the mother plant by cut-
ting the layer off about 2 inches
from the main branch. Remove
the layer carefully; try not to do
extensive damage to the roots.
Well-rooted plants may be
planted directly in the vineyard in
their permanent locations. Lightly
rooted ones should be grown in a
nursery area for one year. An areain the garden that is protected from
wind and has good garden soil will
serve satisfactorily as a nursery.
When transplanting plants into
the nursery or the vineyard, set
them so the ground line is about
where it was when the shoot was
layered.
Taking Cuttings
Muscadine grapes may be propa-
gated with softwood cuttings taken
during the growing season, or with
hardwood cuttings taken during the
dormant season. Propagation from
dormant cuttings usually is not sat-
isfactory and is seldom used.
One of the most successful meth-
ods of handling softwood cuttings
is propagation with mist during
the first 6 to 8 weeks to maintain
high humidity. This is the only
method of propagation by cuttings
that is discussed in this bulletin.
Removing softwood cuttings
Early in the growing season-
June is usually the best time-select
vigorous shoots for use as cuttings.
Cut off and discard the tender tips
of the shoots. Make cuttings of the
rest of the shoot, with three or four
nodes on each cutting. Most cut-
tings will be 4 to 6 inches long, but
may be longer if growth is excep-
tionally vigorous. Two to four cut-
tings can be made from each shoot.
Keep the cuttings moist from the
time they are cut until they are
lined out in the cutting bed.
Lining out cuttings
The bed in which the cuttings are
lined out must be well drained and
well aerated. A good bed is made
by placing coarse sand, or a mixture
of sand and peat, in a raised bed
that has a floor made of wire screen.
Make a windbreak 2 or 3 feet high
around the edges of the bed with
boards or burlap. Locate the beds
where they are in full sunlight or
light shade.5
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United States. Agricultural Research Service. Crops Research Division. Muscadine Grapes: A Fruit for the South, pamphlet, 1961; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc97302/m1/5/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.