Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
bart1_gw

Help me pick my (table) Grape varities

bart1
16 years ago

I'd like to plant three table grape varieties, one green, one blue and one red. Can anyone offer some good suggestions?

I've heard good things about Jupiter which will take care of the blue slot, but what else should I grow?

I'm in northern Virginia and not opposed to spraying. I have 40 or so wine grape vines growing and I have to spray them regularly, so spraying the new ones is not a deal breaker, but if there are great varieties that don't need spraying, that would be even better.

Any tips, suggestions, do's and don'ts are also welcome!

Thanks,

Bart

Comments (12)

  • Scott F Smith
    16 years ago

    Seedless I presume? I started out with mostly seeded grapes and then discovered my kids didn't like them. But if you want I have many good suggestions there. For seedless, Jupiter I am still waiting for fruit from. Canadice has been good but inconsistent from year to year. I'm not sure if it likes the heat. I have been meaning to try Reliance which gets very good reviews - I expect it will do better than Canadice for me. I am also going to try Sweet Seduction starting this spring.

    Scott

  • bart1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks Scott!

    Yes I was thinking about going seedless, but I remember Jellyman saying something like "seedless = grapeless".

    I'll look up your choices.

    Thanks again,
    Bart

  • astroman31
    16 years ago

    I've grown Jupiter, Reliance, Suffolk Red and Glenora. Reliance is BY FAR the best tasting grape - the only thing remotely close to it was Suffolk Red. It is a round grape, beautiful full clusters. Very sweet. Incredible taste.

    My Jupiter is a very productive vine - clusters everywhere. Oval fruit. Problem is none of us like the taste. The birds won't even go for it. Not as colorful as we hoped. Extremely disappointing. Not recommended.

    Glenora grapes have great visual beauty: vines, leaves and fruit. Fruit is okay - not our favorite but not bad. Birds won't touch it though. Why go for Glenoras or Jupiters when Suffolk Red and Reliance grapes are nearby?

  • kurtg
    16 years ago

    We had good luck with Himrod.

  • Scott F Smith
    16 years ago

    astroman, grape taste varies a lot from one climate to another so it is hard to make too many generalizations about flavor. Reliance is in fact supposed to be better in the heat, so maybe it will do even better for me than it is doing for you. Jupiter and Reliance are both bred in Arkansas so the flavor was selected for in that kind of climate.

    Scott

  • plumfan
    16 years ago

    A guy in Jersey grows excellent Jupiters, plus I think he likes Reliance pretty well. Both those do fine in Oregon, as does Sweet Seduction. Not sure whether raintreenursery.com sells Reliance this year, but I know they have Sw. Seduction and Jupiter in stock.

    Reliance = Red

    Sweet Seduction = White

    Jupiter = Blue

    I don't know of a better seedless trio to grow for table use. I have eaten over 200 kinds of grapes, and it is very hard to beat these three for flavor, production, and disease resistance.

    Sweet Seduction just about never became public. It was liberated from the University of Arkansas collection by a friend of mine with multiple decades on me. Without his help, this grape might never have become known. RIP Bill.

  • murkwell
    16 years ago

    Sweet seduction is my favorite of the half dozen varieties I got from Raintree. It can get amazingly sweet if you leave it on the vine until its yellow.

    My Jupiter hasn't fruited yet and I need to get a reliance going.

    plumfan, thanks for giving Bill his props. Its nice to get a little history now and then. I feel more connected.

  • bart1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestions everyone! This thread is really cooking!!

    As luck would have it, I stopped by Lowes yesterday after work to pick up a few things and they had a new shipment of plants (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes). I picked up a nice looking Reliance grape with a fat vine/stem coming out of the dirt.

    I think I'll go for Sweet Seduction and Jupiter for my other two colors.

    Thanks again everyone!
    Bart

  • Scott F Smith
    16 years ago

    Bart, those are great choices. You should check out the thread about Home Depot grapes though - the big box stores are well known for playing tag switcheroo. You probably have the right variety, but the odds are a lot less than if purchased from a reputable nursery.

    plumfan, I would like to hear the story about the liberation of this grape and why U Ark. didn't release it. I picture Bill climbing over a fence at midnight with pruners in hand..

    Scott

  • bart1
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks Scott! I just saw that other thread. I'm going get the other 2 from Raintree or Double A or some combination of the two.

    Thanks again,
    Bart

  • plumfan
    16 years ago

    Nope, Bill did not scale any fences at midnight. What he did was in broad daylight. The tour guide may have been distracted though!

  • plumfan
    13 years ago

    I have good news and bad news.

    Good news is that there was an eyewitness account of how Bill got the grape from Univ of Arkansas.
    Also, good news is that I didn't get overly specific with a lot of details related to me. I am so glad I didn't write down on the internet everything I was told, from what I thought was a very authoritative source!

    I include the link below to a poster called LonRom, and he is the eyewitness.

    Bad news is, that my info in 2008 is apparently grossly in error. I will chalk it up to medication side-effects, old age, failing memory, and maybe one too many apricot brandies when swapping war stories. Bill died about 5 years after I met him. I can no longer go to the source.

    Rest in Peace, Bill my friend!

    Here is a link that might be useful: LonRom's eyewitness account