Purchased a Golden Muscat this spring to vine on my chain link fence. It is really exciting to see it grow. I am completely new to growing grapes. My dog knocked a piece of it off just as it was coming out of dormancy, and I put it in the ground, so now I have two Golden Muscats :))

I would love to hear Golden Muscat's growers talk about this vine-- what are your impressions on overall vigour, and what problems do you have with this variety? How many years have you had to wait for the vine to produce well?

I am an organic home gardener in the mid-atlantic, so we'll see how it does here with the incessant threat of mildew and fungal disease...

Elisabeth in Pittsburgh, PA

Make sure to do a couple copper sprays early in the season, grapes are prone to black rot and downy mildew in the mid-atlantic and copper is the only organic treatment. Usually a dormant spray and one at about 6-12" shoots will do it. These diseases usually take a few years to show up strongly so don't get overconfident that you dodged it.

I am now growing a bunch of muscadines since they don't need any sprays at all. We'll see if my family likes them.

Scott