LITTLE MOUNTAIN, S.C. — Muscadine season is just about to start here in the southeast. But what you don't know is that it takes about 800 hours per acre to prune, mow and spray.
Getting pruned and prepped for muscadine season is quite the undertaking.
"You cut it back to basically two buds because muscadines are produced on new growth, not a primocane like a blackberry," Phillip Reddick, owner of Doc's farm said.
Reddick is a muscadine grower at Doc's Farm in Little Mountain. This pruning he mentioned is often done in the winter, but right now, pests are priority.
"We try to keep the control of the fire ants before the season opens, so we come in about the last of July, make sure the fire ant poison is put out, make sure that our rows are sprayed and everything is good to go," Reddick said.
He mows the grass in between the muscadine rows and sprays fertilizer once a season to make these muscadines ready for picking.
"You're going to feel the fruit and it should have some softness to it and the color should be almost a full color," Reddick said.
All this hard work is so you can enjoy the plump supply of the southeast.