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Mortensen had very interesting beginnings before it was named Mortensen. It is the best bunch grape to grow for great taste and large fruit in Southern US, including Houston, Mississippi and Florida. Read our " more info " section for the story. Mortensen grows where California type or New York type grapes die quickly from Pierce's Disease, usually surviving only a few years. The fruit is large, tasty and sweet (3/4" diameter, 4 grams per berry) with only two seeds. Has proven hardy and delicious at our nursery in Virginia. Needs sprays to control Black rot or bagging the grape clusters with wax bags to control the black rot. Zone 7-10.

Mortensen Hardy Bunch Grapes
In our area, it is very hard to grow the well know seedless bunch grapes ( the European species viniferous) found abundantly in our supermarkets. Red Flame, Thompson seedless and the famous wine grapes all die quickly. This is because the hot and humid south hosts a number of diseases that attack and kill them. The worst two of these are anthracnose and Pierce's Disease (PD).

In Houston, a bunch grape variety usually dies before it fruits. Sometimes, it has one or two good years before it dies. At best, we grow bunch grapes like short-lived perennials by taking cuttings and replanting frequently.

One answer to this is to grow improved versions of native, disease resistant southern grapes: either the hybrid "Scuppernog" type muscadines or the Munson hybrid Texas grapes. There are dozens of delicious varieties (such as Fry) with very large berries ripening one by one, a few seeds, thick skins, and flavors that make market grapes seem tasteless by comparison.
But they don't exactly replace the thin-skinned, seedless bunch grapes, in part because the muscadines ripen in August and September while the bunch grapes ripen in June and July. So for a century, Deep South researchers, vineyard owners, farmers and hobbyists have been trying to find a bunch grape that survives and is good for table or wine.

One such effort may finally have produced results. In 1986, Professor John A. Mortensen of the Central Florida Research and Education Center at Leesburg, Florida sent Leon Atlas, MD, of Houston a large number of cuttings of experimental bunch grape crosses he had created in an effort to produce a good, disease hardy, table bunch grape for Florida. Dr. Atlas shared some of these cuttings with me, Ethan Natelson, MD. And others. Atlas, Natelson, and I grew these numbered experimental varieties. Of the number ones, BD 12-49 is still growing well at all three sites 12 years later, and E 1863 is still alive at Ethan's. They are golden green grapes.

According to Dr. Mortensen's records, Florida BD 12-49 is a large-berried, light green selection with resistance to PD and good fresh fruit quality, though seeded. It is a cross of a PD resistant FL E9-48 (created by Dr Mortensen from crossing Leesburg varieties Norris and Blue Lake) times a PD susceptible Arkansas 1105 (created by J.N. More at the University of Arkansas Clarksville from Lakemont and Dr. Robert Dunstan's Carolina Blackrose).

On its own roots, my BD 12-49 is extremely vigorous. It often sends out 10 ft or more of growth and when I have been careless it has climbed trees. In my experience, it is highly disease resistant, gets an occasional touch of anthracnose on a few leaves, but has no dieback - ever. It is tasty and sweet, and is large sized (3/4", 4 grams per berry, 7 grapes per oz.), with only two seeds.

About two years ago, when my last E 1863 died, George McAfee and I began an effort to compare the survivor BD 12-49 with other bunch grapes in the area. I asked various fruit growers what the thought. So far, the few who have seen it, tasted it or grown it have been impressed. And I haven't found any other disease hardy bunch grape near it in quality or vigor.

But I wasn't prepared for what happened as a result of this effort. This summer, Dr. Natelson declared that is BD 12-49 was significantly smaller in berry size, was less tasty, and had a somewhat different shape than my BD 1249. Naturally, I suspected a labeling mishap, so in an effort to clear up the mystery, I wrote Dr. Mortense. He replied that:

1) BD 12-49 was one of his better selections for fresh fruit. It was never released, but a grower strongly recommended it for back yard planting.

2) It was never released or patented because it is susceptible to parasitic nematodes in sandy soils. Nematode resistant rootstocks make a leaf and stem anthracnose problem much worse.

3) Because the Randall BD 12-29 grape has a 4 gram, 3/4" berry, it is not any of the varieties Professor Mortensen sent Dr. Atlas. Mortensen suspects that it is a Houston originating metalloid bud mutation of BD 12-49 with 76 chromosomes instead of the usual 38. It is not, therefore, the original BD 12-49.

The next step is obviously to test the grape more widely. It is already at Harris and Ft. Bend County Extensions, and at the Old Sixth ward Teaching Garden.

It may be that, like its parent, this grape will do poorly in sandy soil. And of course, when grown more widely, it may not survive the disease tests. Nevertheless, it is very promising. Since it isn't BD 12-49 it needs a new name. With Dr. Mortensen's consent, I am calling it Mortensen Hardy in honor of the man who did 99% of the work to develop it. Let's hope it really is hardy.

"Mortensen Hardy Bunch Grapes" This article by Bob Randall, Ph.D. #17 spring 1998.

Plant Characteristics
Pest Resistance	Good
Disease Resistance	Fair
Drought Tolerance	Very Good
Heat Tolerance	Very Good
Humidity Tolerance	Fair
Sun Tolerance	Very Good
Wet Soil Tolerance	Poor
Shade Tolerance	Fair
No Spray	Fair
Salt Tolerance	Fair
Fun for Kids	Very Good
Deer Resistance	Poor
Thorns	No
Plant Type	Vine
Soil Type	Adaptable
Edible Type	Fruit
Self Fertile	Yes
this information is accurate to the best of our knowledge, comments/opinions are always welcome

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The small home owner may not have room for grapes in his garden or even have a fence to grow them on. Planning to use them as part of the overall landscape picture is the answer. Grapes are so beautiful, so highly decorative, so exceedingly graceful in or out of fruit that they look well anywhere.

For humid areas such as ours air circulation is important to minimize black rot. Black rot is a fungus that is naturally occurring in our environment. It looks like a brown freckle on a leaf. It spreads by rainfall hitting the leaf and the spores on the brown area are released by the splashing rain and land on another place on the leaf or developing grapes. An infected fruit will finally shrivel up like a hard raisin becoming unusable. Growing a grape on a high wire (6') will keep the plant off the ground and let air circulate under and around the plant. Grapes naturally grow up trees, where the air is less likely to have mildew etc. So keep them off the ground. The Munson system is often used in home plantings. It is particularly suitable for humid climates, because the fruit is produced high above the ground where it is less subject to injury by diseases.

Pruning
Grapevines require drastic annual pruning, undertaken in late winter or early spring. The many pruning systems can not be described here, but essentially they boil down to two: cane pruning and
spur pruning. The point to remember is that grapes are borne exclusively on "one-year wood," the woody canes which were the green shoots of the previous season. The wood of some varieties yields most heavily from the 3 or 4 buds closest to the trunk; so these are pruned by cutting back several canes to "spurs" of 3 or 4 buds and trimming off everything else. The spurs yield sufficient crop. The canes of other varieties bear best from the 4th to the 10th buds, counting out
from the trunk; so these are pruned by cutting back several canes to leave 8 to 10 buds each according to the vigor of the vine and counting from the trunk, then trimming off everything else and tying these & "bearing canes"; to the trellis. In cane pruning, 2 short spurs are also left well placed near the head of the vine, not for crop but to provide well placed & "one year wood" for the following year.How many buds to leave on mature varieties. Amount left can vary with vigor of vine.<a this. like look may Concord A pruned. this Blanc Villard>

Canopy Management
Tipping vine growth in June for bunch grapes is good culture. Remember to retain 15 or more leaves per shoot in doing any hedging. At fruit set or shortly hereafter, selectively removing 1 or 2 leaves in the fruit zone is an excellent means of assisting with disease control, especially for botrytis bunch rot and powery mildew. Clusters and berries that freely develop without contct with other objects tend to be freer of fruit rots and exhibit more uniform berry ripening than do clusters that are contacting trellis or grapevine parts.

Planting
Plant in good soil, average in nutrients. Keep out weeds and grass. Grapes have extended surface roots and suffer from competition with grass and weeds. Keep well watered. After growth begins
pinch back growth except the growth you've chosen to be the future trunk. Setting a vertical stake for the grape to grow up the first year will help it reach the horizontal wire of the trellis. MUSCADINES: (Vitis rotundifolis) are native to southeastern United States. They do well under high temperature and humidity found in that area. The Muscadine sometimes is called the Scuppernong, and many know it by that name. It is more resistant than most to drought conditions and also to disease. Under favorable conditions the vines are very long-lived, but they are not hardy in the northern United States because of the low temperature conditions which prevail in that area. 0* is at it's lowest temperature.


Pruning Muscadines
The Muscadine has a boundless enthusiasm for growth, and you must restrain it or you will soon have jungle of vines. Therefore just as soon as you can, establish a main trunk for the vine. Tie this to the post and cut it off when it reaches the top. The trunk then may be allowed to develop about eight arms near the top. These should radiate outward like the spokes of a wagon wheel. To support them properly, wires should be stretched between the posts, thus forming a canopy. The main arms of the Muscadines do not produce fruiting shoots. One-year-old canes growing from these arms are pruned back to provide fruiting shoots. To prune properly, cut back the pevious season's side growth, allowing about six buds to remain on the canes. Each year for best results, cut out one of the main arms. Then select a shoot near the top of the trunk to replace it. If this is done faithfully you will renew all of the arms every eight years. If you don't do this, the old arms in time will become so heavily spurred that their fruiting vigor will be reduced.

We've chosen the most disease resistant varieties we know of for less care landscaping. If however you have a problem and are not getting good results, bag the grape. A waxed white paper sac, stapled over the stem with the growing cluster inside, keeps insects and disease out.
Wax Paper Bags It is easier to pick 25 of the best bunches on a mature vine and bag them than it is spraying a fungicide before it rains. The Japanese rely on bagging for most of their fruit. Taking off all other bunches and choosing only 25 will also enhance the size and flavor of those 25 bunches. Apply the bags when the grapes are pea size. It can even be done at fruit set. The villard Blanc grape pictured in our catalog was taken after we removed the bag from the bunch.