The newly released University of Georgia ‘Paulk’ muscadine offers reliable yields for growers and bigger fruit for consumers.
Released by UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences plant breeder Patrick Conner, ‘Paulk’ produces significantly larger grapes than typical muscadine varieties. ‘Paulk’ is also self-fertile, meaning that it doesn’t require a pollinator plant to produce fruit. In the past, only female muscadine cultivars could produce large fruit, and they needed the help of a pollinator plant to do so.
“In the past, if the grower wanted a very large muscadine, one that’s about 15 grams or so, they had to plant the female cultivars. The primary cultivar that they would choose was ‘Supreme,’” Conner said. “With ‘Paulk,’ this is the first time that we’ve seen self-fertile flowers in combination with fruit that is very large, 15-gram size.”
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