Bountiful Figs

‘Himrod’ (also known as 'PI 588095', and as 'GVIT 83') (Green grapes)

The fruit:

‘Himrod’ is a seedless grape cultivar that is best eaten fresh, and uncooked, this type of grape is also referred to as 'table grape' or as 'dessert grape'.

‘Himrod’ produces some of the tastiest seedless grapes, it's 'highly productive', yield can be '10-15 pounds' per vine, it produces 'medium to large' 'not tight' and 'fairly long cylindrical' grape bunches, it starts to produce at a young age, for us the 'year after planting' in the ground, yet it might start producing 'two years after planting in the ground'.

‘Himrod’ is said to never have any noticeable seeds, if there are any seeds in any of it's fruit, then they'd be missing the hard outer seed shell, and chances are that you would not even notice anything in the grape.

The grapes of this cultivar have an adherent skin, meaning that the skin does not remove easily.

The round grapes of this cultivar has a sweet 'candy/honey' like flesh, the sweetness vaguely reminds me of 'cotton candy', yet in a 'very natural way', although it's skin is a little on the sour side! It's grapes are almost as sweet as the 'Suffolk Red' cultivar, almost as sweet as the 'Interlaken' cultivar, a tiny bit sweeter than the 'Steuben' cultivar, much sweeter than the 'Lakemont' cultivar, they have an equal balance of 'sugar and acid', the soft very juicy flesh melts in your mouth, the skin is a 'little tough yet tender', fruit is 'firm', yet easily breaks, and skin somewhat easily tares. To me the fruit quality was a '10 out of 10', it has a strong/delicious 'deep flavor', yet 'not complex' in flavor. The 'small to medium' sized grapes are almost identical to 'Interlaken', a little less sweet than the grapes of 'Interlaken', brix can be up to 'nearly 20.0'. It's grapes are slightly larger grapes than 'Interlaken', it's grapes start to ripen about a week after the 'Interlaken' cultivar, about a week before the 'Fredonia' cultivar, about 2 weeks before the 'Lakemont' cultivar, and about a month before the 'Concord' cultivar, if properly stored, grapes will keep 'for months' in a refrigerator.

The grapes are a 'greenish-frosty white', maturing with a 'golden yellow tone', production takes place 'very early season/early season', harvesting takes place starting in 'July', grapes are harvested for '4 weeks'. Grapes store well 'for months'. The first year of cropping here the grapes all ripened in 'Late July', the second year of cropping the grapes started to ripen in Mid July. The ripening time takes about '75 days' from 'bloom to harvest'. In a later starting climate than here in the 'Piedmont, North Carolina' Harvesting might take place sometime 'August-September'.

Berries could be made bigger, and the grape clusters can be made tighter by 'thinning the flower buds'. 'Gibberellic acid treatments', or 'cane girdling' can be used to achieve the same thing. 'Himrod' tends to shed 'individual berries' when picked.

Some of the berries at the very end of the grape bunches may break when handled, they may never ripen, or they may 'rot' at that area of the a grape bunch, often 'rotting' just before harvest, these things are caused by a disorder called 'Bunch Stem Necrosis', a grape cultivar with this disorder, is unusually sensitive to 'nutrient deficiencies' and/or to 'certain weather conditions'! 'Bunch Stem Necrosis' is a poorly understood disorder which causes a 'shriveling of the cluster stem' end, often just before harvest.

You may 'sun dry' these grapes in to excellent 'raisins'. Such 'raisin's' made from this cultivar stores well until 'November or December', yet in a wet climate that would be a lot of work 'with all the moisture and rain'.

This cultivar has been used to make 'wine', yet since it's fruit are so sweet, I'd imagine that they'd have to be picked 'before ripe', or make a 'very sweet wine'.


Best and worst results:

Best fruiting happens in a spot with a 'well draining soil' that stays moist, a spot 'in direct sun' for a full day, a loamy soil with some clay is okay.

Worst fruiting happens in a spot with 'poor air circulation', with 'indirect sun', with 'limited hours' of sun, with 'poorly draining' soil, with soil that is 'not loam', and a spot with loamy sand 'a well draining medium with no nutrients'. These sort of soils cause grape vines to have 'little to no crop'.


PH:

a PH somewhere between '6.0 and 6.5' maintains the highest levels of uptake by the vines of a majority of the essential nutrients. Although any PH between '5.5 - 7.0' would do.


Vegetation:

The vines of this cultivar grows 'vigorously', 'thick', and 'surprisingly fast' in our 'North Carolina climate', in 'upstate New York', as well as in 'NYC', it seems to me like it's a chore pruning them every year, they grow that fast. The smaller you prune a grape vine, the more pruning you'd have to do each year, then again the more 'plants' you have and the more 'vine pieces' that you can root, the less likely that all your plants of one cultivar are to die if something bad happens.

In a wet climate like in the south eastern 'Continental USA', for example in 'North Carolina' grapes can easily catch 'fungal disease' if they are not planted in 'full sun', if they are in a spot with 'limited air movement', and if they are planted in 'poorly draining soil'. This cultivar has an above average 'fungal disease resistance', I have not had to spray them to prevent disease.

It's densely growing broad leaves are 'medium to large', the color of those leaves before autumn are a 'medium dark green', in autumn the leaves turn in to a 'stunning display of rich oranges', 'rich reds', and a 'golden color'. They shed seasonally 'deciduous'.

Bud Break, 'Mid-Season with Concord'.

Height: '5 feet - 20 feet'
Width: '10 feet - 20 feet' on a 'fence', or a 'trellis', or a 'arbor', or a 'terrace', or a 'deck', or a 'wall', or on 'some other support system'.

Growth Habit: 'Semi-Upright'

Suggested vine training system: 'Modified Munson'

Can be trained using 'Cane pruning'.

The first '2 to 3' years the bottom part of the vines need protection from the 'sun' or they will get serious 'sun burn'.


Blooms:

Flower buds form: 'March', 'April', 'May', Mid Spring.

Bloom-time: 'May', Mid Spring.

Bloom Color: 'Green flower buds', open to tiny cream colored 'flower stamens'. Grape flowers do not look like flowers as we know them.

Pollination Requirements: This Grape is 'self-fertile/self-pollinating', so you don't need to 'cross pollinate'.


Disease and other sensitivities:

Sulfur Sensitivity: 'Resists Sulfur'.

'Anthracnose': 'moderately unresistant'
'Black Rot': 'moderately unresistant'
'Powdery Mildew': 'moderately unresistant'
'Angular Leaf Scorch': 'slightly unresistant'
'Botrytis': 'slightly unresistant'
'Crown Gall': 'slightly unresistant'
'Downy Mildew': 'slightly unresistant'
'Eutypa': '?'
'Phomopsis': '?'

Is resistant to 'high heat', and to 'high humidity'.


Cold hardiness:

This cultivar is 'moderately winter hardy'. It's cold hardy down to USDA hardiness 'zone 5b', to 'about -15° F', when the temperature drops down to 'about -22° F' then the plant dies to the ground. USDA Hardiness 'Zone 6a - 10a' is best for production, especially USDA Hardiness 'Zone 7a and up'. This cultivar needs winter protection from the cold when temperatures drop colder than USDA Hardiness 'Zone 7a'.


DNA/breeding information:

Country of origin: USA: New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, NY 14456.

Hybridized by 'Professor John Einset' at 'Cornell University'
Part of a hybridization program that began in '1919', the goal of that program was to create 'seedless grapes', that are 'cold hardy'.
Crossing made in '1928'
Named in '1952'
Released in '1952'
Parents: 'Mother (flower) Ontario x Father (pollen) Sultanina (Thompson Seedless)'
Pseudonym (Tested As) 'New York 15310'