No Need to Trim Vine “Beard”

Q: When pruning a scuppernong or muscadine vine, is it OK to cut off the “beards?” They look like potential roots, but they hang from up high instead of growing near the base. 

A: The “beard,” as you call it, is a mass of aerial adventitious roots. Instead of coming out of a stem or root, like normal roots do, adventitious roots emerge from bark tissue or leaves. I have seen the phenomenon on willow trees, boxwood shrubs and tomatoes. They are not thought to harm a grapevine, but they may be an indicator of a stressor, like waterlogged soil.

In my experience, the most common cause of aerial adventitious root formation on grapevines is cold injury. In the season after a severe winter, adventitious roots come cascading from grape bark cracks. Other than correcting obvious sources of stress, you are not called to do anything about the “beard” now.