While enceinte cranberry farms in the northerly U.S. and Canada apply man - made wetlands to get this tart yield on a commercial weighing machine , you might be surprised to learn that , with a little effort , you may grow cranberries on your farm , too .
Choosing Your Cranberry Crop
Because they require a laid number of chill time of day to set yield , cranberries are a perfect fit for nurseryman inUSDA hardiness zona 2 to 5 . They require cold-blooded winters and acidic soil to execute their best .
Begin your cranberry - growing experience by deciding which type of cranberry to spring up :
Cranberries are mellow in vitamin vitamin C and antioxidants and are low - grow , vining shrubs with runners that trail along — or just at a lower place — the soil surface . The flora also make upright arm on which the flowers and yield are produced .
For quicker harvests , go with plants that are 2 to 3 years old if possible . If you ca n’t get flora at your local nursery , several mail - decree nurseries carry them , or you could start raw industrial plant by withdraw cuttings from a neighbor ’s .
Get Planting
Because they ’re aboriginal to naturally boggy region , cranberries do just in soils with depleted pH ( between 4.0 and 5.0 ) and a wad of peat . Contrary to pop feeling , they do not require saturated or afloat dirt . commercial-grade cranberry raiser flood their bogs at harvest time to make mechanical harvest easier ( the Chuck Berry float ) , but cranberry industrial plant begrudge having their roots all concentrated . call up , cranberries are a peat bog plant , not an aquatic one .
To establish a cranberry bed , dig out an area roughly 10 inches deep , off all the grime and setting it away for a next project . Cranberry plants should be placed about 2 to 3 feet asunder , so size the area concord to the telephone number of Bush you ’d like to have .
Once the dirt has been remove , fill the planting layer with 6 inches of peat moss . Add 1/2 cup of acid - specific constitutional granular fertilizer , such asHolly - feel , for each plant life you intend to locate in the bed . merge the plant food into the peat moss . easy wet the peat by set up a sprinkler and stirring up the peat every half minute or so . Peat takes a long time to sop up water , so do n’t race this step .
Once the bed has been fully dampen , rake it smooth and top the entire bed with four inch of very coarse sand . Plant your cranberry plants 2 - 3 foot apart and irrigate them in well .
Keep the areaweededand water when necessary throughout the growing season . Do not keep the soil constantly saturated , but do keep the peat moist .
Do not tot up any additional plant food until the layer has been there for two or three days . Then make yearly plus of an acid - specific constitutive granular fertilizer and test your soil annually to ensure the optimal pH. If the pH involve to be lowered , pelletized sulfur will do the trick .
When To Expect Fruit
After a season or two , the runner will overspread out and root , fill up the layer with plants . Upright fruiting arm will be organise soon after . you could expect to see your first fruits when plants are between 3 and 4 year honest-to-goodness .
cranberry are best harvest late in the time of year but before the first frost . Lingonberries may raise two crops per time of year ; one in the former summer and another in the drop . To check the ripeness , snap assailable a berry and examine the seed . If they ’re brown , the cranberry are ready to harvest . The skin of the berry will also darken as the fruit mature .
Why Cranberries?
cranberry are implausibly hardy and full to semi - evergreen , depending on the kind . They ’re ego - pollinating , but they command bumblebees to stimulate the pollen loose .
Another bonus of raise this easy - attention plant : Unlike other fruit , there ’s no need to prune cranberry plants unless product drops off or the planting seam becomes too thickheaded . If that chance , snub off some of the runners to further more upright fruiting branches .
Cranberry works can dwell for decades , providing the grower with a life of these deliciously tart fruits .
