Cranberry Plant - Trees Planting

The cranberry may be a low, creeping, evergreen shrub, almost a vine. it’s a woody stem that runs along the bottom . Stems can grow 6 or 8 feet long. Upright shoots grow from the stems. Berries form at the highest of the shoots from pink flowers.

Cranberry fruit is little and tart. The ripe fruit is crimson .

The high acidity of the cranberry makes it excellent for relishes and jellies. Cranberries will add zest to salads, stuffings, cakes, muffins, pies, and puddings. fruit juice is refreshing and may be utilized in punches and cocktails.

BEST CLIMATE AND SITE FOR GROWING CRANBERRIES

Cranberries grow best in USDA Zones 4 to 7. Cranberries require three months of chilly winter weather at 32°to 45°F to make sure flower set and fruiting in spring.
Plant cranberries fully sun but not during a location that gets too hot; a south-facing location isn’t optimal.
Cranberries thrive in moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil. they’re often grown on sandy or peaty bogland. Cranberries can grow in ordinary acid soil. Planted in ordinary soil use an important peat mulch to guard plants in winter.
Cranberries grow best in acid soil; a soil pH of 4.0 to 5.5 is perfect.
Grow cranberries on a raised bed or during a sunken bed where you’ll control the acidity of the soil and drainage.
Plants don’t tolerate dry soil, but they will withstand flooding in weather.

CRANBERRY POLLINATION

Flowers are self-pollinating; honeybees will increase the dimensions of the crop.

SPACING CRANBERRIES

Cranberries grow to 1 foot high and wide or slightly larger. The stems root where they touch the bottom and still grow larger.
Space cranberries 1 to 2 feet apart.

PLANTING CRANBERRIES

Plant cranberries in autumn where winters are mild. Plant cranberries in spring where winter is cold; plant in any case danger of frost has passed. Avoid planting cranberries in hot, dry weather.
Prepare the planting bed by mixing shovelfuls of acid peat into the soil before planting.
You can make a special bed for cranberries; set an old bathtub or animal watering trough within the ground or line a sunken bed with ceramic tile then fill with acidic potting mix.
Dig a hole half again as deep because the root ball and twice as wide; moisten the opening before planting.
Plant cranberries in order that the soil mark of the nursery pot is level with soil of the new planting hole.
Backfill the opening with half native soil and half aged compost or commercial organic planting mix. Firm within the soil to make certain no air pockets remain round the roots.
Water the new plant in with a high phosphorus liquid starter fertilizer.
Keep the soil evenly moist because the plant begins to grow.
Cranberry planting beds aren’t covered with water; this is often a well-liked misconception.

CONTAINER GROWING CRANBERRIES

Grow cranberries during a container that’s a minimum of 12 to 18 inches deep and wide or wider. Here are two methods:

Fill the container with acidic potting mix and coarse, lime-free grit to enhance drainage; place the pot during a saucer topped off with water therefore the soil never dries out then plant.
Construct a bed of perforated plastic (use pre-formed rectangular plastic pond). Fill the bed with acidic potting mix or low pH soil; cover the surface with a layer of lime-free grit or sand to act as a mulch then plant; established plants will spread to make a mat-like ground cover.

CRANBERRY CARE, NUTRIENTS, AND WATER

Cranberries require tons of water; keep the soil constantly moist. Cranberries root into only the highest 6 inches of soil which must be kept moist.
Cranberries don’t require regular feeding; apply a lime-free, liquid general fertilizer in mid-spring.
A topdressing of grit or sand across the planting bed will help retain moisture and keep down weeds.
Keep the soil weed-free until shoots create a thick mat covering the soil.
Renew the mulch or grit or sand periodically; you’ll also mulch with sawdust.

PRUNING CRANBERRIES

Prune or trim cranberries in spring to stay them bushy; removing runners will keep plants compact and bushy.
Prune cranberries in order that they are doing not become overcrowded. Prune by cutting away a number of the sprawling stems and a few of the upright fruiting stems. Prune in order that the remaining stems have room to grow on.

PROPAGATING CRANBERRIES

Cranberries are commonly propagated by stem cuttings which root readily.
Take cuttings from upright shoots in spring before terminal buds begin to sprout.
Set cuttings on 18-inch centers in peaty soil with an in. of cutting above the bottom .
Where winters are mild, set rooted cutting outdoors in fall or set them call at early spring.

HARVESTING AND STORING CRANBERRIES

Cranberries are ready for harvest once they are fully colored, deep red, usually in autumn. Berries that are pink or white aren’t ripe.
Cranberries are usually harvested by hand or mechanical harvester. Commercial growers flood the sector to hide the plants by 6 to eight inches of water. Berries float to the surface for collection. within the home garden, the planting bed doesn’t got to be flooded.
Ripe berries can stay the bush for a month or two as long as there’s no freezing weather; pick cranberries as you would like them.
Frost will damage the berries so harvest before freezing temperatures.
Berries are too tart to eat raw; add sugar and use in juices, jellies, muffins, and condiment .
Cranberries will confine the refrigerator for 2 to 3 months in an airtight bag or container; they can also be frozen.

CRANBERRY PROBLEMS AND CONTROL

Yellowing leaves may be a sign of chlorosis; it are often lime-induced; leaves yellow at the sides and yellowing spreads between the veins which remain green; apply chelated iron.
Fruitworms bore into fruits, eats the seeds and exit; fruitworms are the larvae of a Sparganothis moth; use pheromone lures to trap moths.
Spotted fireworm is that the larvae of a moth; fireworms eat fruit; control adults with pheromone lures to traps.

CRANBERRY VARIETIES TO GROW

There are quite 100 different cranberry cultivars that grow in North America. Traditional varieties include: ‘Early Blacks’, ‘Howes’, ‘Stevens’, ‘Searles’, ‘Ben Lear’, ‘McFarlain’. Other cultivars include: ‘Crimson Queen’, ‘Mullica Queen’, ‘Demoranville’, Other sorts of cranberry available from the Grygleski family include: ‘GH1’, ‘BG’, ‘Pilgrim King’, ‘Valley King’, ‘Midnight Eight’, ‘Crimson King’, ‘Granite Red’.