Growing Cranberries In Suburban And Garden Plots

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Growing and using cranberries

There are two types of cranberries growing in Europe - marsh cranberries and small-fruited. The third type - large-fruited cranberry - grows in North America. In nature, there is a wide variety of forms of marsh cranberry - common. It has local names - crane, snowdrop, zhuravina.

Cranberry is an evergreen dwarf shrub from the Lingonberry family with creeping, creeping thin stems, with a brownish bark. The leaves are small, non-falling, leathery, folded back. From below they are covered with a waxy coating.

Cranberry flowers are small, pinkish-red, single or collected in inflorescences of 2-6 on long, thin pedicels, drooping. It blooms in June-July. The fruits ripen in late autumn. They are bright red, juicy, sour, spherical, rounded, oblong or pear-shaped.

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In our country, cranberries are widespread in the middle and northern regions of the European part of the country, in Siberia and the Far East. It grows in abundance in wet peat bogs. In the north, it reaches the Arctic Circle.

Cranberries are widely used in everyday life. It has the unique ability to keep fresh until the next harvest. It has antimicrobial properties due to the strong antiseptics contained in it - benzoic and chlorogenic acids. Therefore, cranberry drink is beneficial for fever, as well as for diseases of the kidneys, urinary tract and bladder. Cranberry juice with honey helps with sore throats and colds, soothes coughs. Cranberries also contain ursular acid, which has an anti-inflammatory effect to promote wound healing. Cranberries increase the strength of the blood capillary walls.

Cranberries are harvested in autumn and spring after the snow melts. You can collect it in September not quite ripe, since it matures during storage. You can also pick it in late autumn, when the swamps are frozen and the berries are slightly frozen. Snowy cranberries, harvested in spring, are sweeter and tastier, but they contain less vitamin C. Due to the high content of benzoic acid, cranberries remain fresh throughout the year.

Unwashed and undamaged cranberries can be kept on the balcony or in the cellar until spring. While it's not cold, they put it in water, and with the onset of frost, the water is drained, the berry is frozen. When stored this way, cranberries retain their flavor and nutrients - glucose, fructose and minerals.

The introduction of cranberries into culture

In connection with the reduction of natural resources of bog cranberry, much attention has recently been paid to its introduction into culture. In Russia, work on the creation of varieties of marsh cranberries, various in shape and size, began relatively recently. Employees of the Karelian branch of the Academy of Sciences found in nature forms of marsh cranberries with a mass of 2.6-3.3 g, which are not inferior in size to large-fruited cranberries. They have identified seven very promising forms.

According to the Novosibirsk Botanical Gardens of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, plants with a double number of chromosomes and large berries are found in nature. Several varieties of large-fruited marsh cranberries have also been produced in Estonia.

Planting cranberries

Marsh cranberries, like large-fruited, are propagated by cuttings, which are taken from plants in early spring or late autumn. Cuttings 15-20 cm long are planted directly into the prepared soil to a depth of 12-13 cm, three pieces per hole or in greenhouses with a mixture of peat and sand. Fruiting usually occurs in the second or third year after planting. Cuttings are taken from plants with large berries and good shoot growth. It is advisable to mulch cranberries with a layer of sphagnum moss 2-3 cm. This contributes to its better rooting and preservation of soil moisture. In autumn, the topsoil is covered with river sand by 5-10 cm. In the spring, it protects it from temperature fluctuations, when the soil from above freezes at night and thaws during the day, which adversely affects the rooting of cranberries. The light layer of sand reflects the hot rays of the sun, preventing the soil from overheating. Moreover,it is easier to control weeds. Marsh cranberries can also be grown on peat. Some gardeners claim that it grows in culture and in poor, light, moist soils.

Studies by Karelian scientists have shown that cranberries succeed best at a groundwater level at a depth of 30-40 cm. With sufficient and regular watering, it develops successfully even at a groundwater level of 50-100 cm. In household plots, it is desirable to maintain peat moisture within 50- 60% of the total moisture content of peat.

Cranberries begin to bear fruit in the second or third year after planting. Cranberry during flowering in late May - early June and during the fruiting period creates a wonderful decorative carpet. Therefore, it makes sense to create it not only because of the berries. Cranberry meadows look great in humid places covered with natural moss or decoratively laid.

Marsh cranberries are winter hardy, but with late spring frosts, cranberry flowers sometimes freeze. The berries ripen in late August - early September. Fruit diameter ranges from 0.5 to 1.8 cm with a weight of 0.5-1.9 g.

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American large cranberry

Since 1812, the USA has accumulated extensive experience in the cultivation of large-fruited cranberries. There are plantations that have been bearing fruit for 170 years. I managed to get acquainted with the experience of growing large-fruited cranberries in Wisconsin. The vegetative period there is about a month longer than in the Leningrad region with the sum of positive temperatures above 10 degrees equal to 2500-3500 degrees. In the Leningrad region, this figure does not exceed 2000 degrees. When preparing a site for cranberry plantations, sand is placed in a layer of up to 7 cm, and after three years, sanding is repeated. In Russia, the site is also covered with sand with a layer of 3-5 cm.

Compared to the marsh, the North American large-fruited cranberry is distinguished by a more powerful development of shrubs. Its vegetative creeping shoots reach 50-115 cm in length. While in the swamp they do not exceed 20 cm.

In the Leningrad region, large-fruited cranberries bloom in the second half of June - in July, that is, after the end of spring frosts. The diameter of the berries is 1.5-2 cm. Extensive research and experiments on growing large-fruited cranberries in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Moscow have yielded positive results. Negative results on the cultivation of this cranberry were obtained in Estonia due to the low sum of positive temperatures. Nevertheless, Russian scientists have concluded that growing large-fruited cranberries on personal plots is quite justified and deserves attention, but under cover.

In our conditions, in this cranberry, during spring frosts, horizontal vegetative shoots freeze to some extent. At the same time, part of the leaves falls off, but they quickly recover. Flower buds are satisfactorily preserved. E. Regel, the founder of the Russian Society of Gardeners, brought large-fruited cranberries to Russia in 1871. He proved that the new berry plant is suitable for cultivation in our climatic conditions.

Currently, gardeners in the world have about 200 varieties of large-fruited cranberries, differing in the density of berries on the stem, bush height, stem length, berry size, etc.

Create a cranberry

To create a cranberry plant, prepare a special bed - a 150 cm wide trench with a 50-55 cm bedding layer of peat. At the bottom, arrange a 5 cm drainage layer. In sandy soil, cover the bottom with plastic wrap. Fill the trench completely with high-moor peat, moisten it abundantly. Reinforce the edges of the trench with boards that protrude 5-7 cm above it to prevent the heavier and more alkaline soil from slipping during rain.

Good results are obtained by mulching the soil. Plant marsh cranberries in a prepared trench in three rows with a distance of 15-20 cm between holes, and large-fruited in two rows with a distance of 20-30 cm. Plant 2-3 cuttings 5-7 cm long in one hole. Erect shoots take root more easily than creeping ones. Harvest the cuttings during the period of intensive plant growth. Leave one leaf when planting above the ground. When caring for plantings, abundant watering is required, which keeps the substrate constantly moist.

The Institute of Botany of the Latvian Academy of Sciences recommends during the intensive growth of cranberries - at the end of May - June to fertilize the plantings with nitrogen / (3 g), phosphorus (5 g) and potassium (8 g) per 1 square meter of the garden or with a complex mineral fertilizer with trace elements. Cranberries do not tolerate excess fertilization, so fertilize carefully. Do not use chlorine fertilizer. Apply all fertilizers in several steps.

Cranberries are heavily weed-affected. The main way to deal with them is by hand weeding. This work can be facilitated if the area is mulched with a 2-3 cm layer of peat.

Large-fruited cranberry disease - gordoniosis. It causes softening, wateriness and yellowing of the berries. To prevent the disease, a month before the berries ripen, treat the plantings with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.

Using cranberries

Cranberries are used fresh and frozen for the preparation of juice, fruit drink, kvass, jelly, preserves, jam, marshmallows. In the confectionery industry, it is used to make sweets. Good wines, liqueurs and liqueurs are made from cranberries. Here are some recipes for home cooking.

Cranberry juice

Put 200 g of sugar in one liter of squeezed juice, put on fire, bring to a boil, pour into boiled bottles. After cooling, seal with boiled plugs. Freeze the remaining cranberry mass again and use if necessary.

Cranberry jam with apples

Wash the apples, peel and seed nest, cut into slices, blanch in boiling water for 8-10 minutes until softened. Mix with cranberries and cook until tender. Add a little vanilla, cinnamon, or cloves for aroma at the end of cooking if needed.

For 1 kg of apples and berries, take 1.5 kg of sugar.

Cranberry drink

Blanch 1 kg of cranberries in boiling water for two minutes. Mash the berries. Add 2.5-3 liters of water cooled to 60 degrees after blanching and 200-300 g of sugar. Mix the mixture thoroughly and incubate for 6-8 hours. Filter through two layers of cheesecloth. Pour into bottles and cork them.