Planting Cranberries

Home >> Home & Garden >> Planting Cranberries

Planting Cranberries

The Cranberry of commerce(Vaccinium macrorarpon) is a small evergreenplant native to eastern and northeastern NorthAmerica, creeping over the ground with rootingrunners about 3 ft. long and bearing uprightbranches about 6 in. tall on which the fruits areborne in the fall. Cranberries are producedcommercially in Mass., Wisc., N.J., Wash. andOre. with present annual estimates for the statesin the above order of 573,000 barrels, 400,000barrels, 159,000 barrels, 66,000 barrels, and139,000 barrels, for a total U.S. crop of1,337,000 barrels. A barrel of cranberries weighsabout too lbs.

It has been estimated that 25% of the crop issold as fresh fruit, and there is a tendency forthis to show a slow but rather steady decline,year by year. About 25% of the crop is usedin making cranberry juice cocktail and thismarket is steadily and almost rapidly increasing.The remaining 5o% of the crop is sold asstrained and whole-berry sauces, cranberry-orange relish and various other products. It isof interest to know that one of the large grower-owned Massachusetts cooperative-selling organ-izations handled 85% of the U.S. crop in 1964with gross sales of $45,000,000.

This huge industry is centered on the smallfarms on and near Cape Cod. It is here thatsoil and water conditions, combined with justthe right climate, are ideal for cranberry produc-tion. The home gardener does not customarilymake his own cranberry bog so a quick descrip-tion here of the methods used for producingcranberries commercially will be sufficient.

The cranberry planting must be in a bog orsimilar area where there is plenty of acid water,and arrangements must be made so that the bogcan be flooded with this water at an31 time. Thisusually means there must be facilities forstoring large amounts of water at a higher levelthan the bog or that there is a stream with amplewater of the right kind and it can be pumped toflood the bog. Flooding is necessary for thegood growth of the plants, to aid in insectcontrol, and to aid in frost protection as well asto keep the plants from being injured by wintercold. The soil must be acid, preferably of a pHof 4.5-5.0. If one looks around carefully near acranberry bog one will find growing naturallyon cranberry soils such plants as Kabniaangustifolia, Chamaedaphne calyculata, Acerrubrum, Chamaecyparis thyoides, Sphagnum

Moss and wild cranberries themselves.

Since accurate flooding of the bog is essential,it should be on flat land, with all the miscellane-ous weed plants removed. It is also necessaryto have facilities for draining the bog ratherpromptly, for if it is flooded when the plantsare growing, the water should not be allowedto remain on the plants for more than 24 hours.This then necessitates a series of drains andditches and a low spot where the water can runoff at the proper time.

In preparing the soil, the final operation is toapply 3-4 in. of sand over the entire bog area,for it is in this that the new cuttings are stuck.The sand acts as a mulch and reduces waterloss from the soil, aids in restraining weedgrowth and in the early spring and fall whendanger from frost is imminent, it gives off someheat at night and so aids somewhat in frostprotection. It should have a pH of 4.5.

Cuttings are taken just before growth startsin the spring. In order to do this a well-grownstand is mowed or cut with a scythe and theclippings stuck in the soil at fo-in. intervalseach way, usually 2-3 per hill. Some growersmerely broadcast the clippings and disc themin but this takes a great deal more cuttings thanis normally necessary. Setting out cuttings isdone in late April, May or June but usuallyMay is best.

After planting, the bog is flooded for a dayor two so that the water will firm the cuttings inplace, then drained and of course weeded forthe remainder of the summer. Normally theplanting will bear its first crop the 4th year.After picking, the longest upright branches arecut back and a covering of sand about s in.deep is placed over the field to aid in the rootsbecoming well established. Then the bog isflooded to just above the tops of the plants forthe winter. Flooding is usually done in Mass.,about Dec. i or whenever the sand remainsfrozen all day, and the bog is drained inMay.

Flooding the bog is sometimes necessary inlate spring after growth has started to preventthe young buds from being killed by late frosts.Usually a partial flooding only is necessary, forthe water will give of a certain amount of heatat night. It is obvious to see then why quickflooding and draining are necessary. Floodingis sometimes used as a means of controllinginsect pests and in the early fall is also neededto protect a crop from freezing. Picking usuallystarts in Mass., on Labor Day and continuesuntil around Oct. 20.

The bog is resanded at intervals every 3-4yrs., applying anywhere from 4-1. in. of sanddepending on circumstances.

It is these twovarieties that make up 9:3% of the acreage inMass. 'MeFarlin' is the chief variety on thePacific Coast, and in Wisc. 'MeFarlirt', 'Bennett'and `Searr are the most important. Of course,there are other varieties being introduced andtried, but these arc the ones most used at present.It is also important that only one variety beplanted to a bog where flooding is done all atone time, for varietal differences in growth,ripening periods and disease resistance arc suchthat more than this is impractical.

Picking the berries is usually done with scoopsby hand or sometimes by machine. The berriesare collected in boxes and taken to the cannerieswhere the chaff is blown out and the aoodberries sorted from the bad. At present, most ofthe "fresh" crop is sold and used by Christmas.The business is one that has been growing inrecent years, since more and more uses forcranberries and their products are beingstrenuously advertised by the large growers'cooperatives.

Cranberry growing is a commercial operationrequiring specific equipment and expert knowl-edge and not a home garden activity. Expertadvice from local authorities on pest control isadvised.

Insect Pests

Cranberry fruit worm which cats the berriesand black-headed or other fire worms whichkill leaves and flowers are among the mostdestructive. Span worms and gypsy moth whicheat the leaves and girdler which destroys thestems are locally important. Blunt-nosed leafhopper, the vector of false blossom disease mustbe controlled. Flooding and intensive use ofinsecticides are the recognized control treat-ments.

Diseases

False blossom disease is most destructive inmany areas. Several berry rots are potentiallydestructive pest

Other Gardening Articles:

Home :: Contact Us :: About Us :: Privacy Policy :: Terms of Use :: Site Map