How to grow cranberries in the garden: types, varieties, agricultural technology, propagation. Large-fruited cranberries: their meaning and cultivation characteristics Which cranberries are healthier, large or small

What are the advantages of large-fruited cranberries compared to our marsh cranberries? Firstly, it has unusually large berries - up to 2.5 cm in diameter. The variety of their shapes is also impressive: they can be round, oval, oblong, pear-shaped. The color ranges from light red to dark purple, usually with a waxy coating. Those who see the berries of large-fruited cranberries for the first time will most likely mistake them for the fruits of china, used for our beloved “paradise apples” jam. They are sour in taste, not without a peculiar cranberry flavor, and they crunch under the teeth incomparably with any other fruit. It is important that, compared to marsh cranberries, the fruits of large-fruited cranberries are noticeably richer in many substances vital for humans. The large-fruited cranberry is far ahead of its sister marsh cranberry in terms of yields. But still, dear gardeners, large-fruited cranberries, although, of course, will take their rightful place in Russian gardens, however, if you are carried away by this American, do not forget about our domestic, swamp cranberries.

Swamp and large-fruited cranberries

The swamp cranberry growing in Russia is very winter-hardy and undemanding to living conditions. Well, if the fruits are too small, then do some breeding. Crossing is also promising the best varieties American cranberries with the best domestic ones. And by the way, our scientists also did not sit idle. At the Kostroma Forest OS, its first varieties have already been created and, moreover, they have been studied in comparison with the 16 most common American varieties. The “competition” of two types of cranberries on Russian soil revealed a clear advantage of the domestic one. Varieties of swamp cranberries are more frost-resistant than large-fruited ones and bear fruit more consistently. They are often not inferior to the “Americans” in the size of the fruits, which are also better stored.

Large-fruited cranberry in decorative design

Large-fruited cranberries are also interesting from a decorative point of view. Firstly, it (however, like the swamp) - evergreen. In spring and early summer, when young shoots grow, the plantings turn out to be light green; during flowering (from mid-June to mid-July) they take on the appearance of a soft pink carpet. But a truly unforgettable sight is the large-fruited cranberry in September, when its fruits and leaves turn orange-burgundy.

Large-fruited cranberries under snow cover can withstand frosts down to minus 20º - 30º. But still, in late autumn it is better to cover it with something (in case there is not enough snow), for example, leaves, spruce branches, spunbond. Early spring and late autumn frosts are dangerous for the crop.

Cranberries belong to the lingonberry family, and all berry bushes included in it (lingonberries, blueberries, blueberries) require acidic soils when cultivated in the garden - for cranberries, the optimal pH is 3.5-4.5. A decrease in pH level has little effect on their growth and development, but an increase causes the cessation of growth and death of plants. This is due to the fact that lingonberries lack root hairs that absorb from the soil nutrients, and their function is performed by mycorrhiza (symbiosis of root and fungus), and it works only in an acidic environment. By the way, this is why cranberries grow wild only in acidified sphagnum raised bogs. That's why best soil for cranberries (and other lingonberries) - high-moor sphagnum acidic peat, which also has three more important properties– good aeration, high moisture capacity and absence of seeds weeds(weeds do not grow in swamps). It can be used either in its pure form or with the addition of sand (3:1), 15-20% of the volume of garden soil and up to 30% of leaf litter, or even better, pine litter.

Before flowering

Blooming cranberry

It would seem strange, but cranberry is not a particularly moisture-loving plant, and therefore it cannot be used in lowlands where water stagnates, and when watering, you just need to make sure that the top layer of soil does not dry out. The occurrence of groundwater should not be higher than 30-40 cm.

Large cranberry

Cranberries can be grown on any soil, even heavy and clayey, but for this you need to build beds. Their size and configuration can be very different, up to a square, circle, oval, etc. To do this, after deep digging and removal of rhizomes, remove the top layer of soil (20-25 cm), and the resulting depression is filled with peat (or a mixture made on its basis ), which is carefully compacted and watered. With the addition of other components to peat, its acidity decreases and therefore, when using the mixture, it is advisable to water the prepared bed with acidified water (10 liters of water per 1 m²). For acidification, use citric and oxalic acid - 1 teaspoon per 3 liters of water, acetic or malic acid (9%) - 100 g per 10 liters of water, and even better, electrolyte for acid batteries (diluted sulfuric acid) in an amount of 50-100 ml for 10 liters of water. If there is no high-moor peat, then take any other one, but then sprinkle it with sulfur (40-60 g per 1 m²) to acidify it and mix thoroughly. In the future, any peat and substrate are regularly acidified every two to three years.

If the site is located on peat bogs, then cranberries can be planted without special preparation; it is only important to isolate them from weed rhizomes.

Cranberry in autumn

Cranberries are planted in a moist substrate with seedlings with a clod of earth, in holes 10 cm deep and 8-10 cm wide. The distance between plants is 20-30 cm. The plants are watered and mulched with sand. During the week, make sure that the top layer does not dry out, then water it once or twice a week (1 bucket per 1 m²), in dry weather - every day.

Large-fruited cranberry in winter

In the spring, once every 2-3 years, it is advisable to mulch the planting surface with a layer of sand of 2-3 cm. Due to the light reflected from the sand, the illumination, which is so important for cranberries, increases lower leaves and besides, the soil warms up even better and faster, its water-air regime improves, and the growth of weeds is retarded.

Cranberry is not demanding on soil fertility (after all, it grows in barren swamps), but it responds well to low doses of mineral fertilizers, especially with fractional application - 2-3 times per growing season. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers are especially effective for it, but in order not to cause prolonged growth, they are used only until August. When choosing potassium fertilizers, avoid those containing chlorine: potassium chloride, potassium salt, giving preference to potassium sulfate. There is positive experience of using Kemira-Universal to fertilize it in the spring or early summer, and Kemira-Osenniy in the fall. But manure and compost are ruinous for cranberries, so be careful.

Picking cranberries. Belarus
Photos by T.V. Kurlovich

The selection of varieties of large-fruited cranberries is carried out primarily taking into account the availability of summer heat for ripening in a given area.
In areas where the sum of positive temperatures during the growing season exceeds 2700 degrees, all varieties can be grown, and where their sum is less than 2300 degrees, only early-ripening and, with some risk, mid-ripening varieties are suitable. Early ripening varieties (ripe in early September) include Early Black, Ben Lear, Black Veil, and mid ripening varieties (ripen in mid-September) include Searl, Wilcox, and Franklin.

Irina Sergeevna Isaeva,
Doctor of Agricultural Sciences

Photos from the archive of I.S. Isaeva

In the tundra, forest-tundra and forest belt of the European part of Russia you can find various forms bog cranberry , and small cranberries (Oxycoccus microcarpus).

Both of these species contain the same set of biological active substances and have similar healing properties. However, due to the low yield of the latter, almost no one collects or prepares its small (weighing 0.2-0.3 g) fruits.

However, we will not talk about them, but about large cranberry (Oxycoccusmacrocarpus), in which gardeners have recently shown increased interest. And this is not surprising. The composition of its berries differs slightly from common cranberry : large-fruited is sweeter - it contains more water and less ascorbic acid (up to 40 mg - in 100 g of berries, in marsh - up to 70 mg). It is more productive, and its berries are larger - up to 2.5 cm in diameter. It contains more pectin and carbohydrates.

IN North America Large-fruited cranberries have been cultivated for more than 180 years. By the end of the 20th century, the area of ​​plantations in this country exceeded 15 thousand hectares, and the annual gross berry harvest reached 250 thousand tons. Today, at least 200 of its varieties are known, differing markedly in shape, color and size of the fruit.

This evergreen shrub with thin rising ends or creeping reddish stems more than 1 m long. Its oval or oblong leaves are larger than those of our marsh cranberry. The flowers are dark pink, drooping. The roots are superficial, thin, with mycorrhiza. Prefers acidic, very moist, peaty soils. Loves sunny places or partial shade.

In landscaping, large-fruited cranberry is used as a ground cover plant.

In some areas of the European part of the USSR, they tried to grow it back in the 80s of the last century. However, this experience was unsuccessful. According to experts, the main reasons were “shortcomings in the selection of areas and soil preparation, uncritical transfer of technological and agrotechnical methods for growing cranberries from America to Russian conditions, poor knowledge of the biology and ecology of American varieties, and lack of cultivation experience.”

The fruits of mid- and late-ripening varieties of American cranberries did not have time to ripen before the onset of autumn cold weather; the shoots were often damaged by spring and autumn frosts, as well as winter frosts (during periods of little snow).

Simultaneously with large-fruited ones, wild swamp cranberries were planted on separate plantations. This species turned out to be more frost-resistant, but its fruits were clearly inferior in size to American varieties, and accordingly the yield turned out to be low, which made its cultivation unprofitable.

Behind last years domestic breeders have accumulated some experience in breeding large-fruited cranberries. Therefore, today it can be found not only in the collections of scientific institutions, but also in private plots.

IN early XIX century, an enterprising farmer from Massachusetts named Henry Hall tried to grow cranberries on his plot. Not the swamp one that is well known to us, but the one that grows in North America. This large cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus). As you can easily guess from the name, its berries are larger (up to 20-25 mm in diameter) and resemble cherries in appearance. It is more thermophilic and has vigorous growth. Over the course of a year, creeping shoots grow up to 150 cm, vertical ones - up to 18-20 cm and form a thick green carpet. Large-fruited cranberries bloom at the end of June - after the marsh cranberries bloom. The fruits ripen in September, and in October the plants begin their dormant period.

The attempt to domesticate large-fruited cranberries was a success. Gardeners looked for plants with the largest berries in the swamps, transferred them to their plots, and propagated them. By the middle of the 19th century, the area of ​​plantations in the state was already 1,500 hectares, and more than 130 varieties were bred. In 1936, even a special magazine began to be published in the USA Cranberries- "Cranberry". At the end of the last century, it was grown on 15 thousand hectares, and the yield increased tenfold. Now large cranberries grown in Canada, New Zealand, and European countries.

In Russia, the founder of the Gardening Society, Eduard Regel, was the first to become interested in this plant - a small plantation was created in the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden. In the USSR, they tried to grow the crop in a number of areas, but were not successful, probably due to the incorrect selection of varieties.

Needs abundant and regular watering.

Diseases and pests: brown rot, weevil caterpillars, black-headed fireworm.

Garden large-fruited varieties of cranberries that are grown on private plots or in industrial purposes, differ from wild cranberries growing in nature. The goal of the breeders was not only to obtain varieties that were maximally adapted to indoor (greenhouse) or open conditions cultivation, but also significantly affect the yield, increasing it significantly and improving the taste and size of the berries themselves. I must say that they did it perfectly, and today there are many types of large-fruited cranberries that meet the given parameters.

Popular large-fruited varieties of cranberries in the country

Today we want to introduce you to some of the highest-yielding and large-fruited varieties of cranberries, namely:

• Pilgrim;
• Ben Lear;
• Stevens.

Cranberry Pilgrim

One of the largest varieties: each berry weighs more than 2 g, reaching a diameter of up to 27 mm, a beautiful purple color with a slight gloss and juicy sweet and sour pulp, pleasantly crunchy. The fruits ripen no earlier than October and also differ in shape: the cranberries are not round, but slightly elongated. The bushes themselves are small, maximum 25 cm in height, but very branched and grow quickly.

One adult plant can produce up to 3 kg of berries.

Cranberry Ben Lear

It is also quite a large species: the berry weighs more than 1.5 g, each diameter is 20 mm. It is distinguished by its rounded shape and rich dark color: the cranberries are burgundy, appearing black in the shade. The skin has a matte coating that can be easily wiped off with your finger. The berries taste, as always, sweet and sour, firm, but juicy. The bushes are low, no more than 15 cm, but form many horizontal branches, spreading out in a thick dark green carpet. An early ripening variety - the harvest can be harvested at the end of summer, however, it is stored for a maximum of 2 weeks.

The yield per plant is 1.5 kg.

Cranberry Stevens

The variety can be used as an ornamental crop. The bushes look very beautiful, especially in autumn. At this time, against the background of a reddening leafy carpet, dark red berries with a waxy coating are clearly visible.

In addition, Stevens will also please good harvest: weighs from 1.5 g to 2 g each with a diameter of 24 mm. The pulp is dense, with sourness. Ripening occurs at the end of September. Characteristic feature varieties have vertically growing shoots and high resistance to major crop diseases.

When you mention cranberries, images of coniferous forests and peat bogs immediately arise, where this “northern berry” was born. It is quite possible to grow wild berries in your dacha if you create for it favorable conditions, close to natural. How to grow cranberries on your own garden plot- read below.

An elegant evergreen subshrub, cranberry is a member of the lingonberry family whose generic name comes from the Latin word "Oxycoccus" - pungent, sour and spherical, literally meaning "sour ball".

The composition of the “rejuvenating berry,” as it is called for its antioxidant properties, includes vitamins: A, C, B1, B2, C, K, PP, as well as substances such as thiamine, which is involved in the normalization of the heart, nervous and digestive functions. systems; niacin, which helps lower cholesterol, and riboflavin, which promotes good thyroid function and also helps the formation of red blood cells and antibodies in the blood. It is not for nothing that cranberry juice is considered an excellent energy tonic.

Large-fruited garden cranberries are best adapted for growing in our dachas. Its berries, ranging in size from 15 to 25 mm in diameter, are 3 times larger than swamp cranberries. Varieties of large-fruited cranberries produce horizontal and creeping shoots, depending on the variety, from 50 to 115 cm long, densely covered with small evergreen leaves. In spring, young shoots shoot upward, having a standard erect growth form, and after wintering they descend closer to the ground, thereby forming a dense and very beautiful cover.

cranberry flowers

During flowering, from June to July, cranberries have very beautiful, medium-sized, pale pink flowers. With their shape they resemble the head of a crane on a long neck, perhaps that is why in Ukraine they call it “crane”.

Cranberries begin to bear fruit in the second or third year. The berries ripen closer to autumn and, depending on the variety, can be harvested from September to October. But when picking cranberries early, they need to be allowed to ripen so that they become soft. Of course, the berry will be much tastier after it is “grabbed” by frost right on the bush, but, unfortunately, the vitamin composition may be slightly lost.

The collected cranberries can be frozen, soaked, ground with sugar, or canned. It is advisable to harvest cranberries before frost, since frozen berries can only be stored frozen. Cranberries can be stored for more than six months fresh on a cool balcony, loggia, basement or in an unheated pantry. Cranberries can be stored soaked for about a year, in barrels covered to the top with water.

Varieties - favorites

1 "Cranberry Carpet" - Ben Lear

Ben Lear cranberry grows in the form of a neat ground cover lawn, which rises above the ground to a maximum of 15 cm. The berries are large in size, 18-20 mm in diameter and weighing about 1.7 grams, round in shape. They are deep burgundy in color, almost black in places, and covered with a waxy coating. The pulp is juicy, firm, sweet and sour. The plant is medium-sized, produces many horizontally directed shoots strewn with large dark green leaves. One adult plant produces 1.5-1.6 kg of berries, which begin to ripen by the end of August - beginning of September.

2 "Harvest Record Breaker" - Stevens Cranberry

Stevens is considered the largest-fruited variety. The berries are very large, at least 24 mm in diameter and weighing from 1.5 grams, rounded-oblong in shape, dark red in color with a waxy coating. The pulp is juicy, dense, sweet and sour. The plant is vigorous, develops thick, vertically directed tall shoots. The mature bush produces more than 2.5 kg of berries.

3 “Garden Decoration” - Pilgrim Cranberry

Pilgrim. It is often used not only as a berry crop, but also as a decorative landscape design. The berries are very large, 22-27 mm in diameter and weighing up to 2.1 grams, oblong, not standard for cranberries, shape, purple-red color with a waxy coating. The pulp is juicy, tender and crispy, sweet and sour. The plant is vigorous and low growing. Overgrown bushes form a dense carpet up to 25 cm high. One adult bush, as a rule, produces about 1.6 kg of berries, which ripen only in early October.

Cranberries prefer very acidic, moist, peaty soils, as well as sunny or partial shade. For planting cranberries, you can make a special bed, thus creating suitable conditions.

Building a bed for cranberries:

We dig a trench 20-30 cm deep to the bayonet of a shovel and remove the earth from there. Root system Cranberries are superficial, and this depth will be enough. And the dimensions are determined by your “appetites,” but we can recommend the width of one bed to be 1 meter and 3-4 meters long.

We can immediately install on our “cranberry bed” sides made of boards approximately 30 cm wide. This will help keep water within the bed when watering and protect it from erosion.

If the soil in the area is sandy, it is better to cover the bottom with a thick film; if, on the contrary, it is heavy clay, then deepen the trench another 5 cm and add a layer of drainage.

Then the entire volume of the trench is filled with an acidic, pre-prepared substrate. It can be pure high-moor peat, peat with sand. Or a mixture of brown high peat with sawdust coniferous species or with forest floor of pine forest and compost. In this case, more than half of the mixture should fall on acidic peat, and the remaining 40% will be sawdust and compost in equal parts.

Also, you should immediately add 2 drops of superphosphate per 1 square meter of bed to the substrate.

A day or several hours before planting, moisten the soil abundantly.

Plants are planted in holes according to a 10x15 or 10x10 cm pattern. The denser they are planted, the faster the shoots will completely cover the soil surface and close together. When planting cranberries, the seedlings need to be slightly buried, which will stimulate the formation of new roots on the buried part of the shoot.

Care

Cranberries are 90% water, and this plant loves moisture. However, despite its “swampy” homeland, you should not allow it to stagnate water in the soil. The soil must be kept constantly moist, because... When the cranberry dries out it quickly dies. It is also advisable to place the garden bed near a pond to create high humidity..

Cranberries winter well in the conditions of Ukraine and have such strong immunity to any diseases and pests that they guarantee us an environmentally friendly harvest. And cranberries are planted once and for life, since this berry lives for at least 100 years and does not require replanting or rejuvenation. Only every 3 years, the bed is generously mulched with fresh peat or sand over the entire carpet, 2-3 cm high.

And if you had told me five years ago that this “northern berry” would grow at my dacha, I definitely would not have believed it. But today my “cranberry carpet” has been giving me 2-3 buckets of healthy berries for two years in a row, which I am endlessly happy about, especially during evening tea parties in winter.

Kurlovich T.V.
Candidate of Biology Sciences, State Scientific Institution "Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus"

Large-fruited cranberry: its meaning and cultivation characteristics

Photo 1 – High-quality large-fruited cranberry fruits – a valuable source of vitamins

Large-fruited cranberry is a perennial evergreen shrub 10-15 cm high, having two types of shoots: creeping and erect. Creeping shoots are lashes 1.5-2.0 m long and serve to quickly spread the plant over an area. In addition, from the second year, erect shoots from 5 to 15 cm long grow on them from the axillary buds. Flower buds are located on the erect shoots and the crop is formed. The fruit of the large-fruited cranberry is a juicy, large, dark red berry with a diameter of 1.8-2.2 cm. Thanks to the presence of benzoic acid, the berries remain fresh for a long time.

Photo 2 – Large cranberry berries at full ripening

Growing and care

The ability of cranberries to grow and form a crop in poor living conditions has secured its reputation as a plant with little demand for soil fertility. When grown in cultivation, this plant actively responds to relatively small amounts of fertilizer.

According to American researchers, cranberries need 4 times less nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than corn to form the same biomass of the above-ground part of the plant. However, it is more difficult to control the nutritional process of cranberries compared to other crops. This is due, first of all, to the specifics of the plant itself, which is a perennial evergreen shrub, in which only part of the absorbed mineral substances are carried away with the berry harvest.

The main amount of them is concentrated in the leaves and stems as a necessary reserve for laying and forming the next year's harvest. It is also necessary to take into account agricultural practices that are unusual for other plants, including intensive use of water. Mobile nutrients migrate along with water along the soil profile, and some of them are inevitably lost and go beyond the root zone of plants. In this regard, it is advisable to carry out frequent fertilizing with small doses of fertilizers.

Photo 3 – Fruiting of large-fruited cranberries

Cranberries are planted in the spring (cuttings) or at any time (spring, summer, autumn) as seedlings in containers. Substrates for planting are prepared from sphagnum, high-moor peat with an acidic reaction (pH from 3 to 5) with the addition of coarse sand and sawdust (5:1:1). To prepare the bed, you need to remove the soil to a depth of 20 - 30 cm (the length and width of the bed at the gardener's request) and make something like a dam out of it around the bed. Fill the resulting pit with the prepared substrate, compact it slightly, and water it. On clay soil, the pit depth is no more than 5-10 cm; the bed is made 15-20 cm above the soil surface to ensure the outflow of excess water.

The seedlings are planted according to the 25x25 pattern, the planting is watered and then constantly maintained at high humidity. Manure and compost are not placed under the cranberries, but they are fed annually with small doses of fertilizers: at the end of April with ammonium sulfate (3-4g), double superphosphate (6g) and potassium sulfate (3-4g), at the end of May before flowering - the same amount of sulfate ammonium per 1m2. It is very important to keep cranberry plantings free of weeds. Over the years, plantings become very compacted, and the shoots do not reach the ground where they take root. Then the creeping shoots are partially cut out, and the planting is mulched early in spring or late in autumn with a 1-2 cm layer of coarse sand. Cranberries can grow in one place for several decades. Fruiting of young plantings begins in the third year, and a full harvest in the fourth year. From one square meter You can collect up to five liters of berries.

Healing properties

Among many garden and wild plants fruit and berry plants Cranberry occupies a special place as a medicinal plant. The presence of a complex and rich complex of biologically active substances in its fruits has created its reputation as an extremely important food product and an indispensable therapeutic and prophylactic agent in folk and scientific medicine.

Photo 4 – Collected cranberry fruits

The high biological value of the fruit ensures their effective use for various colds, infectious diseases, for malaria. Cranberry has a beneficial effect in cases of metabolic disorders, vascular spasms and hypertension. It is an effective remedy against scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in food and accompanied by loss of muscle strength, lethargy, fatigue, dizziness, swelling and bleeding gums, loosening and loss of teeth, and other more serious consequences.

Photo 5 – Cranberries have strong antioxidant properties

It is known that both the nutritional and therapeutic and prophylactic benefits of cranberries are due to the content in it of many compounds necessary for humans: sugars, organic acids, phenols, vitamins, triterpenoids, tannins and pectins, and microelements.

Among sugars, the main place is occupied by glucose and fructose; cranberries contain sucrose in smaller quantities. A large set of organic acids: citric, malic, benzoic, ketobutyric, ketoglutaric, quinic, oxalic, succinic, chlorogenic, etc. The presence of the entire complex of organic acids, and especially benzoic, explains the high shelf life of fresh berries during storage, their protection from fungi, bacteria and insects. Food preservation is based on the antibiotic properties of benzoic acid.

Cranberries can play a certain role in a person’s vitamin balance, especially when systematically included in the diet. In addition to vitamin C, berries contain thiamine (vitamin B0, folic acid(B5), riboflavin (B2), pyridoxine (B6), nicotinic acid (vitamin PP). The content of carotenoids in cranberries is low and in this indicator it is significantly inferior to many fruit and vegetable plants - sea buckthorn, mountain ash, apricot, rose hips, spinach, parsley, etc.

In recent years, the value of cranberries has been shown as important source phylloquinone (vitamin K1). Phylloquinone deficiency entails a disruption in the formation of prothrombin in the blood. Based on the content of phylloquinone, cranberries are classified as valuable K-vitamin carriers, not inferior to such studied sources of the vitamin as cabbage, green tomatoes, strawberries, etc.

Photo 6 - High-quality large-fruited cranberry fruits of the Stevens variety

The varietal large-fruited cranberry and the local species - swamp cranberry - are identical in nutritional value and differ only in the quantitative content of individual components included in the biochemical complex. Most varieties of large-fruited cranberries are characterized by a lower total sugar content compared to swamp cranberries. They also contain less organic acids, which can be determined even by taste. A distinctive feature of large-fruited cranberries is the high enrichment of its fruits with pectin compounds.

Large-fruited cranberries are of high value in providing the A-vitamin needs of humans, since most of its varieties contain 1.5-2 times more D-carotene in the fruits than in the berries of wild swamp cranberries.

The consumer qualities and biochemical value of ripe berries change significantly during storage. It is best to store cranberries at low temperatures (2-4°) and high relative humidity (85-90%).

Sometimes cranberries are harvested in the spring, after the snow has melted (snow berry). Although it tastes more pleasant than berries picked in the fall, it is juicy, but it is less fortified (virtually devoid of vitamin C) and biologically less valuable. An important requirement for fruits intended for medicinal purposes is their full maturity (when harvested in the autumn).

Photo 7 – Planting material for large-fruited cranberries with a closed root system