Zone 5a, Illinois - Borealis Haskap Survivor, planting tips

"The leaves on the plants developed brown spots and 7 out of 8 have died. This plant survived after spraying it with an anti fungal spray. I could have done a better job gradually exposing the plants to full sunlight. I planted the berries in Miracle Grow potting soil assuming that they would do well in that kind of soil." Doug, IL (late June planting)

(Editor's notes)
Ideal planting time: late fall or early spring, with dormant plants that can go directly into your pots or ground soil, but we have had very good success with later plantings as well (<2% fatality rate for late June planting). When actively growing plants are shipped, they need adequate hardening off, gradually increasing their exposure to direct sunshine over a 5 day period if the sun is strong.

Brown spots on leaves: The leaves may develop some brown spots during shipping. Our state inspector recommended treatment with a copper fungicide available at local hardware stores, but said it wasn't anything to be overly concerned about. Our experience has shown that the overwhelming majority of plants will survive and produce new growth. Also, in windy areas, the undersides of the leaves may be exposed to the sun scorch (brown streaks) but the leaf does not wither and the plant still survives.

Fertlization: The plants have been given good nutrients in the nursery and do not require additional fertilization the first year, though testing needs to be done to determine what fertilization schedule would be optimal. Aged manure is the tried and trusted fertilizer of choice but we are also looking into other ecologically-based options such as the water soluable 2 step program offered by EarthSoils.  Dry fertilizator spread on top of the soil has burned the bark and killed other growers' plants. Applying water soluable fertilizer in excessive amounts will damage the plants as well. Do not apply fertilizer past mid summer so that the plants do not continue to put out new growth, as they need to prepare their roots for dormancy. 

Thank you, Doug, for sharing your experience and fotos. We not only publish success stories but seek to learn from all experiences, so congratulations on being our HoneyberryUSA 2011 Foto Contest Winner! We trust you'll have better success with your replacement plants in the fall!

Bernis, HoneyberryUSA