Zone 5b - Maine - Borealis and Tundra Haskap Blossoms

2 year old Borealis

2 year old Tundra

They did well their first year with most more than doubling in size, and by the beginning of winter I was super psyched for this spring and the possible berries it would bring. Well they didn't disappoint as the plants have not just already doubled in size again (in just 3-4 weeks) but they are loaded with little berries with plenty more flowers out and forming. Brian, coastal Maine

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

Tracking haskap in the USA

Where are haskap being grown in the USA? We are especially interesting in tracking plants from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. But any comments on Edible Blue Honeysuckle are welcome! Honeyberry, as it is known in the USA, zhimolost in Russia - we'd like to hear from you! Let us know in the comment section your state, or province or country, the variety, and how your plants are doing (age, productivity, etc).

We will start off by saying that in September of 2010, we planted 115 Tundra and Borealis haskap from Saskatchewan, Canada, along with 11 of their recommended pollinizer honeyberry, Berry Blue, from Oregon. Shrubs were also sent to North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Oregon. 25 other Minnesotans received plants from us so it should be interesting to see how they all do in 2011!

For more information, and if you wonder how this all got started, click here.