Anyone grow cranberries at home?

[Papuli]

I'm actually looking to interview someone about this, but also, any tips or expertise to share on growing cranberries non-commercially?

[skier]

I spent some time trying to find some varieties of cranberry that grow in Vermont and didn't have much luck. do you have any idea where to find plants to grow?

[gimlis1mum]

The ones I bought last year were from Fedco, who has growers in Maine. Forget where I got the others, probably Stark Bros...?

[earthygoat]

Cranberries thrive in moist and acidic peat bogs. It's almost impossible to replicate those conditions at home.

[coll]

Yeah, I thought they had to grow in actual water? The wild ones around here you have to wade out to pick.

[Papuli]

They actually grow on shrubs, too. Though they take much longer and have a much lower yield.

[coll]

Good to know, maybe next time I won't need my wading boots....hoping to come across some beach plums in the general vicinity too!

[earthygoat]

I think you may be referring to the "high bush cranberry", which isn't a true cranberry and a different species altogether. I've never tried high bush cranberries, but supposedly the North American variety is tasty and the European kind is bitter.

[OCEllen]

They absolutely need acid soil to produce.

[gimlis1mum]

Wish I had some tips for you, my cranberries have not done very well.

[sr44]

Because?...

[gimlis1mum]

I don't really know why. I put a couple plants in on one side of the house, that were lost when we re-did the driveway. But, they weren't really thriving - they didn't get very big after 3 years and I only ever harvested a handful of cranberries.

I put 10 more (very small) plants into my new side garden on the opposite die of the house last spring and they didn't grow very much this year - in contrast to pretty much everything else, which grew like gangbusters. (We put a foot of compost down as the top layer in a retaining wall rebuild project).

So different sides of the house, somewhat different amounts of sun (more in the new garden than next to the old driveway), and different soils (low-pH New England loam vs. rich compost). I did spread a little sand around the plants in the new garden, hoping that would encourage them, but last fall's hurricane washed most of it away.

It might be a case of misplaced expectations - I'd thought that cranberries would make a nice ground cover in my fruit & edibles garden. But the grow habit is kind of long & spindly; maybe they just grow that way are are slower to fill in than I'd hoped.