Eat Berries & More Berries
Posted: Saturday, September 12, 2009
by Dennis Sons
tn nursery
Eat Fresh Home Grown Berries!
Before purchasing or planting a berry plant, it is a good idea to know how many berries each variety will produce and how the berry harvest will be used or given away. It is hard to estimate the amount of berries the family will eat yet it is a good guess to say that the plant will provide more than the average family can consume.
There are several types of berry plants. The first type is the blackberry called the Rubus fruticosus. This plant loves full sun and well-fertilized soil. It needs to be planted in a well-drained soil without the possibility of standing water. To manage the growing plant, it can be trained for a trellis. The average harvest for the plant is one to 2 quarts per healthy plant. The new cultivars produce of 10 pounds or more of berries every year.
The Northern Highbush Blueberry is called Vaccinium corymbosum. It is more of a bush type plant that needs full sun with rich fertilized sandy soil. The plant has an average life of fifty years and can grow up to 10 feet tall. Keep in mind the size of the mature plant when planting the blueberry plant. The aver harvest of the younger plants that are healthy is about 1 to 3 pound with the mature plants producing 8 to 15 pounds per bush.
Red Currants are called Ribes rubrum. They need afternoon shade but should have early morning sun. they grow best in soil consisting of clay with rich fertilizer added. They require regular watering during the growing season as well as when the fruits are beginning to form. Adding mulch over the shallow roots is highly recommended. The mature plans will produce about 3 pounds while other plants in the right conditions produce up to 10 pounds of berries per plant.
Strawberry plants are called Fargaria x ananassa thrives in the full sun. The soil needs to be well cultivated with plenty of fertilizer or a blend of 6-24-24 commercial fertilizer in the early spring. The soil needs to be well drained and water regularly as well as weeded frequently. The plants are best grown in rows. They produce about -1 pound per foot in the second year of growth. The third year of the plant's life is when new plants should be planted to replace the aging strawberry. Strawberry plants produce runners every year and the runners need to be inserted into the ground so they become the new plants the following year. Depending on the growing conditions, the plants will produce about 10 to 15 pounds of berries every year.
Each berry plant needs special sun exposure and water requirements. Make sure to observe each plant based on the species for optimal harvest and plant life. Use mulch for the berry plant to reduce weeds and keep the plant moist. As the plants grow, make sure to prune and train the plants to encourage new growth. The pruning rejuvenates the older plants for a longer life and keeps the keeps the plants from growing out of control.
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