As I was pouring a bowl of cereal for myself this morning, I sprinkled a few dried cranberries on there and thought to myself, “I wonder if we can grow those in our yard?”

At first the answer seemed to be a resounding “NO” because we don’t have a marsh in our backyard. Cranberries grown on a large scale actually are flooded during the winter months to protect the vines. But then I found a quick little article from Cranberry Creations which says that mulching the plants with pine needles or leaves in late November will actually do the trick. And the planting season is April 15th – May 31st or in the fall which is just perfect for us.

How many cranberries each plant would produce I’m not sure. I also don’t know if we can get them here although I would imagine they should to rather well since they typically grow them in Maine, Canada and other colder regions. I don’t really need tons of them but they are very expensive here and it would be nice to have our own to dry or to use over the holidays in relish and such.

Another fantastic article from Grow Your Own Magazine even encourages container growing of cranberries!

Growing cranberries at home.
If the garden soil is acidic and azaleas, rhododendrons and heathers thrive, cranberries can be planted to act as ground cover in the shrub border, especially if there is a bank or wall for them to cascade over and show off their mass of dainty flowers and glossy red berries. Alternatively, they can be grown among blueberry bushes in the fruit cage, either in the soil, if suitable, or planted around the blueberry plants in their tubs, although cranberries do not appeal to birds so they don’t need the benefit of netting. If the garden soil is not sufficiently acidic (pH 6.2 or below) cranberries can be grown in containers of all shapes and sizes; troughs, tubs, pots, even hanging baskets. Of course, the more restricted the root system, the shorter the life of the plants but the beauty of cranberries is they are incredibly easy to propagate so it is very easy to replace them at home.

If you are planting them in the garden, incorporate some peat and/or pine bark chippings into the existing soil to provide suitable organic matter for the roots to grow into. (Never use manure or any animal-based fertiliser on blueberries or cranberries as the roots are easily killed by chemical scorching from such strong solutions). Plant the cranberries 30cm (12in) apart and they will fill the space between them in a couple of years.

Container cranberries If you want to grow them in a tub, use ericaceous compost. Any compost will have enough nutrients in it to last the cranberries all summer. If you don’t like using peat, try organic soil conditioning bark, which is quite finely milled and reasonably rotted. Choose a shallow container, if possible, as cranberry roots rarely grow more than 10cm (4in) into the soil unless they have a real need to send down longer roots in search of water. Two-year-old plants may give the occasional berry in the first summer after planting but should really start cropping the following year.

Use the usual technique for planting hanging baskets is to put four plants in ericaceous compost in a 30cm (14in) polythene lined basket. You can incorporate one of those water-holding gels if you like. If planted in April the basket should become very well filled and most eye catching by late summer. Keep it watered in the usual way preferably, although not necessarily, with rain water to maintain the acidity. (My tap water has a pH8). Watch out for that critical period in September and early October when it is so easy to relax and pay less attention to watering. But this is the time when next year’s flower buds will have formed, unseen, and they can be damaged or even aborted by lack of water.

Plants in hanging baskets, and other small containers, will get tired after about three years and need replacing, but that’s a long life span for a hanging basket which gives year-round interest and a food crop.

Color me excited 🙂 And I can do them in combination with blueberries…that sounds like a very good match up to me!