Lingonberries

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Ken Anderson, Mar 21, 2016.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Four more plants are in the ground, and I'm expecting two more. That ought to fill my expanded lingonberry patch. Next year I might extend it further toward the street or, more likely, I'll start one on our land up north. Maybe both. Once I get my last two, I'll post another picture.
     
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  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    [​IMG]
    Here's the nine new lingonberry plants that I planted, on the new section of my lingonberry patch, leaving plenty of room for them to fill in on their own once they are established.

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    Here are my lingonberries from the other end, with a slight addition onto this end as well, since they are starting to move over this way too.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I added another large bag of peat moss to the lingonberries, that being pretty much the only thing that ever needs to be added.

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    An odd thing about lingonberries is that, despite the fact that more than one variety is necessary in order for the plants to be the most productive, very few of the lingonberry plant suppliers will tell you which variety of lingonberry they are selling. That I know of, there are Balsgard, Erntekrone, Erntsegen, European Red, Ida, Koralle, Linnae, Masovia, Red Pearl, Regal, Sanna, Scarlet, Splendor, and Sussi, not all of which are ever made available in the United States. I have plants from the Ida, Koralle, Red Pearl, and Regal varieties but, this year at least, ninety percent of the suppliers don't tell you which variety of lingonberry they are selling and those that do are selling only Koralle. I was able to find some seeds from the Ida and Regal varieties but they never germinated, and I was able to find a couple of suppliers that listed Ida and Red Pearl, but they seem never to have any in stock. I believe that all of the new plants that I planted this year were Koralle, although I'm not sure about some of the ones that were unlabeled. I'm sure I'll be okay with it because I do have plants of four varieties, but I'd like to be able to mix them in throughout the lingonberry patch.
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I was able to find a third variety of lingonberry, which wasn't available earlier this spring, so I added two more plants to my lingonberry patch. All the ones I planted a few months ago are doing well, and one has already formed a new plant. They produce seeds, as well as spreading through their roots underground, so a few plants turns into many more before long.
     
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  6. K E Gordon

    K E Gordon Veteran Member
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    I drank some ligonberry or elderflower juice when I went to Ikea a few weeks ago. Since they grow ligonberries so much in Northern climates I think they will grow well for you. What do you plan to do with the berries? Are you going to make juice out of them? I tired planting some blueberries here once, but I didn't understand about the cross pollination aspects. The soil here might not be right but there is a place that has them that is even further West than here.. that grows them....but the right fertilizer can probably make the difference.
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Oh, I know they will. I have added to my lingonberry patch, but I began with just a few plants about twelve years ago, I think. They are an easy plant to grow in northern weather. About the only way to kill them is by pampering them. Watering them too much, adding fertilizer, or rich soils are all things they don't like.

    So far, my patch hasn't been large enough to produce enough to do a lot with but I will probably be able to manage to gather enough for lingonberry preserves or jam once the new ones I've added this year begin producing.

    Lingonberries produce two crops per season but since I have four or five different varieties, they don't all produce at the same time.

    Currently, I've just been eating them as I pick them.

    I've planted a few blueberry plants up north a few years ago and, although they are growing only feet away from some wild blueberries, they have never produced. The plants look healthy, but no blueberries.
     
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    Last edited: Jun 25, 2016
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  8. K E Gordon

    K E Gordon Veteran Member
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    I have alot of blackberries growing wild around here, but they are sporadic in nature. There is no huge aggregate of them. When I was growing up our woods was full of them, and I picked a huge amount of them. We had blackberry Jelly and pie all the time. I am thinking the ones here would just be enough to have on cereal or something. I might pick them this year, but I haven't bothered in the past.
     
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  9. Julie Stewart

    Julie Stewart Veteran Member
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    I've never heard of lingonberries but your photograph looks like what I know as cranberries. I just looked them both up and they have the same botanical genus: Vaccinium
     
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  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Yes, they are related to cranberries but if you've ever tried to eat a cranberry just as it comes from the plant, you probably didn't find it to be a delightful experience. Lingonberries don't require preparation in order to be edible. But they are otherwise quite a bit like cranberries, and are used in the same way that cranberries are used.
     
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  11. Texas Beth

    Texas Beth Veteran Member
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    I noticed this type of berry plant at the garden area back in the spring. In my area of Texas, we have never heard of this type of berry. My son and I looked that the picture of the plant in awe as it was so new to us. I live in zone 8 where the heat is brutal, yet my blackberries do really well in the shaded area of my yard. Could I grow them in zone 8 Ken? Would they need shade like my blackberries?
     
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  12. Julie Stewart

    Julie Stewart Veteran Member
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    You're right - cranberries "as they come" are not a delight to eat. We make sauces with them and also buy cranberry juice.
     
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  13. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    2019-07-06 12.33.55.jpg
    The rhubarb is not doing well here, probably because the devil children next door stripped the privacy ribbon from the fence, so I am going to let the lingonberries take over that space.

    2019-07-06 12.34.49.jpg
    This is the far end of the lingonberry patch. I extended it to this point a few years ago, planting only a few plants, and they are starting to fill in that space. The white stuff is diatomaceous earth. It keeps some the bugs from the garden. I haven't really had a problem with bugs and the lingonberries but I had some diatomaceous earth left after doing the rest of the garden.

    2019-07-06 12.34.59.jpg
    Once the lingonberries have filled in the part of the garden that I have, I can still extend it further toward the street.

    2019-07-06 12.34.07.jpg
    My neighbor has had these bags of potting soil stacked there since last spring. It could be that he's even lazier than I am.

    2019-07-06 12.34.14.jpg
    As you can see, the lingonberries are starting to engulf a couple of the rhubarb plants.
     
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    2019-07-06 12.35.20.jpg 2019-07-06 12.34.36.jpg
     

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  15. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Our lingonberries are doing well this year, too, but ours are all wild and not in beds. We have also found quite a number of "true" cranberries lately. We have Wallas had a few in the bog on the property, but this year they have spread to a lot of new places. They are more difficult to pick than lingonberries, but my wife gets some every year. I don't know why your rhubarb is suffering so, even in the sun. It seems it should grow if the nutrition is right. Maybe soil pH? Of course, lingonberries are great as well.
     
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