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Growing garden cranberries: planting and care
Garden cranberries are suitable for growing on an industrial scale. Her berries are large and juicy. At the summer cottage, you will have to tinker with planting, and the harvest will not be immediate.
Growing garden cranberries
The fragrant berry has medicinal properties. It contains a lot of vitamin C and a lot of different microelements. It is used in folk medicine, fruit drinks are prepared from it. Since it is so in demand, it is grown in the fields as a commercial berry. There are entire plantations in Karelia and the Leningrad Region.
Garden cranberries are distinguished by large berries
Special conditions are required for growing berries. It is not easy to create them on the site, but it is possible. You need to plant cranberries:
- seedlings;
- cuttings;
- seeds.
The latter method is more suitable for breeders. For planting, it is better to purchase ready-made seedlings. They can be of different ages: young or adults – 4-5 years. Adult seedlings are sold with a closed root system. They are more expensive, but they allow you to quickly get your harvest.
Planting garden cranberries and caring for it
If you do not have a swamp on your site, you will have to create it artificially. Cranberries like the groundwater to be no lower than 40-45 cm from the surface. The acidity of the soil should be 3-4,5. The site should be open to sunlight, but protected from the wind.
Acidic peat soils require practically no special preparation. Add sand to such soil, loosen it and remove weeds. If the soil is different, the following steps are necessary:
- Remove the fertile soil layer by 30-40 cm and mix it with peat. Add 2 part peat to 1 parts of the ground.
- Add coniferous sawdust to the mixture.
- Deepen the bed to 50 cm if the soil is clayey.
- Along the perimeter of the pit, install plastic sides that rise about 25 cm above the edges.
- Lay out drainage on the bottom of the pit – 10 cm, and on it a film with drain holes.
- Pour a 15-20 cm thick layer of plant debris with horse manure, sprinkle it with water.
- Mix peat with sand in a ratio of 3 to 1 and fill the hole to the top.
- Pour the previously removed soil with peat and sawdust on top.
This multi-layered construction allows the cranberries to get the nutrition they need and the right acidity.
It is necessary to plant cranberries in May by digging a hole and placing a seedling there. From above you need to water it and close the sprout with peat mulch. For the first 3 years, you only need to water the cranberries and feed them with complex fertilizer. For the 4th year, citric acid 1 tsp must be added to the water for irrigation. for 3 liters of water. Cranberries can be shaped by removing leaves creeping on the ground. For the winter, it is advisable to cover the garden bed with peat, from which the berry will get out on its own in the spring.
Cranberries are not easy to grow on site, but they have their advantages. It does not require a transplant for a long time.