I’m about 5-6 years into growing these shrubs, and have been “all in” since I first tried the fruit and saw how well they grow here in Maine. I’ve been trialing around 10 or so varieties and also growing from seed. Seedlings are slow to start but pick up vigor year 2 on. This is my first season getting a chance to compare seedling fruit to the cultivars- I got my bird netting in place just in time!
Seed came from selected mother plants, some pure Siberian or Japanese and some hybrid. The variation in growth habit, fruit size and productivity is all over the place. I made early selection based on vigor. Now I’m getting to see their growth and fruiting habit and further select based on those traits.
Some plants drop fruit almost as soon as it colors up-no good.
Some are very prostrate growth habit-no good.
Some are sparse fruit set or small fruit-no good.
It’s pretty satisfying to rip out the underachievers!
I’m left with around 15/40 from seedlings planted out, and will be evaluating those further as I harvest their crops. Serious breeding programs like University of Saskatchewan trial 1000’s!
I’ve planted more each subsequent year so I’m hopeful I might find more winners yet.
Seed is sown freshly in Summer after harvest in flats and grown out for a couple years in pots before I plant them out into my orchard. If anyone else wants to join me growing seedlings I have loads of started plants of various sizes from teeny to bearing age and not enough room to grow them all. I ask that if any show real promise after fruiting you’d be willing to send me some cuttings 
i have 6 aurora seedlings a friend of mine grew out. i plan to trial those. if i had more room Jesse id take you up on the offer. got some huge berries in there. are they from seedlings? dont think ive seen them so big.
The bush bearing the upper fruit is so heavily laden that it’s almost totally
splayed to the ground, not necessarily a good trait, but perhaps with better training it could be corrected 
I planted 2 of your larger (wojtek?) seedlings this spring Jesse and they seem to be growing well. I have tons of room for trial rows. PM me if you’re interested in setting something up. I’d be happy to exchange notes and cuttings.
How many seeds do you think are in a Gram
June berries are 80 per gram of the type I picked.
These must be so tiny (I see you have a small number to trial )
Even half a gram or quarter gram or any idea on numbers …
I am not doing any trials , but good for people to know if doing multiple cultivars. (or even buying/selling seeds)
In wine making seeds fall
The USDA has a method to run through a blender set pulp on screen , and wait.
(I have a link if you’d like.)
I have plenty of room in the front yard. So far moose don’t seem too interested in them. I can pay shipping.
7 different seedling bushes’ fruit demonstrate a variety of sizes shapes and flavors. There are 3 so far which seem promising in terms of yield, growth habit and fruit quality
@JesseinMaine I have plenty of room too and would pay shipping. Thought about doing this myself but would be limited to seeds from aurora x indigo gem right now. Don’t know alot about crossing plants but get the feeling hybrid by hybrid isn’t the best combo.
my aurora seedlings took off like crazy when i gave them some fish emulsion a few weeks ago. now about 5in. were only 2 when i got them in late june.
When breeding it’s good to use parents that have traits you are wanting to perpetuate. Using improved cultivars as your parent plants will give you more promising results quicker than starting from scratch with wild or unimproved plants (unless they have traits you’re seeking which aren’t found in the improved types)
Hi Jesse,
Would you be kind enough to send me same honey berries seedlings?
Of course I will cover the shipping.
Thank you in advance.
I have several Aurora plants that should finally produce a crop … if they don’t bloom out too early and get frozen again. And about 6 potential pollinators.
So, next year I probably try to grow some seedlings.
Meanwhile, I’d be delighted if I could obtain some seeds from newer Polish, Hungarian, Czech or Russian cultivars to try raising some seedlings.
I think there’s room for numerous new and unique combinations. Sour, sweet, big, little, funny shaped, etc.
Hi Jesse. I’m in Montana with space (over an acre). If you are still sending them out, I would be happy to foster parent some seedlings, (I’ll cover postage of course). Have some experience with haskap, I gave Aurora/Indigo Gem to my inlaws years ago and they are finally getting berries–after I discovered they were pruning them back every year and made them stop!
Good Morning, Jessie,
How kind of you to offer seedlings of the Haskaps. I would love to receive a few if you’re still offering. Please contact me at tgooch402@gmail.com to arrange payment and shipping. I am in NW Montana, Zone 4B.
THANK YOU!
Tom
According to Montana State University trials the earliest bloomers (russian) tend to break dormancy and struggle due to winter warm spells (winds that melt off all the snow periodically), so if you know which seedlings are from mid or late blooming mama plant they may perform better in my area. I am in south/central Montana, rather different climate from northwest Montana which is much more focused on fruit growing. We are east of the mountains.