I’m in New Mexico and have tried for a number of years to get high bush cranberry to set fruit with no success.
I’ve planted several plants together in case they need a second plant to pollinate. They have flowered well and way after the possibility of frost but fail to set any fruit at all.
The plants I have now are at least 3-4 years old. Not sure if they need to be older.
I’m wondering if there is something about this climate in New Mexico that is preventing pollination, though I can’t imagine what. It can’t be a matter of frost damage to the flower buds because they are flowering perfectly well. These plants grow like weeds back east and fruit prolifically. Is there a very specific pollinating agent that is missing here? Is the heat or low humidity somehow preventing pollination?
Does anyone on this list live in the west and have high bush cranberries that have set fruit? Could be V, trilobum or V. opulus.
i agree. take 5-6 years for them to fruit here. im not a fan of them. id grow currants or gooseberry before highbush cranberry. they are in every ditch and back road where ever its wet. i leave them to the birds in winter. moose and deer will eat them over winter as well.
I appreciate your information. I’ll give them a few more years. I did have one that was older than that but never set fruit. However, it was the only plant of its kind in the area. Don’t know if they need a second one to pollinate but I’ve heard that V. prunifolium does, so maybe. Back east, of course, they are everywhere.
The taste is an acquired one and maybe then only in desperation. I like them because they are the only fruit available on plants mid winter, since the birds don’t like them. Yes, they taste funky (old gym socks, according to one person) but I do like the fresh juicy taste.