Honeyberries no fruit production?

General Fruit Growing
#1

I planted a boreal beast, beauty and blizzard in late August of 2021. They barely did a thing that year. Last year they put on some nice size going from a couple of twigs to some nice small bushes each about 1 to 1.5 feet tall. This year they put out a nice flush of flowers, maybe 30-40 per bush. Only one bush has any berries growing on it and only about 10. Anyone know whats going on? Im in zone 5, they look very healthy, all my other berry crops had no problem with pollination.

#2

I had a couple that took 5 years to start producing fruit.

1 Like
#3

Would they produce flowers and then just not fruit? Do you recall which varieties took that long?

#4

Yes, they were blooming but not fruiting (Berry Blue and Borealis). They do well now, I don’t know what was keeping them from fruiting, but in year 5 they started producing and have been fine since.

1 Like
#5

Thank you!

#6

They are slow growing long lived berry bushes. Give them some time, try to notice if the flower timing overlaps and if you have pollinators pollinating them. Planting more can help pollination if you only have 3-5 plants. The description sounds like you have good growth. As I read year 3-5 is when honeyberries really start producing. Seems everything is on track for you.

1 Like
#7

Thank you!

1 Like
#8

I have 4 young plants that are producing but their fruit is very sour. There is nothing honey about these berries. Stick with blueberries. I got mine at an independent. edible landscaping company. forgot name.

1 Like
#9

Give them longer on the bush. Like a few weeks after they look ripe. Mine were plenty sweet last year when I did that, but sour for the first few weeks after changing color. They were still tart later, but sweet/tart.

2 Likes
#10

its strange to see people say they are slow to bear. from indigo gem to the boreal series, all fruited the 2nd year despite the bush size. they also grew very quick with nothing but mulch until 2nd year. i mulched them with chic bedding. that said my blueberries grew equally well. maybe my shitty rocky clay isnt so shitty after all. all bush fruits do very well here with not much care but im in a very cold zone that these plants are well adapted to. cuttings of these plants just stuck near the mother also have a high take rate.

3 Likes